On Resurrection Sunday, this year, I was speaking with a beloved servant of the Lord, “What was the biggest need among the Lord’s people at the present time?” I asked. We spoke about the very encouraging crop of youth people in North America, the best I have seen in my lifetime. We discussed the need for a restored vision of what God can do with the gospel. He mentioned he felt that while we believe in the autonomy of the local church, that we need to grasp that there is a great work going on, much larger than any given local church. We need to sense our role in this larger sphere. Many have become parochial, only interested if something helps their local assembly.
There are para-church organizations that present this global vision. And they love to have our young people join because these young people are generally well-taught, well-supported, and are not encumbered with denominationalism. And though much good may be done, it does not build up the local church. Could there not be something done on a larger scale, but at the level of God-ordained local churches?
I went home that night, but not to sleep. I thought about the first century church, of the Day of Pentecost with perhaps 10,000 believers. I thought of the cooperation that went on with Paul and the early saints. He spoke in Acts 20 of the two approaches used in those days: “both publicly and from house to house” (v. 20). He knew that one-on-one contact was necessary, but that public evangelism was also essential if the great commission was to be fulfilled.
Then I thought of the great need in the North American mission field–scores of major cities where there is no New Testament assembly to our knowledge: Little Rock, AR; Mobile, AL; Stockton and Modesta, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; Las Vegas NV; and many others (about 25 major cities). In addition, there are many cities where there is only one small work–Chattanooga, TN; Sioux Falls, SD; Indianapolis, IN…
My mind went next to the early pioneers who established assemblies here a century ago. Many of them– Donald Ross, Donald Munro, John Smith, etc.–came from northeast Scotland. A young man was strategically placed in each village along the coast, regularly they came together in one of these towns for a gospel outreach. God would bless for “where there is unity, there the Lord adds the blessing.” Once the blessing began to subside, the young men would return to their home bases, refreshed and encouraged, leaving the local man to care for the new believers.
I remembered how, in my childhood, the Hamilton, St. Catharines, and Niagara Falls, ON, assemblies banded together for gospel outreaches in the Niagara Peninsula of Southern Ontario. These people had vision! And the results are obvious. There are more than 100 assemblies within 100 miles of my hometown.
We mostly think of evangelism in terms of the book of Judges–guerrilla warfare–a few soldiers working alone, quickly in and out. But what about Joshua, with all the people going together to do exploits for God? Even the tribes east of Jordan were expected to cross over and fight alongside their brethren first. One slays a thousand but two put two thousand to flight!
I thought about the conferences in Cincinnati, Lexington and Dearborn (DV), with more than a thousand believers meeting together for mutual edification. They have been a great encouragement to the Lord’s people, and we thank Him for this. But these conferences are mostly intake, not outflow. Would it be possible to have a thousand serious believers gather for a gospel outreach?
As hints of the dawn appeared, I fell to my knees and prayed that the Lord would show Himself strong on our behalf. And to my heart came the outline of what could be a bold and blessed experiment to “prove [Him] now herewith.” Of course, first, we declare we do not want this if it is not the mind of God. But consider, for a moment, the possibilities. What if:
* One hundred or so dependable men, who have the confidence of the Lord’s people and a zeal in the gospel, would gather ten or so committed believers from their area who would spend time each week (say on a Sunday afternoon) learning Bible verses useful in the gospel, practicing witness skills, praying for the gospel work locally and elsewhere, and working in their neighborhood in concerted outreach.
* Each group and their leader would also be exercised to find prayer warriors, perhaps older people, who would specifically pray for these laborers by name. Thus, for each soldier in the battle, intercessors would be lifting their hands on the mountain. The intercessors would be regularly updated as to the names of people who show interest in the gospel.
* These one thousand living sacrifices would be 18 years of age or older (we would encourage not just young people but able-bodied believers of every age), willing to make a long-term commitment to active evangelism, having the approval of their local elders, and having shown zeal to work in the local assembly.
* It would be necessary to look to the Lord to produce at least two couples to move (as Aquila and Priscilla did with Paul to Ephesus) to the location to establish a beachhead for the gospel offensive, and to remain to work with those reached. This obviously is key to the whole effort. These workers must have not only the confidence of their local brethren but the general confidence of believers at large in order for Christians to be willing to invest much time and effort in the area. The foundations must be well-laid or the whole thing will crumble. (There are already some key servants exercised to be involved. Please pray!)
* A few Christians would look after making logistical arrangements (food and lodging–probably at a college dorm, literature, etc.), but there purposefully would be no new parachurch organization established. All selecting of the workers, preparation, etc., would be at the local church level. In many parts of the country, there are already evangelism groups in place. This would simply be a week-long field trip for exercised believers from various assemblies.
Lord willing, and if there is sufficient interest, the groups who have been working in their own areas would make arrangements for perhaps the second week of June 1998 to travel for a joint effort with other assembly believers to a selected city. My recommendation would be Little Rock, AR, a city I believe the Lord laid on my heart. Note: there is almost no assembly works in the whole state of Arkansas, the city is more or less equidistant from both coasts; there are some healthy assemblies within 6-8 hours’ drive who could help the new work in its formative years; although a major city, it is not as large as some, and could be covered by 1000 people in one week.
Hopefully the people of the city would already have been informed as to who we are and what we were planning to do, before we arrived. In this way, it would not be necessary to tell the residents, one by one, that we are not members of a door-knocking cult.
Transportation would be provided by each local group–either a van driven from home or a fly-and-rent situation. Surely those not able to come could invest in the effort financially. The vans would be necessary for getting around locally during the outreach.
If the Christians arrived on a Saturday, the Lord’s Day–after the Lord’s Supper–would be used for orientation and prayer, with an open-air meeting in the evening. A selection of good gospel hymns could be learned in parts by the participants before, so the congregational singing would be an honor to the Lord.
Each day during the week, after prayer and breakfast, each group would go to their appointed area for door-to-door work, visiting in twos. The objectives would be: to share the gospel at the door; to leave helpful literature; to find people interested in a home Bible study with those who will be remaining; to invite residents to both the noon open-air and evening meetings.
Around 11 am , all workers would make their way to a downtown location for an open-air meeting–good singing, a testimony, a short gospel message, and an invite to the evening meetings to be held either in a large tent (one has been offered us) or a public building. The rest of the afternoon would be door-to-door.
The evening service would be simple: congregational singing, prayer, perhaps a testimony, and the gospel proclaimed. A location would be available after the meeting for inquirers, with Christians available.
Much more could be said, but I leave it at that for the present. Would you pray about this? We would also be very glad to hear from interested mature brethren as to your concerns and suggestions. We know that there will always be problems to surmount. But as General Foch cabled to his commander: “My left yields; my right is broken through; situation excellent; I attack.” The Lord said, “I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ” This is offensive, not defensive strategy. Let’s storm the ramparts for Him!