Proclamation Even When No One is Listening

Just two days from completing our twelfth year at Christianity 201, even though it breaks our 4-year rule on original material, this seemed worth reconsidering.

It’s said that missionary statesman and Canadian pastor Oswald J. Smith would go out into the woods and preach to the trees. I am sure that some will say this is no different than modern preachers doing a midweek practice run in an empty auditorium, and I am 100% confident the response rate was extremely low.

Still, there are some who would say that many bloggers — especially Christian bloggers — are also preaching, metaphorically speaking, to the trees. There are just so many writers out there, and as readers know, each month we discover more and more of them. It’s easy to feel lost in such a sea of voices. Or to feel like a ‘voice crying in the wilderness.’

That phrase is from Isaiah 40, and all four gospels affirm this passage as fulfilled in John the Baptist.

1. Matthew 3:3
   This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
2. Mark 1:3
   “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
3. Luke 3:4
   As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.
4. John 1:23
   John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”

If John was using modern media today, I’m sure his wilderness experience would translate into low stats, or in church-related terms, low attendance. As he continued, the crowds came, but we know that while he preached his message of repentance with great conviction, and his prophetic word that The Messiah, the lamb of God had come into the world; we also know that later on he himself started to have some doubts as to the Messiah-identification being fulfilled in Jesus.

^{Matthew 11:2} When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples ³ to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

So knowing that John spoke in faith and not certainty, and knowing that his experience was a wilderness experience, we can be sure that John had days where he felt he was preaching to the trees.

But tree preaching is not a bad thing.

The speaking out of anything is a good test of what is in the heart. This can reveal a good heart condition or a bad heart condition. Yesterday, I said something out loud for which I am thankful that not even trees were present. Where did that come from?  It wasn’t something angry or rash or hate-filled, just something I might not have thought I was capable of thinking.

^{Luke 6:45} A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

It’s the same with writing. You reveal yourself to yourself when you write. Sometimes you mentally picture a three-paragraph outline, but end up with eight paragraphs because there were things in your heart and mind which overflowed as you sat at the keyboard.

You ask yourself, Is anyone reading all this?

American humorist Garrison Keillor tells a story from his college days of enjoying a particular extra-curricular activity: Working at the campus radio station. They play music and produce documentaries and report the news, but at the end of the term they discover that the station transmitter was never switched on. (I think he’s exaggerating this anecdote, but it makes for great narrative.)

Can you imagine a parallel for pastors and speakers? We happened upon this taking place when we were in Boston. It wasn’t a minister doing a practice run, but it was a regularly scheduled service to which no one had come, but they were determined to conduct the entire service anyway as an act of obedience, and an act of worship to God. Ruth Wilkinson described it in this older C201 blog post from 2010: If a Tree Falls in the Forest.

The first time I ran a part of Ruth’s description of that moment, in reference to Christian blog activity which was exploding at the time, I included this sentence: “Have you ever noticed how close “stats” sounds to “status?”  So stats-seeking is really status-seeking.

There are people I never met in person but I read them online. I knew for a fact that some of them only got 4 or 5 visitors a day. I’m sure they felt they are preaching to the trees. (And many of them simply gave up eventually.) But they were a great influence in my life. At the blogroll at Thinking Out Loud, I originally included some of the major Christian influencers as well as people who faithfully posted online in relative obscurity.

We often say,

We are responsible for the depth of our ministry and
God is responsible for the breadth.

which is very true.

But the depth of our ministry is cultivated in the secret and sacred places. What I’m saying here is that the Christian “proclaimer” should

• keep writing even when it seems that no one is listening
• keep sharing with that spouse, coworker or relative even it seems that nothing is getting through
• keep teaching that Sunday school class even when the kids are fighting, fooling around and talking
• keep recommending those books even when nobody buys them or borrows them from the church library
• keep serving those meals at the soup kitchen even it looks like all you’re doing is freeing up money they can spend on drugs or alcohol
• keep supporting that missionary even when his/her prayer letters contain frustration over a lack of measurable results
• keep sending cards and internet memes and birthday gifts to that wayward person who seems to have gone so distant from you and God

Why? Because of what is forming in you as you remain faithful, even when it seems that your efforts are met by nothing but the wind blowing through the trees.

^{Phil 2:13} for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

The Message renders this section as:

^12-13 What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.

Preaching in the Forest

It’s said that missionary statesman and Canadian pastor Oswald J. Smith would go out into the woods and preach to the trees. I am sure that some will say this is no different than modern preachers doing a midweek practice run in an empty auditorium, and I am 100% confident that when Oswald preached in the woods, the response rate was extremely low. No chipmunks or squirrels were saved.

Garrison Keillor tells a story of working a year at the campus radio station at his college, only to discover at the end of the year the transmitter had been shut off. The station ran a full schedule of programs, but they were doing it entirely for themselves.

Still, there are some who would say that many bloggers and podcasters — especially Christian ones — are also preaching, metaphorically speaking, to the trees, not because absolutely nobody is listening, but rather, because so many others are writing that it’s easy to feel lost in such a sea of voices. Or to feel like a ‘voice crying in the wilderness.’

That phrase is from Isaiah 40, and while there are narratives in the life of Christ which appear in all four gospels this is a case where all four use that exact Isaiah quotation to affirm the ministry of John the Baptist.

1. Matthew 3:3
   This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
2. Mark 1:3
   “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
3. Luke 3:4
   As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.
4. John 1:23
   John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”

If John was using modern media today, I’m sure his wilderness experience would translate into low stats, or in church-related terms, low attendance. As he continued, the crowds came, but we know that while he preached his message of repentance with great conviction, and his prophetic word that The Messiah, the lamb of God had come into the world; we also know that later on he himself  had doubts as to the Messiah-identification being fulfilled in Jesus.

When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Matthew 11:2-3

The wilderness mentality was hard to shake.

So knowing that John spoke in faith and not certainty, and knowing that his experience was a wilderness experience, we can be sure that John had days where he felt he was preaching to the trees.

But tree preaching is not a bad thing.

The speaking out of anything is a good test of what is in the heart. This can reveal a good heart condition or a bad heart condition. One time a few years ago, I said something out loud for which I am thankful that not even trees were present. Where did that come from? It wasn’t something angry or rash or hate-filled, just something I might not have thought I was capable of thinking.

Luke 6:45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

It’s the same with writing. You reveal yourself to yourself when you write. Sometimes you mentally picture a three-paragraph outline, but end up with eight paragraphs because there were things in your heart and mind which overflowed as you sat at the keyboard.

You ask yourself, Is anyone reading all this?

There are people I’ve never met in person but I read them online regularly. I know for a fact that some of them only get 4 or 5 visitors a day. I’m sure they feel they are preaching to the trees. But they have been a great influence in my life. Some are major Christian influencers while others are people who faithfully post online in relative obscurity.

So we’ll say things like

We are responsible for the depth of our ministry and
God is responsible for the breadth.

which is very true.

But the depth of our ministry is cultivated sometimes in the secret and almost-secret places. What I’m saying here is that you should

• keep writing even when it seems that no one is listening
• keep sharing with that spouse, coworker or relative even it seems that nothing is getting through
• keep teaching that Sunday school class even when the kids are fighting, fooling around and talking
• keep recommending those books even when nobody buys them or borrows them from the church library
• keep serving those meals at the soup kitchen even it looks like all you’re doing is freeing up money they can spend on drugs or alcohol
• keep supporting that missionary even when his/her prayer letters contain frustration over a lack of measurable results
• keep sending cards and birthday gifts to that wayward person who seems to have gone so distant from you and from God

Why? Because of what is forming in you as you remain faithful, even when it seems that your efforts are met by nothing but the wind blowing through the trees.

Phil 2:13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

The Message renders this section as:

12-13 What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.

Be the voice in the wilderness, but let your voice resonate in social media posts, empty auditoriums and forest woodlands.

The trees are listening, and perhaps so are others, more than you realize at the time.

---

What if?

What if someone was preaching to an empty auditorium, not because they were doing a practice run, but because it was a regularly scheduled service to which no one had come, but they were determined to conduct the entire service anyway as an act of obedience, and an act of worship to God?

We happened upon this taking place when we were in Boston. Ruth Wilkinson describes it in this older C201 blog post from 2010: If a Tree Falls in the Forest.

A Post-Resurrection Teaching

We often generalize that the days following the resurrection and before the ascension consisted of Jesus seeing people and being seen. But there are some great teaching moments that take place in that time period.

This devotional is by Ashley Bonnell at The Gideons Canada blog Send Me. Click the link in the title below to read it at source. Also, if you or someone you know speaks French, recently there was another shorter devotional by her that was translated en Francais. (If you want to know what you’re sending this is the English version.)

Me? Mission?

Did you know that after Jesus rose from the dead—before going back to glorious Heaven—He stuck around earth a little while longer to relay one important message to His disciples? One main message.  Of everything he could say in His last moment on earth, Jesus chooses one message in particular.

When we think about it like this, we realize that whatever His message, it had to be pretty important for Jesus to stick around to deliver it.

So what was it?

It was the Great Commission. Let’s look to Matthew 28…

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

It’s interesting the context in which Jesus says this. It’s from a position of “It is finished”—meaning, Jesus already defeated death. Jesus already paid for your sins; He has already made you righteous through His sacrifice. And in light of this, Jesus invites us on this mission that we get to be a part of.

Maybe you feel like this is an enormous message and task, and you as the messenger, aren’t quite sure if you have what it takes to do this… But I assure you, Christ in you—you have all you need.

Take Moses for example,

God told Moses he was going to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, out of years of slavery. That was quite an impossible task. And Moses, like us, felt inadequate. Moses responds to God saying,

Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?
(Exodus 3:11)

And God says:

I will surely be with you; (Exodus 3:12)

God’s presence with us is all we need. It is God who does the transformative, freeing work—not us. God promises us, just as he promised Moses, that He will be with us; He will not leave us, or forsake us.

Despite God’s promise, we still sometimes feel incapable. Moses too doubted God’s presence to be enough because of his own inadequacy. But you see, God can use anything and anyone He wishes to reveal Himself. Look what he says to Moses’ doubt:

The Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod. (Exodus 4:2)

And then God instructs Moses to throw it on the ground, and it turns into a slivering snake.

“This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you. (Ex 4:5)

God uses Moses and his rod—both useless in and of themselves. A stick cannot free slaves, and Moses alone couldn’t either… Just as our talent, gifting, and interests and human strength can’t save people…

Jesus demonstrates, through Moses who feels inadequate, and the useless rod—His life-giving, transformative power. God demonstrates that He can bring a dead thing to life; a dead piece of wood into a live snake.

God does the same with believers like you and I—He takes us as we are, in our inadequacies and weaknesses, and He takes the things in hands that are in and of themselves useless, and demonstrates His life-giving power.

God is with you, and He will work through you … not because of anything you do, but because of who He is. God working through us, will set people free, set nations free, and bring people to faith in Christ.

Don’t hesitate, don’t doubt. Look to Jesus, and GO and Tell!

Preaching to the Trees

It’s said that missionary statesman and Canandian pastor Oswald J. Smith would go out into the woods and preach to the trees. I am sure that some will say this is no different than modern preachers doing a midweek practice run in an empty auditorium, and I am 100% confident the response rate was extremely low.

Still, there are some who would say that many bloggers — especially Christian bloggers — are also preaching, metaphorically speaking, to the trees. Look at the growth of blog posts just at WordPress:

It’s easy to feel lost in such a sea of voices. Or to feel like a ‘voice crying in the wilderness.’

That phrase is from Isaiah 40, and all four gospels affirm this passage as fulfilled in John the Baptist.

1. Matthew 3:3
   This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
2. Mark 1:3
   “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
3. Luke 3:4
   As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.
4. John 1:23
   John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”

If John was using modern media today, I’m sure his wilderness experience would translate into low stats, or in church-related terms, low attendance. As he continued, the crowds came, but we know that while he preached his message of repentance with great conviction, and his prophetic word that The Messiah, the lamb of God had come into the world; we also know that later on he still had doubts as to the Messiah-identification being fulfilled in Jesus.

^{Matthew 11:2} When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples ³ to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

So knowing that John spoke in faith and not certainty, and knowing that his experience was a wilderness experience, we can be sure that John had days where he felt he was preaching to the trees.

But tree preaching is not a bad thing.

The  speaking out of anything is a good test of what is in the heart. This can reveal a good heart condition or a bad heart condition. Yesterday, I said something out loud for which I am thankful that not even trees were present. Where did  that come from?  It wasn’t something angry or rash or hate-filled, just something I might not have thought I was capable of thinking.

^{Luke 6:45} A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

It’s the same with writing. You reveal yourself to yourself when you write. Sometimes you mentally picture a three-paragraph outline, but end up with eight paragraphs because there were things in your heart and mind which overflowed as you sat at the keyboard.

You ask yourself, Is anyone reading all this?

There are people I’ve never met in person but I read them online each week. I know for a fact that some of them only get 4 or 5 visitors a day. I’m sure they feel they are preaching to the trees. But they have been a great influence in my life. At the blogroll at Thinking Out Loud, I include some of the major Christian influencers as well as people who faithfully post online in relative obscurity.

So we’ll say things like

We are responsible for the depth of our ministry and
God is responsible for the breadth.

which is very true.

But the depth of our ministry is cultivated sometimes in the secret and almost-secret places. What I’m saying here is that you should

• keep writing even when it seems that no one is listening
• keep sharing with that spouse, coworker or relative even it seems that nothing is getting through
• keep teaching that Sunday school class even when the kids are fighting, fooling around and talking
• keep recommending those books even when nobody buys them or borrows them from the church library
• keep serving those meals at the soup kitchen even it looks like all you’re doing is freeing up money they can spend on drugs or alcohol
• keep supporting that missionary even when his/her prayer letters contain frustration over a lack of measurable results
• keep sending cards and birthday gifts to that wayward person who seems to have gone so distant from you and God

Why? Because of what is forming in you as you remain faithful, even when it seems that your efforts are met by nothing but the wind blowing through the trees.

^{Phil 2:13} for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

The Message renders this section as:

^12-13 What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.