Here is why Raphaël Anzenberger recommends reading the book "Sustainable Evangelization"
"It is not you who have chosen me, but I have chosen you, and I have appointed you, that you may go and bear fruit, and your fruit may endure, that whatever you ask of the Father in my name he gives you ”(John 15.16).
It was late, we were exhausted. This missionary trip was not going as we expected. Why such resistance to our proposals? Yet the plan was perfect. In the middle of the Cameroonian night, I pray that the Lord inspires me. We must encourage the troops. There is still a week to go, maybe we can save the day? So much energy expended; in fundraising, over two years of preparation, and all those people praying for us over there in France! I open my Bible and read John 15 aloud. Tired faces stare into space. Yet I feel that the Word of God is working. " I have chosen you, and I have appointed you, that you will go and bear fruit, and your fruit may remain. ": this verse leaps from the pages to the reading. We jump with him. Pause.
“… bore fruit …”. The issue of fruit is therefore not taboo! We are entitled to be frustrated if we do not bear fruit in our mission, Jesus says so! This journey is not bearing fruit, “Lord give us fruit! »Pause.
"… and may your fruit remain ". Not only is the issue of fruit not taboo, but its longevity is a sign of its quality. Fruit yes, but fruit that remains! Like those apples spread out on the straw mattresses in my parents' cellar in Alsace which delight the taste buds until spring. However, the conclusion is clear: this trip borders on failure. " Lord give us fruit that remains! " Pause.
"… so that you will go, and bear fruit ". Maybe the problem, suddenly, is the way we're going ... Long pause followed by an opening parenthesis.
"As the Father has sent me, I also send you", Jesus will say a few pages later in the Gospel according to John (20:21). If we want to bear fruit, fruit that remains, we have to go as Jesus went. John Stott, co-initiator of the Lausanne Movement will say, in his last sermon at the 2007 Keswick Convention:
These words are of immense importance. This is not only the Johannine version of the Great Commission, it is also an instruction as to their mission to the world which was to be like that of Christ. To what extent? The key to this text is in the phrase "sent". Just as Christ entered the world, so too must we enter the world of others. [1]
It makes sense: Jesus chooses us, sets us up so that we go into the world, as he went into the world and bore fruit which remains, until today! Our mission must follow the contours of its mission. Therein lies the secret of the fruit that remains. End of the parenthesis.
The Word of God makes us stand up as one man: we must repent. We entered the world of our Cameroonian friends like real French people: rational, grieving and never happy with the result. If we want to bear fruit that remains, we must relearn how to go. We have one week left. The game is worth the candle. And the Lord gave grace. Ten years later, I visited this village again with my wife. Everything we did was still bearing fruit. This was what we asked the Father in the name of Jesus sent him. And he gave it to us. Glory to God. End of story.
There are lessons that will stay forever in your memory, and in your heart.This first missionary experience, which dates back to my years as a young student of economics, was beneficial because it laid a new foundation in my vision of the mission. The Lord has chosen and established us for lasting evangelization. If there is no fruit, or if the fruit does not remain, we must ask ourselves how we go on mission.
To help us in this direction, Franck Segonne, a long-time friend and colleague, shares his expertise and experience with us here. Attention, sensitive and rebellious souls, go your way! Each page invites us to repent, to finally question what we have understood (or not understood) from the example of Jesus and Paul. Franck, as a good teacher, patiently revisits the texts of the New Testament, those we know, or think we know. From text to context. A dialogue between orthodoxy and orthopraxy. A coming and going to establish a solid missional hermeneutics so that the fruit of our labor remains.
I started reading this book in the departure lounge at Euro-Basel-Mulhouse Airport. I finished him sitting in the baggage claim room, as my suitcase began its umpteenth round on the conveyor belt, and the housekeeping team entered the scene before Nice airport closed. This book is simply fascinating. Thanks to Franck for opening our eyes to the benefits of sustainable evangelization!
- Raphaël Anzenberger
Director RZIM.fr and founder of the Internet portal Disciples.fr, assistant professor of Universities and intercultural studies, Columbia International University, United States, lecturer at the Free Faculty of Evangelical Theology of Vaux-sur -Seine for evangelism and discipleship.
Get the book "Lasting Evangelization" from the following Christian bookstores:
Publications Chrétiennes
Bookstore Chrétienne de Québec
Maison de la Bible
[1] John Stott, “The Model: Becoming More Like Christ”, (July 17, 2007), http://www.cslewisinstitute.org/Becoming_More_Like_Christ_Stott [free translation by the author ], accessed on 07/29/2019.
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