Paul, Tell me your story…part 3

The post that just won’t die.  The question today is not about Paul.  The question is about telling my story.  Why not tell my story?  In order to start to answer this question, let me tell you Troll’s story; it is much more interesting.

Once upon a time, stories about trolls always start this way, there was a troll that lived under a bridge.  You would think that he’d get an apartment or something from all of the cash he’s made from blogging, but this was once upon a time, and that implies that it was long ago, before blogging, before the internet, but not before roast mutton sandwiches with a thin slice of tomato.  Troll was minding his own business, collecting tolls and eating things, when an ogre came to his bridge.  The Ogre started to tell him a story about why Troll shouldn’t try to eat him.  For one thing, there was some doubt as to which would do the eating.  Secondly, Ogre was feeling nauseous that day, having gotten hold of some rather rancid pork, and he just wasn’t up to fighting.  Troll had not had that experience with pork, in fact, pigs and hogs were more like appetizers to him, hardly worth chewing.  There was just no way that Troll was going to be able to have the same experience eating pork that Ogre had.  So, Troll was getting ready for a good old fashioned melee.  Ogre was determined to deter Troll, because not only was he nauseous, but had a ham bone stuck between his teeth, and it was giving him a headache.  Finally, Ogre decided to tell Troll that he could have eternal life in Jesus.  Now, Trolls live particularly long lives, longer than most empires last in fact.  But Troll was intrigued with this Jesus fellow.  Ogre talked for a long time and Troll began to understand about justification and imputation.  He learned about sin and reconciliation.  Ogre was very elegant and thoughtful in his presentation…for an Ogre.  Troll realized, not quite of his own choosing, that there was truth in the Words that Ogre spoke.  Later that week, on Thursday, a bit after 7 in the evening, Troll was Baptized, right there, under the bridge, by a passing bishop with whom he bargained for the sacrament.  Now, a few decades later, Troll insists on telling the Gospel to any who chance upon his bridge.  It is a steep price for travelers to pay, listening to Troll talk, but it is far better than being eaten.

Let’s analyze this story, shall we?  Is there anything particularly profound about Ogre’s story?  Troll wasn’t impressed.  It didn’t seem likely that Ogre’s experience, while impressive to Ogre, was going to be shared by Troll.  In much the same way, our own experiences are not likely to be duplicated by those to whom we witness.  Every person is unique.  The sharing of experiences and feelings recruits the listener to share the experience and feeling.  What if they can’t have that feeling?  What if they have the feeling, or something that sounds like it might be the experience, but that feeling is gone by next Tuesday?  What sort of argument is an experience or a feeling?

The Gospel is external to us.  It is historical fact.  I know that some will argue that it is easier to defend a personal experience than a fact.  True.  But what does a personal experience of yours prove to me?  Nothing.  Facts might prove something.  Facts require a bit of work, yes.  You have to know the facts.  You have to have build a system of facts that is logical and can stand up to argument.  You have to learn how to build an argument and defend an argument.  My goodness, that’s starting to sound like work!  Yes, it is.

Let me show you something amazing.  Acts 2.  Peter appeals to scripture.  He appeals to fulfilled prophesy.  He testifies to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  This is Peter!  Name a person, just one, whose personal testimony you think just might be fairly persuasive.  Is Peter pretty close to the top of that list?  Sorry, then.  Peter thinks talking about fulfilled prophesy and the resurrection is more important by far.  That is the proper example.  That is the testimony that is Worthy of Christ.  Yes, it is the harder road.  Yes, there just might be an amazing conversion experience at the end of it.  But when the warm fuzzies fade away, there will be a sound structure built from scripture and historical facts left in the listener.

For completeness, let me lay out one more negative thought of personal experience, just a little thicker.  Oh, the arrogance!  You have the story of the greatest life ever lived on earth at your disposal, and you think that your life has greater significance?!  Really?  You think that because you are so special, talking about yourself is actually going to move someone to read about some other guy that neither of you has met.  You would have a friend build a relationship with someone based upon your experience with that someone without your friend having any significant knowledge of that person.  Please!  I want you to tell me that you would marry a person without learning anything about them based solely on how you feel about them.  Yes, I know, it is done.  What are the odds of those relationships lasting a long time.  What if you marry someone that you’ve known a long time, someone who is becoming your best friend?  What are the odds of those relationships lasting a long time.

The example of the Apostles is my point.  Lay out your argument.  Use scripture.  Use facts.  Appeal to Christian evidences.  Tell the Gospel.  Leave the pronoun “I” out of it.  If it is the Greatest Story Ever Told, then tell it.  You may not have time to tell it all in one encounter.  It may not be your encounter that the person remembers later.  The Holy Spirit does NOT witness about you.  The Holy Spirit witnesses about Christ.  Tell the Gospel.  It is the best argument you have going.

--Ogre--

Paul, tell me your story…part 2

It is not often that I’ll write something and then find the need to expound on my rather lengthy prose so shortly thereafter.  This is such a moment.  Only a week ago, I asked not to be burdened with your story, but rather that we should all defer to The Story as revealed in the Bible.  Once again, the example of Paul has been raised up as a defense of using our testimonies rather than scripture and Christian evidences for Evangelism and Apologetics.  I shall try again with Paul to demonstrate that Paul does nothing of the sort.  The confusion lies in the distinction of Paul’s unique position in redemptive history as the Apostle to the Gentiles from our own lives.

Paul wrote twelve letters that are included in the Canon.  If Paul wrote Hebrews, then this only helps my argument, but let’s say that he didn’t for my purpose here.  In nine of the epistles, Paul begins by claiming that he is an Apostle of Christ Jesus; in one other, he refers to himself as an apostle in the body of the letter.  Therefore, the cornerstone of this debate is the defining of the word Apostle.  

According to the Bible, an Apostle is one in authority.  Matthew 10 is the great passage where Jesus commissions the first twelve apostles for ministry within the Royal family, the Jews.  He also differentiates between apostles and disciples in Matthew 10:24-25.  In Mark 3:14-15, Jesus says that apostles preach and have the authority to cast out demons.  Luke 9 gives us a similar commission of the apostles.  This remains the mission statement of the Apostles until after the resurrection when Christ assigns a new mission for the twelve.  Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-18, and Luke 24:48 proclaim the new plan also known as the Great Commission: you are witnesses, so spread the Gospel.

It is clear that after the Resurrection and Pentecost, the mission of the apostles has changed.  Acts 4:33 talks about the apostles giving their testimony of the resurrection.  Once Peter begins to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles, the direction of the whole mission of the apostles and the church shifts again.  Paul’s reinterpretation of Old Testament scripture and prophets is presented to the Counsel of Jerusalem, in light of the work of the Holy Spirit through both Peter and Paul.  The Jerusalem Counsel confirms the work of Peter and Paul among the Gentiles.

How does Paul lay claim to the title of Apostle?  The key lines are Acts 4:33 and Acts 9:15-16.  The apostles witness to the resurrection.  In order to give testimony to an event, a person must be an eyewitness in order to have credibility.  It is this area that Paul’s testimony is germane.  Because Paul is the only person after Pentecost who actually gives eyewitness testimony to the resurrection, his testimony is vitally important.  Paul is a hostile witness.  As a member of the Pharisees, and particularly to the more militant branch, Paul’s credentials as being hostile to Christians is well earned.  He has motive and opportunity to continue on the course he had been living.  He had no worldly incentive to change his path.  This is the instrument that Christ selects to be His final witness to His resurrection until the Last Day.  Paul’s suffering is foretold .  It is part and parcel to his testimony.  The calling of Paul is wrapped up into two parts: Paul did witness the Resurrected Jesus, and Paul will be taught the meaning of suffering.  But the key item is his eyewitness account.

Can we then draw a parallel between Paul’s defense of his apostleship in several of his epistles and the idea of our own testimony?  The answer to this question is obvious to me.  Can anyone of us actually give an eyewitness account to the resurrected Christ?  Until such a time, our own testimony is unnecessary and irrelevant.  We are not Apostles.  Christ is sitting at the Right Hand of God until He comes again in Glory to judge the living and the dead.  When he comes back, that’s called the Last Day, the end of this era.  It is a great and terrible day.  Until that time, we do not witness to his resurrection except from scripture that gives the accounts of the actual witnesses, the Apostles.  Our testimony is the scripture.

And so, once again, spare me your story, and I’ll spare you mine.  Instead, let’s get busy with telling the Greatest Story ever told, the Gospel.  The Word and the Spirit through the Word are where all of the power resides in this world.

--Ogre--

Paul, Tell me your Story.

One of my beloved and respected teachers made a comment about Paul that struck me as being at odds with my ideas about evangelism.  If you know Ogre, you know that I never take anything from any teacher as Gospel unless it dovetails with my understanding of Scripture.  This is not mean as disrespect or arrogance, although both may be perceived, but rather as an inquisitive student who pushes the envelope of any and all he encounters.  That’s why I’m the Ogre.

Paul is known as the Apostle to the Gentiles.  What is also true is that he spent the majority of his ministry visiting and writing churches that were predominantly made up of Jewish converts.  It was well known that Paul was not of the original twelve.  The use of the label “Apostle” on Paul was not received with the same sort of validation of authenticity as it was when referencing Peter or John.  Therefore, Paul often began his Epistles with a defense of his calling as an Apostle.

It has been said that this was an example of Paul telling his story to spread the Gospel.  This is the statement that I will be arguing against.  Starting with Romans, the first Pauline Epistle, Paul discusses his credentials as an Apostle for about one paragraph, then he dives into doctrine.  Paul, in his discussions of doctrine, ALWAYS grounds his arguments in scripture.  The Old Testament is cited by Paul either by direct quote or paraphrase over 70 times in the book of Romans.  Once Paul has finished defending his credentials, which he unfortunately has to do, Paul’s arguments are ALWAYS grounded in scripture, NOT in his experience.  This is an important distinction.

Jesus quoted scripture.  Jesus acted in accordance with what the Old Testament prophets, His prophets, stated would be the actions of the messiah.  Jesus grounded His earthly ministry in Scripture.  Paul always does the same.  He always grounds his arguments in Scripture.

Paul’s letters are a part of scripture.  All of the epistles are Apostolic utterances that have been included in the Canon.  Therefore, Paul's defense of his Apostleship is germane today for his validation as an author of scripture.  Once he has established his Apostolic credentials, his arguments for the Gospel are always about Jesus and His fulfillment of scripture.  He does NOT use his experience as an argument for the Gospel.

What example, then, can we take from the Bible in general, and Paul in particular, for our own evangelistic style?  Peter in his Pentecost sermon in Acts 2 reasons and argues from Scripture.  He doesn’t tell his story.  Granted, many listening know who he is, but his arguments are from Scripture.  Paul argues for the Gospel from Scripture and gives the Christian Evidences, the most important of which is the resurrection.  As a witness to the resurrected Christ, this one portion of Paul’s testimony is relevant.  All of the Apostles have the same portion of their testimony, and it is relevant.  We have these accounts recorded for us in the Bible.  They are the testimonies that are relevant. 

My testimony, as exciting and earth moving as it is to me, is not relevant.  My faith never has converted anyone, nor will it.  My testimony is about as useful as a soaking wet bath towel.  It is the Holy Spirit that converts the elect.  The Holy Spirit works to confirm the Gospel.  Why waste time and space with discussions of my own fascinating and non-reproducible story of conversion when the real Christian evidences are at my disposal.  They are timeless, topical, useful, effective, Scriptural, well documented and appropriate.  Plus, the Holy Spirit doesn’t lift up me or my experience.  The Holy Spirit lifts up the Gospel.

So, please.  Spare me your testimony and I’ll spare you mine.  Evangelism means to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not the story of Ogre, not even the story of Paul.

--Ogre--