Hebraic Musing – Evangelism and discipleship when Understanding is lacking?

Hebraic Musing – Evangelism and discipleship when Understanding is lacking?

How to evangelize a people who totally lack understanding? 
                        Maybe discipling into manhood has to come before evangelism?

I listened to David Sawatzki describe his church-planting challenges in Russia after Communism devastated the male ego. Sometimes we automatically assume a level of understanding by those we want to evangelize. How important is understanding in order to accept my words and store up my commands?  Prov. 2:1-6 continues by calling for ‘understanding’ six times in Proverbs 2:1-6. How does one achieve understanding?     Deut. 6:7-9 tells us how to disciple -- Impress them (Father God’s Words) on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.  We impress them on our children, or disciples, at all times as we live life!   And if understanding comes from discipleship, how are we to disciple? 

David explained how Communism left its damage on the psyche of the Russian people, especially the men.  He found that ‘understanding manhood’ was totally, yes totally, lacking –

·         Communism had taken away man’s identity, and thus his dignity, by taking his land, tools, children, job, education, competitiveness, etc.  Man became a ward of the state.

·         Communism left men with a survival, isolationist, passive, worthless and self-destructing attitude toward himself.

·         Communism had stripped men of their identity and left virtually all of them drinking vodka and beating their wives and children. Many spent considerable time in prison.

·         Communism eliminated a loving father image to emulate.  Young men only remember being beaten and berated by their drunken fathers.  So how will they treat their own sons?  “Like father, like son.”

David referred frequently to the consumption of vodka as the result of passivity and the key cause of abuse. But I could not help but see the parallel to the beer consumption in poor countries of Latin America and the meth consumption in poorer areas of the States. The parallels to the evangelism efforts to ‘down and outers’ in the mountains of Honduras and even here in the USA were shocking. 

It was interesting that David’s ministry to the young Russian men had to start with Torah-type study “In the Beginning” and to build the case for God from scratch. Only then could the need for a savior be recognized. David had to re-build men with competitive, confident, purposeful attitudes through challenges and perseverance leading to rewards. Book learning and preaching does not build or re-build men.  The male ego-restoration requires experiential challenges and accomplishments in order to develop the attitude of a man. Challenging experiences and overcoming of obstacles gave the men understanding of what it means to be a man.

The physically and mentally challenging exercises reminded me of the 10 day rugged Quetico Provincial Park canoe trips in Canada that I did with my boys in their formative years.  That did more for them than any book learning could teach.  Similarly, Moses had the task of rebuilding the Israelites after their 400 years of slavery in Egypt and it was done by enduring life challenges and developing experiential faith.

David then conducted a ‘becoming a man’ ritual reminiscent of a Bar Mitzvah (classic ‘rite of passage’).  In so doing, the need for a Savior becomes meaningful. And ‘friendship discipling’ of a believer begins.

Points to ponder

Is discipleship a book and preaching process?   Or is it experiential?

Go make disciples.   Shalom.

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd