RE-THINKING EVANGELISM AND CHURCH REVITALIZATION – HAWAII STYLE
Gerardo Oudri, D.Min.
Growing up in Uruguay, South America, Hawaii always seemed like a surreal, distant, almost fairy-tailish kind of place. I never imagined I would one day visit such a paradisaic place. But God had different plans.
About a month ago, I went to Hawaii for the first time in my life. Together with over 30 leaders from across the North American Division, we spent a week in some of the Hawaiian islands (though most activities took place in Oahu) as part of a series of training events. Responding to an invitation by the Hawaii Conference leadership, and under the coordination of Pr. Jose Cortes II, we conducted several boot camps (on evangelism, church planting, church revitalization, etc.), both for pastors and local church leaders.
Like any other place in the planet, when it comes to mission and evangelism, Hawaii has its unique needs, challenges, and opportunities. While the Adventist Church has been present in Hawaii for over a century, spreading the gospel is not an easy task.(1)
One of the challenges, for instance, is Hawaii’s diversity. According to the 2020 US census, Hawaii is the most diverse state in the US.(2) Now, while diversity is something to be celebrated, it also often brings with it some challenges, for “it also represents differing cultural values, beliefs, and attitudes that must be considered when planning and implementing programs and services.”(3)
Another major challenge is its isolation. “Hawaii is the most isolated populated landmass in the world, and it is 2,500 miles across the Pacific Ocean from the western coast of the continental United States.”(4) This means that sending church leaders to training events in the “mainland” is practically impossible. Yes, technology can help, but there is something about spending time together, face-to-face (see Psalm 133). That is one element that made our visit to Hawaii special.
Many other challenges unique to Hawaii can be detailed here, such as, “homelessness, the high cost of living, human trafficking, and other social, moral, and economic effects of a vacation destination visited by millions every year.”(5) Rather, I ask you (reader) a question: What current challenges are you facing when it comes to sharing the gospel in your context? And, more importantly, what are you and your church doing about them?
Based on our experience in Hawaii, if you are really serious about relevant and effective evangelism and church revitalization in your context, allow me to share the following four recommendations:
Pause and re-think the church biblically and theologically. What is the biblical-theological mandate for the church? Why did God call the church into existence? And, how much of what we are currently doing in church aligns with God’s vision? If we are brutally honest, many of the things we do in church are simply based on tradition. Now, I am all for tradition, as long as it serves a purpose. But if the prolongation of long-held traditions is done at the expense of the fulfillment of our God-given mission, then we need to revisit or (at times, even) get rid of those traditions.
Re-focus on mission. The church exists for mission and the Bible is clear about what the mission of the church is. As Dallas Willard once stated: “The Great Commission is still the mission statement of the Church. It’s just stunning to watch churches struggle to develop mission statements when there it is, the Great Commission, and they should simply do what it says. Make disciples. Surround them in the reality of the Trinity in a fellowship of disciples. Teach them to do everything Jesus says. We’re not going to improve on that. That was the church-growth program that ignited the sharing of the gospel worldwide.”(6)
Ask hard questions and answer them honestly. If the church exists for mission, and if its mission is to make disciples of Jesus, then here are a few questions for your consideration: Is making disciples of Jesus the primary focus in our church? How are we doing at it? Are we making a visible impact in our community? Do our neighbors know we exist? And if so, what is their opinion about us? How are we sharing Christ in practical ways?
Make Christ your ministry model. It is good to explore all kinds of mission and outreach programs. At the end of the day, however, Jesus Christ should always be our example. He is the chief missionary among missionaries. Take time to study the life, ministry, and mission of Jesus and seek to follow His example in your context, led by the Holy Spirit. In his book The Forgotten Ways, Alan Hirsch talks about the four P’s of Jesus’ incarnational mission:(7)
Presence. In Jesus, God became fully present to us, without any intermediary.
Proximity. In Christ, God approached us in a way we can understand and access, befriending the outcast and living close to the broken and lost.
Powerlessness. In His incarnation, God took the form of a servant.
Proclamation. Living in close proximity and taking the form of a servant, Jesus then proclaimed the good news of the Kingdom, inviting people to follow Him.
When it comes to mission, evangelism, and church revitalization, we will always face challenges. But God promised to be with us until the very end (Matthew 28). As we take time to re-think the church biblically, re-focus on mission, assess our present reality with honesty, and follow Christ’s ministry model, revival and evangelism will certainly follow.
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The first Adventist missionaries arrived in Oahu towards the end of the 19th century. Since then, the church has grown and the conference today is comprised of over 6,000 members, 31 congregations, led by about 20 pastors.
See https://www.westernstatesgenetics.org/states/hawaii/#:~:text=Hawaii%20is%20the%20most%20isolated,the%20annual%20birthrate%20is%2018%2C500. See also https://swbts.edu/news/ministry-in-paradise/
Ibid.
Dallas Willard website, “Conversation with Dallas Willard about Renovation of the Heart,” interview by Lyle SmithGraybeal for Perspectives, a publication of Renovaré, October 2002, http://www.dwillard.org/articles/artview.asp?artID=86 (accessed April 6, 2014).
Hirsch, Alan, The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2006), 134.
Dr. Gerardo Oudri serves as Associate Director of the NAD Ministerial Association.
