For Whose Glory?
Another thing bothered me about WinterJam. If you go to their web page, today, you will find that 47,417 decisions/rededications have been made by youth and adults at these concerts (we were stop #33 out of 36, I think).There was time in the middle of the concert for Tony Nolan, their guest speaker, to do an evangelism presentation. He was calling youth to Christ.
I worry that the way in which he did it was scare tactic. He told a story of a young woman who had committed herself to Christ at a WinterJam concert, and then two hours later, was killed in a car accident. He had those in the audience recite a prayer to themselves. "If you really meant it, raise your hand!" then "If you really meant it, stand up!" As the many of those present stood, they were asked to complete response cards, carried by volunteers at the end of their row. "You don't even need to go anywhere; just walk to the end of your row."
Don't get me wrong -- I think accepting Christ can be as simple as believing. I think walking with Christ, day to day is another matter. I asked our congregation the other day what would have happened if Andrew had brought Simon to Jesus, and then Jesus had never said a word to him. Would Simon have become Peter?
I felt like the "decisions" made at WinterJam were shallow, and I wonder if lives were changed at all. I wonder how lasting these decisions will be. I almost believe that these cards were collected and counted for the glory of WinterJam -- not for the glory of God.
Labels: Youth
posted by Kim at 5:37 PM
4 Comments:
Hello This is Tony Nolan. I would love to talk with you more about how you feel about what God did at Winter Jam. Please email me at tony@tonynolan.org. Our conversation may be one that you dont want posted on your blog, I want to respect that, however you did post your thoughts and I wanted to reply. If you would like for our talk to be public I am ok with that as well. I know you said waht you did to help the Kingdom of God and not hurt it so I trust that we will be able to talk. May God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Tony
Dear Sandpiper,
I would like to respond to your ideas you posted on your blog about Winter Jam.
You said…
I worry that the way in which he did it was scare tactic. He told a story of a young woman who had committed herself to Christ at a WinterJam concert, and then two hours later, was killed in a car accident.
There was no intent for this to be a scare tactic. It’s just that the event “marked me” and knowing that she died two hours later is something that still haunts me. Thinking that there are those in the crowd that will one day pass away and I have such a passion to see them connect with the love of our great God. Would you not be moved if you were me and that happen to someone you were speaking to? If you recall I said that the story “haunted” me. I will not recant from having a passion to make sure people are prepared when they die. I also spent more time on the doctrine of soteriology than I did the story of Ashley, Alex and Brandon. But because I simply shared the story it seems to have trumped the whole message and caused it to be about fear. Could you help me understand how?
You also said…
He had those in the audience recite a prayer to themselves.
No, the prayer was not to themselves…it was to God. He invites all to pray, (Romans 10:9,10, 13) "If you really meant it, raise your hand!" then "If you really meant it, stand up!" I light of Matt. 10:32,33, I understand to mean, that if someone claims to be a beliver (and that was the center of my message, namely making sure you have rightly believed in Jesus) then you need to let the whole world know. I actually called them to do the opposite of what you claimed I did. There was no, "You don’t have to do anything now that you have simply prayed", I called them to give their lives to God and tell the world about his great love and salvation.And to start process I invited them to start by confessing Christ there at the Arena.
And you also mentioned…
As the many of those present stood, they were asked to complete response cards, carried by volunteers at the end of their roww. "You don't even need to go anywhere; just walk to the end of your row."
I think this was taken out of contect here. I was trying to be sensitive to the Fire Marshalls at these Concerts who don’t want to see anybody come forward like they do at a Billy Grahman Event. They don’t want me preaching at all. But God gave me the system that we use, and it enables the people to just simply walk about 15 feet from their seats to a helper who will help them with the contact information. We get the info so that we can follow up and help them to go deeper with God for His glory. What makes that “shallow”?
I will check the blog again tomorrow for your reply. May God’s Kingdom be advanced for His glory as a result of the conversation you have started.
Tony Nolan
Tony;
First of all, I commend you for your dedication to the preaching of God's word and your commitment to sharing God with youth.
I never meant to belittle the effect that your experience with Ashley, Alex and Brandon had on your life. It is a tragic event, and I'm sure that it did "mark you," as you said.
I wonder why you tell it? I can't answer that, but it did seem to me, listening to you, that you meant it to persuade others to commit their lives to Christ, and it felt to me like you were using the emotion of fear to do that. That's my impression of what you were communicating.
I don't think that your whole message was about fear; however, the story about Ashley is the thing that I remember the most about what you said.
My remark about "reciting a prayer to themselves" was never meant to say that God wasn't involved in their heartfelt prayers. I just meant it as a phrase to distinquish the prayer from one spoken out loud. I used the phrase only so those (few) reading my post could picture the event.
To explain the phrase, "shallow" -- I believe (and I know you believe as well) that God can change lives. In an instant or in a lifetime. I certainly have the faith to believe that all 800+ cards that WinterJam received that night were heartfelt commitments to Christ. My experience tells me that even if they were, many of those decisions are fragile, and while we can help bring youth to Christ, we need to not stop there. I hope that those youth have a support group to help them to grow in faith, or I fear that the seeds planted by God will fall among weeds or on rocky ground. I'm glad to hear that you (or the organization) follows up, but I wonder how in depth that can be with 47,000+ people.
The loudests and most effective voice we have for Christ, I think -- more than raising our hands or standing up -- is a changed life. That speaks volumes. I pray that lives were changed by these decisions, but my experience is that we weak humans need more nurturing for us to bear fruit.
It's also the counting that bothered me, as if the NUMBER of decisions was more important than the individuals. Again, that may not be what you (or New Song) meant to imply, but that is what was heard from my chair.
Kim,
I understand. Thank you for the conversation. Your thoughts provoke me to be careful in my message.
As for the follow up and all that we (the Church organization) try to do to "ensure" fruit bearing, I have come to the place after serving our Lord in ministry for 16 years, that the Holy Spirit can do much with little. I also try not to insult the Spirit by thinking or creating a paridiagm of follow up that puts more trust in man pouring into the convert that the Spirit filling him or her.
As for the number thing, everyperson counts, (no pun intended) thats why I will personally contact each one of them and send them all devotions and other FREE resources. Eddie just loves to tell how many decisions were made. It has been strange to see how the church responds to that. I am surprised that anyone looks at it as a negative thing. We get excited about all kinds of numbers as humans. Paychecks, football scores, polls, stocks, years in a marriage, attendace at a special event, miles we travel, etc. But yet, when someone mentions a number that represents an idea of how many people made a significant commitment to Christ, people get weird about it. I dont fully get that but I do understand that it can create issues. From my stand point, it serves as one small way to track and celebrate the activity of God in a moment. Hey, God did the same thing all through Numbers and in Acts. And it is all FOR HIS GLORY. We are simply applauding Him for what He did.
I hope my comments have served to give you a better understanding of our hearts here at Winter Jam. It is a joy to be in the family of God with you and I pray that our Father would grant you many more days to enjoy the things in this World that you mentioned in the other blog, like sunsets, rain, watching sandpipers and soaking in the ocean!
Tony Nolan
Post a Comment
<< Home