How Some People Are Using Crossways International's Materials to Reach Others for Christ

In 1983, a highly respected colleague attended a Crossways International (CI) seminar that I conducted. He has taught CI's various courses ever since to thousands of people. We have produced a 20-minute CD in which he discusses how he uses the materials.

When he conducts a new-member class, he leads participants through the 30-unit course titled The Divine Drama®. He states that doing so enables prospective members gain a proper understanding of the Bible's "big story" and the themes that surface within it. They are discipled, not merely added to the membership list.

The courses that he uses more than any other is CI's 60-unit Crossways®. Often, people who have completed that course sign up to do it again. On one occasion, a 72-year-old lady who had taught Sunday school for many years signed up for the course. After she had completed eight units, she came into the pastor's office with tears in her eyes. She said, sobbing, "Crossways is destroying my faith!" He was very concerned and spent 40 minutes discussing the matter with her. Then she said, "Pastor, I am beginning to understand something. I have taught Sunday school for many years, but I have never read the Bible!" She completed the course, and then signed up to do it again and continued to serve as a Sunday school teacher with passion.

What amazes me is one of the methods that my colleague used to reach out to non-members. He would sit at a table in McDonald's with some of CI's basic materials on display. People would ask him what those materials were all about, and he would explain the materials to them. Others would gather around the table, and the discussion would sometimes continue for two hours! Those "searching" people were more prepared to talk in McDonald's than sit in a church pew!

We would do well to ask ourselves, "Do we merely invite our people to sit, stand, sing, say, and scatter, or do we inspire and equip them to study, search, seek, stoop, and sweat?" How much time do we spend getting Sunday school teachers, committee and board members, and parents (above all others) into God's Word in depth? Sad to say, many parents are prepared to practice "drop off" Christianity when it comes to their children's spiritual growth. Their attitude is, "You teach my kids! That's what we pay you to do!"

Note well: Several years ago, the president of a large US denomination pointed out the following statistics: 50% of children baptized make it to confirmation class, and 50% of those confirmed are still in the church when they turn 20 years old. Do the math: only 25% of those baptized are still around 20 years later. Unless we do something to turn things around, within a few decades church attendance in North America will be what it now is in Europe!

New Pope, More Hope

I am impressed by what Pope Francis is saying and showing to the world at large. What he is saying and showing is consistent with his previous ministry in South America. While he served as an archbishop in Argentina, he lived in a simple apartment, traveled by bus rather than in a high-class ecclesiastical limousine, and cared for the poor. He is demonstrating the same pattern of behavior in his new role as Pope. He says he wants to establish a "poor church" that cares for "the poor." In Rome, he has declined to move into the opulent papal apartments, does not wear ostentatious papal vestments, and travels in the Vatican bus, not in the papal limousine. On the Thursday evening prior to Good Friday, he demonstrated the servant lifestyle that Jesus wants His brothers and sisters to embrace: He washed feet!

His action in washing the feet of twelve prison inmates (including two women) impressed me. Although some church officials were unhappy about his washing the feet of the two women (one of whom was a Muslim), we would do well to remember that although on the evening before His crucifixion Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, on another occasion He permitted a woman with an unsavory reputation to wash His feet (Luke 7:36-50).

There is good reason to believe that Pope Francis plans to focus on helping people understand the Real Jesus and reflect His servant lifestyle in all that they think, say, and do. Yes, Jesus invites people to believe in Him as forgiving Savior, but He also calls people to follow and reflect Him as Servant Lord, full-time. I pray that the Pope's mind, message, and manner will make an impact around the world!

Preach or Teach?

When I began graduate studies in the US in 1967, it did not take me long to understand that, in my previous studies, I had been taught a lot about dogma but not much about the Bible’s “big story.” Furthermore, although I had been taught something about how to preach, I had not been taught much about how to teach. Little wonder then that since 1979, I have experienced much joy in heading up the ministry of Crossways International (CI), where the focus is on knowing the Bible’s big story, teaching that big story, and using teaching graphics to help people understand, believe, live, show, and share the biblical message.

When I began graduate studies in the US in 1967, it did not take me long to understand that, in my previous studies, I had been taught a lot about dogma but not much about the Bible’s “big story.” Furthermore, although I had been taught something about how to preach, I had not been taught much about how to teach. Little wonder that since 1979, I have experienced much joy in heading up the ministry of Crossways International (CI) where the focus is on knowing the Bible’s big story, teaching that big story, and using teaching graphics to help people understand, believe, live, show, and share the biblical message.

Soon after launching CI, I read something that has remained with me: “Tell me and I will forget; show me and I will remember; involve me and I will understand.” How often do the Gospels refer to Jesus preaching? Never! Instead, the Gospels refer to Jesus as a teacher, as a rabbi, and teaching about 115 times. It takes about six to eight hours to prepare a sermon and about 15 to 20 minutes to preach it. However, how can a preacher expect people to understand and remember by listening to a 15- to 20-minute sermon that took many hours to put together?

Although we read of Jesus blessing and hugging children, we never read of Him teaching them. Parents were to do that. If Jesus taught adults and played with children, why do the majority of churches today teach children and play with adults? And what do they teach them? Materials prepared for teaching children often contain edited, adapted, “dumbed down” versions of the biblical story. The classic examples of that “editing” show up in materials that deal with the lives of David and Solomon. If we do our homework on 2 Samuel 1 through 1 Kings 11, we find that David was “a political animal” (to quote Jewish scholar, Robert Alter) and that Solomon treated many of his subjects cruelly; among other things, he enslaved them. If anything, David serves as the foil for Jesus. David and Jesus were dead opposites in relation to lifestyle and kingdom–style. What does it mean that David was “a man after God’s own heart”? It means that he was the one who captured Jerusalem, named it “the city of David,” made it his capital, brought the Ark of the Covenant there, and began the practice of worshiping and offering sacrifice in one place—Jerusalem; read 2 Samuel 5:6–11; 6:1–19; ch. 24. However, Jesus attacked the “salvation marketing system” being conducted within Jerusalem’s walls.

Yes, we need to teach children and adults that we are sinners, that Jesus died for our sins, and that we shall go to heaven. However, the Jesus revealed in the Gospels is much greater than the majority of Christians understand. Jesus’ definition and demonstration of God’s kingdom so angered the Jewish religious and political leaders that they had Him crucified.

Our Hope Is in the Kingdom, not a Nation

I spent most of my first 48 years living and working in Australia and New Zealand—two nations that still belong to the British Commonwealth. During those years, Aussies and Kiwis were taught to sing:

            Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves.

            Britons never, never, never will be slaves.

Down through the centuries, empires and nations have produced statements and songs that reflect the one quoted above. However, with the passing of the years, I have questioned more and more the appropriateness and validity of such statements. After all, Britannia never did rule the waves, and, regrettably, it played a leading role in the slave trade. In the early decades of the twentieth century, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill stated, “The British Empire will rule the world for the next one thousand years.”  But his prediction did not come to pass!

Recently, I read a book by Richard Hughes titled Christian America and the Kingdom of God. I have found it to be most fascinating and insightful. In it, Hughes analyzes the Bible’s “Big Story,” the message of the Old Testament prophets, the narrative embedded in the four Gospels, and the theology contained in Paul’s writings. He then offers insights in relation to the concepts of “Christian America” and “The Kingdom of God.” I am now working through this book for the second time. Next to the Bible, it is the most marked up book in my library.

I believe that this book is a must read for those who claim allegiance to Jesus as Savior and Lord. Sad to say, we live in a challenged world, and the only “peace plan” that will work in time and for eternity is that embedded in the teachings and ministry of Jesus, the radical forgiving Servant Messiah. May this book impact your life as it has mine!

Do People Notice Jesus in Your Ministry?

Years ago, while I was doing graduate work in biblical studies in the US, I came to know a fellow student named Robin Leaver, an Anglican clergyman from England. When returning to Australia in 1971, my family and I spent some time in England. While I was there, I visited Robin who was then serving a parish in Reading near Oxford. He shared with me a statement that I shall never forget:

“When the day comes that I want people to notice me rather than Jesus, I will have invalidated my ministry.”

I have visited England a number of times this past decade to conduct seminars for the Anglican Church Mission Society (CMS). Although the headquarters of CMS are now based in Oxford, my first visit with CMS leaders was at their headquarters in London. I was deeply moved when the Secretary-General of CMS at the time, Timothy Dakin (who is now the bishop of Winchester), arranged for me to meet Dr. N.T. Wright, who was then the Resident Scholar at Westminister Abbey.

On the way to Dr. Wright’s apartment, I felt embarrassed. How was I, an ordinary Aussie from the land of kangaroos, to address such a distinguished biblical scholar? So, after he and his wife welcomed me into their apartment, I sheepishly asked him, “How would you like me to address you?” He reached out, grabbed my right hand, and said with a beaming smile, “Call me Tom!”

I shall never forget that hour with Tom. I came away convinced that I had spent time with someone who wants only that people would notice Jesus! Tom’s book, Who Was Jesus? is one which you would do well to read.

What H. G. Wells and C. S. Lewis Wrote That Has Influenced My Biblical Thinking

The following three statements have greatly influenced my biblical thinking. H. G. Wells wrote the first two statements and C. S. Lewis wrote the third.

“Jesus was too great for his disciples. And in view of what he plainly said, is it any wonder that all who were rich and prosperous felt a horror of strange things, a swimming of their world at his teaching?  Perhaps the priests and rulers understood him better than his followers. He was dragging out all the little private reservations they had made from social service into the light of a universal religious life.  He was like a terrible moral huntsman, digging people out of the snug burrows in which they had lived hitherto. In the white blaze of his kingdom there was to be no property, no privilege, no pride, and no precedence, no motive and reward but love. Is it any wonder that people were dazzled and blinded, and cried out against him? Even His disciples cried out when he would not spare them that light. Is it any wonder that the priests realized that between this man and themselves there was no choice but that he, or their priestcraft, should perish? Is it any wonder that the Roman soldiers, confronted and amazed by something soaring over their comprehension and threatening all their disciplines, should take refuge in wild laughter, and crown him with thorns, and robe him in purple, and make a mock Caesar of him?  For to take him seriously was to enter into a strange and alarming life, to abandon habits, to control instincts and impulses, and to embrace an incredible happiness. Is it any wonder that to this day this Galilean is too much for our small hearts?” (Wells, The Outline of History, Vol. 1, pp. 425-6)

“The doctrine of the Kingdom God, which was the main teaching of Jesus, and which plays so small a part in the Christian creeds, is certainly one of the most revolutionary doctrines that ever stirred and changed human thought.” (Wells, The Outline of History, Vol. 2, p. 8)

“There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch is claimed by God—and counterclaimed by Satan.” (Lewis, "Christianity and Culture," Christian Reflections, p. 33)

Yes, Jesus mission was and is much, much bigger than most people understand!

Harry Wendt

Delusions and One-Liners for the New Year

The year 2012 is now history, and the doors into 2013 have opened. We shall not be saying, "Merry Christmas" for another year. However, we shall be saying, "Have a blessed New Year!" What do we mean by that? We would do well to remember that Jesus never equates "being blessed" with possessing and enjoying material things. He equates it only with knowing Him as the forgiving Savior and with following Him as Servant-Lord.

One of the appendices in Crossways International's In Heaven's Name, Why on Earth? is titled "Ten Deadly Delusions." If you do not have a copy of this publication, you can purchase one from us and work through those delusions with others; the answers to each delusion are included in that publication. Doing so will empower you to get your people beyond "popular opinion" to "divine revelation."

My wife, Chloris, and I send out a Christmas letter each year to about 230 partners and friends around the world. In our most recent letter, we included some intriguing one-liners that were sent to me by Vic Pabellon, my colleague in the Philippines:

• Give God what's right--not left.
• A lot of kneeling will keep you in good standing.
• When praying, don't give God instructions; just report for duty.
• Don't wait for six strong men to bring you to church. Come now!
• Many people want to serve God, but only in an advisory capacity.
• It is easier to preach ten sermons than to live one.
• Peace starts with a smile.
• Many who sing,"Standing on the Promises" are content just to sit in the premises.
• If God is your co-pilot, swap seats.
• The best mathematical equation that I have ever seen: 1 cross + 3 nails = 4-given.

Give Jesus and me a lot of joy by sharing these insights and sayings with fellow-believers, family, and friends.

Harry Wendt