At the beginning of a new year it is always a good thing to stand back and reflect on life's priorities and what lies ahead. Doing so is good for our personal lives and also for our church life.

Looking at things personally, "How is your life go­ing? In particular, how is your life going with the Lord? Is there daily communion with him? (Do you pray?) Is there daily listening to him? (Do you read his Word?) Is there daily service for him? (Do you seek to do his will?) Has this been your pattern in 2013 and is this also your aim in 2014?"

Looking at things church-wise, "How is it? Are you faithful in worship? (Do you make good use of every Lord's Day?) Are you involved in the fellowship? (Do you use your talents and gifts for others?) Are you committed to reaching out? (Do you walk and talk the Christian life?) How well did you do church in 2013 and what about 2014?

Hitting a Snag⤒🔗

To be honest, it's probably on that last point just mentioned that your life hit a snag. I am referring to the reaching out part. Our involvement in worship may be satisfactory and our efforts for other members may be there, but it's the speaking out and standing out part that needs work.

Isn't that true? Some of us are shy, others are eas­ily tongue-tied, also there are those who are just too self-conscious, and then there are those among us who are just plain scared. We don't dare! It's not that we don't care. It's just that we don't know where or how to begin. "What if the other person gets angry? What if they feel offended? What if, what if...?"

Now on one level all of this is understandable. On an­other level it's not. Take our churches as an example. How much effort, time, prayer, and money are not expended doing mission work at home and abroad. Locally we have Streetlight, Campfire, Prince George, Stepping Stones, and all sorts of other evangelistic projects. Abroad we have our missionaries working in Brazil, China, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea, as well as supporting mis­sion and mission aid projects around the world. No one can say that as a whole the Canadian Reformed Churches are falling down when it comes to outreach.

But then there is the personal dimension, and that's often another story. We may have no trouble send­ing money here, there, and everywhere. We may pray regularly for God's workers all over the place. We may be in attendance when missionaries and mission work­ers come to town and make their stirring presentations. But personally talking to others around us about faith things? Well...? Talking about Christ to our neighbours, co-workers, friends...? Inviting them to a Bible study or to worship with you...? That just does not happen.

Options?←⤒🔗

So what do we do? Leave it alone? Let the few who are bold carry the ball? Leave it to those who have "the gift of the gab" to step up to the plate for the rest of us?

Yet that cannot be! At bottom we know that it's a rationalization, and in the end it does not sit well with our souls, does it? For we know what our Lord said, "You are the salt of the earth ... You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:13, 14). We know what Acts says, "Those who were scattered preached the word everywhere" (literally, "they brought the Good News every­where) (8:4). We know what Paul writes about the lives of be­lievers and about them shining "like stars in the universe" (Philippians 2:15). We know what kind of compliments Peter dishes out when he says about us –

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.1 Peter 2:9

And finally, what about the words of our Lord,

Who­ever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknow­ledge him before my Father in heaven. But  whoever  dis­owns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.Matthew 10:32

Ouch! Are shut lips and closed mouths not in the same category as "disowning"?

No matter how you look at it, this is serious stuff. Muted saints are not just weak saints, they are endan­gered saints. They are in danger of being dismissed, dis­carded, and even disowned.

So really, if you consider yourself a child of God, you have no options here. By the very nature of your calling as such a child you have been endowed with a royal, priestly, and prophetic office (cf. HC, LD 12). You have a duty to fight like a king, offer like a priest and speak like a prophet.

Out of the Comfort Zone←⤒🔗

But how? How does a speechless prophet find his voice? How does a comfortable saint move out of his comfort zone?

You can say that it begins with living a three direc­tional life. What do I mean? Well, first, you need to look down. You need to look deep down into your own soul. You need to ask, "What lives there? Is there real faith in Almighty God? Is there deep love for the Redeeming Saviour? Is there true dependence on the Invigorating Spirit?" You see, at bottom, it's all a matter of the heart. "Is your heart in tune with God? Is it right with God? Is it awed and amazed by his grace and love to you in Jesus Christ? Is it brimming over with thankfulness and grati­tude?" We begin then by looking down at ourselves and deep into ourselves.

Only we do not stay there. For there is another direc­tion, and it is up. Indeed, it is way up, up, up to God and to his throne. We look up to him in prayer and we assault his throne with our pleas. What kind of pleas? We utter pleas for courage, conviction, boldness, wisdom, discre­tion, gentleness, patience, and so much more. For after all, what makes us really effective as kings, priests, and prophets does not come from below but from above. It's not a matter of discovering a hidden talent or awakening a sleeping gift. It is a matter of God coming down from on high with his Spirit and working in us. Only he is able to empower us. So look up, look up every day and draw your strength down from the One who sits on the throne.

What's next? Or is that it? Is this not enough? As long as we know ourselves and we know our God, we can stop and be satisfied – right?

Wrong! We cannot stop. God's people are not just a committed people and a connected people, they are also a commissioned people. The third direction of the people of God is always out and outward. We need to, as the title of a book written by one of our past and venerable leaders said, "GET OUT!" Here Psalm 96 comes to mind,

De­clare his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples.Psalm 96:3

As another venerable Chris­tian leader said about these words, "This is our national anthem as Christians!"

Now, I know that there are a few among us who think that this is only a national anthem for pastors, mission­aries, and other ordained folk. They do all the talking for us, and we can just sit back, praying and paying our way into the kingdom of heaven. But that runs counter to the entire thrust of biblical revelation. In the Old Testa­ment God did not just call on the important people or the leaders to be "a light to the nations." This was a national task and a corporate calling. And the same applies even more in the New Testament. All believers are called to be "lights." Everyone who, by faith, is plugged into Jesus Christ "the Light of the world" cannot do anything else but glow. Not to glow as a believer requires a really big bowl or bushel (cf. Matthew 5:15).

Remember then, these three directions: down, up, and out.

Get to Work←⤒🔗

What's next? You and I need to get to work.

Where? Why not start with those who are closest to you. Begin with your friends. Do you have unbelieving friends? How have you been acting around them? Have you been living a double life around them? You know what I mean.

Two Sets of Friends←⤒🔗

Often Christians have two sets of friends. They have church friends and world friends. They meet their church friends on Sunday, using one kind of language with them (clean, pious, upright) and doing certain special things with them (worshipping, Bible studying, fellowshipping). They meet their world friends, using another kind of language with them (coarse, off colour, and crude) and doing different things with them (bar hopping, pot puffing, violent/profane video watching). In short, these Christians are mutants. They mutate depending on the company they keep.

Interesting? Yes! Deadly? For sure! Hell bent? Afraid so! There is only one solution to this kind of double life and it is called "repentance."

If you are living this kind of a double, two-sided, hypocritical life, you need to change. You need to "fess up," as they say; that is, you need to own up to your sin and ask God for forgiveness. You also need to confess to your worldly friends that the double sided game is up. You are going straight.

Now, this does not mean that overnight you have to become a Bible thumper or a hell fire and brimstone preacher. It does mean, however, that you need to begin to model and live a new and different life before the eyes of your world friends. It also means adopting an atti­tude filled with wisdom, humility, and patience, coated in prayer and steeped in holiness.

Will they reject you? Some might, but others may not. Indeed, some may want to have what you are now showing. After all, the worldly life is not all that it is cracked up to be.

Neighbours←⤒🔗

But if there are friends, there are also neighbours (the people who live next door and the people you work with). We all have them, but do you know them? Do you go out of your way to know them? Or, as so many Chris­tians do, do you simply write them off? Imagine if the Lord Jesus had adopted that kind of an approach with his neighbours long ago? Where would they be, and where would we be today?

No, our calling is to get to know them. Learn their names, listen to their stories, lend a helping hand, in­vite them over. "Sounds dangerous!" you say. Not if you take an approach called "critical participation." What this means is that you show that while you are in the world, you do not necessarily share all of the sentiments of this world or take part in all of the activities in this world. Love them, but without compromise. Love them, but without being judgmental. Love them, but without approving of everything. Speak out whenever necessary, but with kindness, concern, care, and understanding. Re­gard your neighbourhood as your mission field.

How would you describe your congregation or church when it comes to reaching out or evangelism? Is it interested, disinterested, or somewhat interested? Is it struggling? Is it active and committed?

A cursory look at the Yearbook 2013 of the Canadian (American) Reformed Churches reveals that most of our churches have mission (home) or evangelism committees. From this one might jump to the conclusion that our churches can safely be placed in the "active and committed" category.

Looking deeper←⤒🔗

A deeper look, however, at times reveals something else. A number of these committees are struggling. They struggle to get proper guidance from their local church council. They struggle to recruit church members for their committee. They struggle as to what approach to take and what programs to promote. They struggle to ignite a fire in the hearts of the members of the congregation.

Of course, there are exceptions, but the fact of the matter is that in too many of our churches the work of evangelism has been relegated to a committee. They are to take care of it. It is their specialty, their burden, their task. It is the hobby of a few.

When visitors ask what is being done about out­reach, the members at large are often quick to point to the existence of a committee. It is the proof of our evan­gelistic spirit.

Really? What is this, but tokenism? It comes under the heading of "let's appoint a committee, and thus soothe our consciences." It is an indication that while evangelism may receive lip service among us, it does not necessarily translate into real heart service or serious support.

Is that alright? Will that do? In many respects it de­pends on how you see the church.

What is the Church?←⤒🔗

Of course there are many ways to define or describe the church of our Lord. Words like "assembly," "con­gregation," "gathering," or "community" come to mind. Both the OT and NT root words point in this direction. In addition, there are all sorts of confessional and theo­logical definitions. The Belgic Confession speaks of the church as “a holy congregation and assembly” (Art 27). The Heidelberg Catechism sees it as an assembly that is the fruit of the Son of God who "gathers, defends and preserves" (LD 21). Calvin called it "the community of the faithful which God has ordained and elected to eter­nal life." (Catechism 1545)

Underlying all of these definitions is the idea that the church is the work of God. He is the One who, through his Son, gathers a people together. We do not find him. He finds us. Added to that is the fact that in and of our­selves we would never have found him because we were too busy living in darkness, superstition, and death. The Apostle Paul says about us,

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sin, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.Ephesians 2:1, 2

Dead and domin­ated is what we were.

But then God made us alive. He rescued and saved us. Paul says that he even "raised us up" and "seated" us with Christ in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6). From the depths we went to the heights. What a promotion! What a most stunning elevation!

It naturally raises questions like, "Why? Why did God decide to do this? What motivated him?" The answer is found in verse 4 – "But because of his great love for us" (Ephesians 2:4). Only his love explains our exaltation. It is this wide, deep, and high love, this wonderful love, this love that comes from our God who is "rich in mercy" that gives us the reason.

The Purpose of the Church←⤒🔗

Only that still leaves some questions about the purpose. What is the reason that he has done and is doing all of this? Why bother to construct a church from a bunch of dead, doomed, and dominated sinners? Why go to all of this great effort? The answer is in verse 7 –

In order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.Ephesians 2

Did you catch that? God creates the church in order to show off the riches of his grace. The church is the liv­ing proof of his grace. Elsewhere another apostle writes about the church too and says,

you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.1 Peter 2:9

So what is the church? It is to be a community of show-offs! It is to be a billboard people! It is to "declare" God's praises! The church of Jesus Christ is to show the world what grace is all about and what constitutes real praise. The apostle Paul adds that we are also to be a shining people. Living as we do in the midst of "a crook­ed and depraved generation," we are to "shine like stars in the universe" (Philippians 2:15). There has to be this very public, in your face, reflective side to the church. The church has to stand out in this world.

Where's the Offense?←⤒🔗

Do we realize this? Are we aware of this? I suspect that while we know this to be true we do not consciously or purposely stress this. In this connection the language of Lord's Day 48 about the kingdom of God comes to mind. There we are asked, "What is the second petition?" and part of the answer is "preserve and increase" the church. Notice that there are these two sides of preserva­tion and augmentation. Or, to put it in popular language, the church needs to be like a good hockey team. It needs lots of defense (preserve) and lots of offense (increase).

Does your church team have that? Often the defense may be in good shape, as we know how to defend our teach­ings and doctrines. We can smell a heretic a mile away. But that still leaves the offense. What about it? How good are we at pushing and promoting the gospel in this world as a church? Some may point to the mission field and all of the prayers and monies it receives, but what about at home? Is it perhaps a case of the foreign offense being in fine shape but the local offense limping along on one leg?

Developing Offense←⤒🔗

How do you get the local offense going? Or, how do you turn a congregation of spiritual introverts into a bunch of spiritual extroverts?

There is no easy or single answer. For one it takes vision. The leadership of the church, namely the pastor, elders, and deacons, need to embrace the fact that a healthy church is a balanced church consisting of both a good offense and defense. Having only one or the other will always result in defeat.

For another it needs a lot of prayer. It is the power of God that creates the church and it is the same power that has to re-create the church. Human effort does not go very far. As a matter of fact, it goes nowhere. On the other hand, divine help and effort knows no limits. Coat all of your efforts in prayer.

Creating offense also requires persistent teaching. A coach who has been saddled with a team that knows only defense has to go out of his way to teach, teach, teach. (And sometimes, when that that does not work, he has to trade.) Such is the duty of the pastor. One of my old teachers, the Rev. Gilbert VanDooren, loved to compare a pastor to a coach.

Colleagues, to some extent the onus is on you. What are you doing in your catechism classes? What are you do­ing in your adult education classes? Hopefully, you are not making the pew even more comfortable than it already is. Hopefully, you are teaching your people to embrace also their prophetic and missional calling in this world.

This goes, however, not just for the pastor, but also for the Christian school teacher. God's covenant children need to be instructed as well in their calling to "show off" and "declare" the gospel. They need to be reminded that there is more to the Christian life then becoming a religious consumer.

And Then There is Preaching←⤒🔗

So there is teaching, but there is also preaching. As the pastor coaches the covenant children in the catech­ism classes, so he also coaches all of God's covenant people from the pulpit. The preaching of the gospel is the most powerful means by which to remind, instruct, encourage, admonish, and feed God's people spiritually.

But to what end? Personally, I can think of no better end then what we read in Paul's letter to the church at Thessalonica. There the apostle says about the believ­ers in that place, "Your faith in God has become known everywhere" (1 Thessalonians 1:8). Imagine that?  Imagine being known as "walkie-talkies" for the Lord. What a most marvellous tribute! It comes out of the apostle's mouth almost as an aside comment but it strikes at the very heart of what it means to be church.

Readers, just how good is your church team? Is it all defense? Is the offense nowhere in sight? Then bring on the offense. Strive for biblical balance!

Organized or Unorganized?←⤒🔗

By using words like "offense," "defense," and "biblical bal­ance" I am trying to get across the message that reach­ing out is not a matter of either-or.

Often that is what we make it out to be. Some of us stress the need to "preserve" the truth and hence we are suspicious of "increase." Others among us stress the need to "increase" the church and think that to "preserve" is an obstacle on the way to achieving that goal. All the while we forget that Lord's Day 48 of the Heidelberg Cat­echism sees them as partners and not opponents, as two sides of one and the same coin. It all highlights the fact that we so easily create dilemmas where none exist.

The same applies to the distinction of "organized" and "unorganized." When I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, and even beyond that, I was told by some that the church should not be involved in "organized" evan­gelism efforts. It should all come naturally. Believers should simply live as believers. They should just let their light shine. They should embrace their prophetic calling and work it out with gusto. Sounds good! And it is!

But then a rider was attached, namely that we don't need anything else. In the church there should not be such things as organized evangelistic activities. Hands off local church! Leave it to the members! Do not go where you are not called to go.

Clergy or Laity?←⤒🔗

Still, this was not the only dilemma making the rounds in my youth. There was another and in some ways it was akin to the old clergy-laity distinction that was so ram­pant in the Roman Catholic Church at the time of the Ref­ormation. According to this view, only the ordained can really do evangelism. They took the words of our Lord at the end of the gospel of Matthew about making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them as applying only to the "eleven disciples" (Matthew 28:16) and used them to suppos­edly prove that evangelism work is ordained work.

They did the same with the word "preaching." They said that this too is something that only ordained folk can do, so hands off you people in the pew.

False Dilemmas←⤒🔗

Is this true? Can one drive a proper wedge between "organized" and "unorganized," between "clergy" and "laity"? I would suggest to you that these are false and improper dilemmas.

For why does "organized" need to be pitted against "unorganized"? Can one not say that in truth these are two aspects or dimensions of one and the same calling? True, the members of the church should be witnesses to Christ in this world without having to be told, trained, and programmed. They should do what comes naturally to new people. But at the same time what is wrong with the church giving them some additional training? What is wrong with programs and efforts that compliment and supplement these things? Can and should the two not go hand in hand?

As for that other matter of clergy doing the heavy lifting when it comes to evangelism and the laity more or less standing on the sidelines, since when is that a bib­lical model? Those who say that the ending of Matthew's gospel applies to the ordained only are overreaching themselves. They overlook the fact that the last verse of that ending reads, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (20). Are those words only for the eleven disciples, or for the ordained? I thought that these wonderful words of com­fort applied to the whole church? You see, this ending is not about just some in the church. It is about all in the church.

Of course, that still leaves that word "preaching." How are we to understand it? Is it an exclusive word? One needs to be careful here. In Acts 8 we read about persecution in the church at Jerusalem and the result was that the believers were scattered. What did they do in such a dire situation? Acts 8:4 says that they "preached the word wherever they went." Interesting! While the apostles stayed behind in Jerusalem and hunkered down in their bunkers, the rank and file took it upon them­selves to spread the Word. Was that permissible? Ob­viously, it was.

Do you see how care needs to be exercised here? While it is true that only some in the church are called to preach the Word in the setting of weekly worship, it is also true that the calling to make known the Good News rests with all who are in Christ. They may not be doing it in a deep, systematic or scholarly fashion, but bring it and spread it they must.

An Organic Approach←⤒🔗

Perhaps now you are beginning to sense exactly where I am going with all this. What I want to stress is that the work of reaching out is a work that needs to be done on many fronts, in different ways, using all sorts of people. The minister has a calling to preach to the con­gregation about its responsibility to shine like stars in the universe, all the while holding out to the world "the word of Life" (Philippians 2:15, 16). As well he needs to teach the youth of the church that they should be "walkie-talkies" for Christ. The elders who visit the homes of the members need to encourage them to interact with and be there for their neighbours. The Christian school teacher should seek to hone and develop the talents of his or her students in order that they will become vibrant kingdom workers. Do you see how the one should complement the other? We are all to do what we can to promote the prophetic task of the church.

Educating the Flock←⤒🔗

At the same time there is a role here for special cours­es in evangelism and apologetics (defending the faith). Unfortunately in today's world we are confronted not only with the pagan and the unbeliever, but also with the atheist, the agnostic, and the cult follower. Faced with the former we bring the gospel; faced with the latter we defend the gospel. Indeed, the church leadership would do well to set aside some time every year doing more than just its regu­lar work. Ecclesiastical maintenance is necessary but so is ecclesiastical stimulation. It should not settle for the status quo but be going on the offensive. It should be asking itself how it can better equip its members. "Do those under our care know how to explain the gospel in plain terms?" If not, we need to teach them. "Do the members of the flock know how to deal with the Mormon who knocks on their door or the secular humanist who is always poisoning their work environment?" If not, there is a skill here that needs to be taught.

Church Library←⤒🔗

Another aspect that may need some work is the church library. I may be wrong but it seems to me that all too many church libraries are dominated by the Francine Rivers and Janette Oke literary genre. It may entertain, but whether or not it always educates is another question.

In light of that it would be beneficial if church librar­ies carried more meat and less fluff. Every time I go to my local Christian bookstore I come away disappointed. If what is offered there is a reflection of the current state of Christianity in our land then we are in deep, deep trouble. Entertainment reading, prophetic speculation, feel good religion, endless self-help manuals, toys, and trinkets fill the shelves, but a good, informative, biblical­ly based book is hardly to be found.

Hence here is a calling for church libraries. Identify, purchase, promote, and loan out stuff that feeds minds, shapes wills, fires up hearts, and moves feet.

Courses for the Community←⤒🔗

When it comes to moving feet, the question is also, "How can we move our church feet into the world and how can we move worldly feet into the church?" To that end I would recommend that your church take a serious look at an ever growing number of evangelism courses. These include: A Gift from Heaven (RET), Christianity Ex­plored (The Good Book Company), Emmaus Bible Course (Emmaus Correspondence Center Canada), Two Ways to Live (Matthias Media), 9Marks (led by Mark Dever).

Perhaps you noticed that The Alpha Course is not on the above list. This has to do with that the fact that while Nicky Gumbel, the founder, is an excellent communicator, his ma­terial has a definite Pentecostal-Arminian slant to it. It takes a considerable amount of serious editing for a Reformed church to do something meaningful with this material.

Indeed, all of the material that you come across for possible use will need to be carefully vetted and scrutin­ized. As always be discerning and evaluate it all, making sure that you have your Reformed confessional glasses on as you do so.

With that in mind you will also find a lot of material that can be helpful and that can form the basis for a great outreach course. One of the courses above that comes highly recommended is Christianity Explored. It is currently being used by a large and growing number of faithful Reformed and Presbyterian churches in different parts of the world.

Vacation Bible School←⤒🔗

Another effort that churches should consider when it comes to their evangelism arsenal is vacation Bible school or VBS. Unlike the previous programs that target adults, this one has the needs of neighbourhood children in mind. It seeks to introduce them to the gospel using story and song, art and activities, kindness and gentleness.

The drawback to VBS is that it is short. Most programs last only one week. Still, it is sometimes surprising what a difference a week can make in a young person's life. It is also great to see how it stimulates the army of volunteers that are needed to make something like this happen.

Greeters←⤒🔗

Another but different part of the evangelistic picture has to do with greeters. I don't know about you but I have been to some Reformed churches as a visitor, both in Canada and elsewhere, and no one even offers a greet­ing or bothers to introduce themselves. At the same time some of these same churches spend a lot of money and make a lot of noise about doing evangelism. It is all a very odd, cold, and forbidding business.

What a shame too! Here is such a simple and obvious thing. All it takes is asking for some volunteers to step forward, come to church early, wear a smile, perhaps put on a Greeter tag, utter a word of welcome, and stick out a hand. In some cases they may also introduce strangers to that Sunday's host family. Is that so hard?

It's time to end and I have not even gotten around to mentioning literature distribution, live feed and radio broadcasting, reading rooms, and countless other things, but I hope that you are beginning to get the picture. A truly effective evangelism program requires the involve­ment of different members, all sorts of different efforts, and lots of different talents. It takes a multi-facetted approach and an all church effort.

If your church is doing this, that's great. If not, then it is time to pray and volunteer. If it is doing a little of this, find ways to do more.

May the Lord see fit to bless our churches and mem­bers in such a way that the light of the gospel shines ever brighter in our neighbourhoods.