I let Jesus in... or Why we must preach repentance
‘Our churches are graveyards of people who… “opened the door” but have never repented; they have never come to terms with Christ’s Lordship.’
John Chapman wrote those words 20 years ago in his excellent book Know and Tell the Gospel and, despite thousands of copies being sold and scores of us saying how good Chappo’s book is and adding it to our recommended reading list, it seems that few evangelists have taken much note of his words.
Where have all the evangelists gone?
Open the church press to the situations vacant pages. What do you see? Jobs for administrators, musical directors, pastors and youth workers - especially youth workers, who in recent years have become a welcome new fixture on many staff teams.
But what about the evangelist? I suspect that he will only find a home once the musical director, pastor, assistant pastor, worship leader and youth worker are already present and correct. To have an evangelist on the staff is the equivalent of buying a deep pile carpet, a villa in the Maldives or in-car satellite navigation. It's nice if you can afford it, but it's a bit extravagant, surely?
