CHAPTER EIGHT: The Man of Peace/Man of Honor

Introduction
Most people think of a church planter as "one who does it all". He preaches the gospel to unbelievers, baptizes those who follow Jesus, then disciples them into the fullness of Christ, finally organizing them into a church that continues to march forward until the return of Jesus Christ. Some even remain as the pastors for years afterwards.

We define his task differently, keeping in mind the purpose God has for reproduction. In this chapter we will usually refer to the church planter as an evangelist since that is his main activity at this stage. But by evangelist we mean “one who propagates the evangel” rather than limiting it to one who exclusively leads people to Christ. In second Timothy Paul exhorts Timothy to do the work of an evangelist. This is in the context of sorting out the foundations of the church--i.e. a church planting or apostolic task. The task of the evangelist is to incarnate the gospel for unbelievers and then show them how to incarnate it for their people. The evangelist is more of a facilitator than a "hands on" church planter who does it all. Indeed his first disciple is often the one who wins the most people to Christ, baptizes them, and determines the form of the church. This facilitator role is seen in Ephesians 4:16; "evangelist" is listed as one of the gifted men who "equip the saints for works of ministry", as opposed to doing all of the ministry. With this in mind, the evangelist's first priority in the Gathering Stage is finding a man of peace. That is he is evangelizing those around whom he can plant a church. The church will go on to evangelize universally. The church planter is to evangelize selectively.

What is a 'Man of Peace' or a 'Man of Honor'?
Jesus in Luke 10:1-9 instructs the 70 as they go into the towns to look for a "man of peace". This man is already prepared to receive the good news of God's Kingdom. He has a good reputation and has good relationships with many others in the community. This man's home becomes the center of activity for the "evangelist", from which the evangel penetrates the whole community.

The broader used word for this type of man in the Bible is probably a man of honor. In the old testament God commanded that Israel show hospitality to strangers since they were strangers in Egypt. The practice was when a stranger came into the village he would go to the center of town and wait for a ‘worthy man’ or ‘honorable man’ to invite him into his home. If no one in the town did this then this was a dishonor to the town. Therefore the person who stepped forward to show hospitality to strangers was a man of honor.

The term ‘honor’ in the old testament comes from the word ‘weight’. It is someone who has weight or influence. These men or honor usually made up the eldership in the villages of Israel. Obviously if such a man took in the disciples the result would be greater credibility for the message in the village since the man of honor had taken them in and thus placed his honor on them. For a Bible study on the man of peace woman of honor see Appendix 6.

It seems that this became the strategy by which the early apostles penetrated the world with the good news of Jesus Christ. Peter went to the home of Cornelius (Acts 11); Paul preached in the synagogues, then focused on those who were receptive (Acts 14, Lydia, and the Philippian jailer; Acts 18, Priscilla and Aquila, Titus Justus and Crispus).

The term "man of peace/honor", may be a women of peace as well as Lydia in Acts 16. Keep this in mind as you read the rest of this section.

Finding the 'Man of Honor'
As we target an area for church planting, we need to be praying that God will bring us into contact with such an honorable man or woman. He may not be prepared quite as dramatically as Cornelius was, but God is at work preparing good soil for receiving the good news. Our constant task is to find that man. Much ongoing prayer needs to be offered up to recognize him. We also need our eyes trained to recognize who has influence in social networks. In the west we tend not to recognize honor. But it is a crucial Biblical value.

A word of caution here especially for younger church planters. Men of honor are usually older men. The exception to this would be where a group of peers is gathered, for instance on a college campus. But in the world men of honor are often older, often difficult to get close to (because they are busy), and not always immediately receptive to the gospel. For younger men the best way to find a man of honor is to meet your peer and encourage them to introduce you to their social networks. Then by following the injunctions in I Timothy 4:12 you will show yourself to be one who will be a good influence on the young men in the group. As you show yourself a good model you will have greater opportunity to share the gospel with the blessing of the man of honor. If you are able to help sons be reconciled to their fathers, and be honorable sons (and daughters) you will indebt the fathers to the gospel. We have found this often results in a hearing for the gospel. Older church planters are usually able to make much quicker progress to getting near a man of honor at the hub of a social network. This is another benefit of working in church planting teams with people of different age on the team.

A man of honor may not look like it at first. Saul dragged Christians out of their homes to jail--not much of a man of peace at first glance. Yet he became the master church planter--the apostle Paul. Jesus said "the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and men of violence take it by force". Finding men of peace/honor is not for the fainthearted or weak-kneed. Sometimes these may be men like Cornelius, a professional soldier skilled in killing, but appeared quite gracious to the messengers who came. But it can just as easily be a Saul who killed the messenger of peace (Steven).

Modeling Peace
God draws men of peace to the Man of peace through His faithful servants who embody His peace. Why is this such an effective strategy? The apostles followed the example of their Lord, the great evangelist Jesus. Jesus was an evangelist sent from God to publish the good news of a new kingdom. But He didn't come with a letter or book which detailed the message for scholars to dissect and criticize. He was the good news! The message could not be disembodied from the messenger. The good news was that God was reconciling man to himself through the sacrifice of His son, enabling the love of the Father to be experienced and lived out through His children. This good news was embodied in His unique Son, who manifested the Love of the Father for His Son. Jesus further showed how this love was to be lived out visibly in a fallen world as He loved His disciples.

Jesus was an effective evangelist because He embodied the Good News that God's love is available to all who will embrace Him. Those who heard the good news saw it being lived out in His life. The gospel was not primarily a doctrine to be believed, nor a challenge to be answered by a decision, but rather life itself! "He who has the son has the life!"(I John 5:12). The good news is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself in such a way that it could be tangibly seen, as a group of world-hardened believers were transformed into the very image of their loving savior.

His disciples were also effective evangelists because they embodied this good news of love as well. Compare the life of Peter before the day of Pentecost and afterwards, or the life of the bloodthirsty Saul before and after conversion. The letters of Paul overflows with his deep love for those with whom he shared his life. He weeps over their trials and failures and revels in their successes. It's no wonder that these men were effective evangelists, for they learned how to live out the Kingdom life before a skeptical world.

This is the exact task of the evangelist. He learns how to live out the life of love that Jesus said would characterize those who would follow Him. We are not talking about a wishy-washy, permissive, sentimental kind of love which the world embraces, but rather that kind of love which shines God's bright light on a perishing world and show a better, though often more painful, way of life (Cf. Philippians 3:8-14!). This love willingly bears all sorts of persecution and suffering, yet never wavers, sacrificing all for the sake of the few who hear the call and follow. If we are desiring to produce men of peace, we must first be men of peace. Who we are is more important than what we say in drawing men to the savior.

The very fact that you have been recognized and sent out by a church and received by a team to plant churches shows that you have ‘honor’ or weight. If you had none, no one would confirm you calling (for more on the calling of a church planter refer to the book Building Effective Church Planting Teams available from the Fellowship of Church Planters).

But the evangelist needs to be prepared to grow and be transformed through the process. Indeed, if he does not he will likely loose ‘weight’. We need to realize that God’s plan as we plant church is to be broken down from our own self-reliance and pride, and learn how to depend more on Him. As he multiplies our five loaves and 2 fish, He will indeed be glorified. (Cf. 2 Corinthians 4:7-18)

The message of the church planter may be unattractive at first, and even for some time. But his person must be recognized as one who has been touched by the very hand of God. I have often been amazed at Paul's initial reaction to Christianity at the stoning of Steven (Acts 7). After he is converted, however, we often see echo's of Steven's words from his lips. Steven was a man "full of the Holy Spirit". What an impact this dying evangelist had upon the stony heart of Saul, whose very conversion was God's reply to Stephen's final words, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them"!

As we pray and try to live out the life of Christ before an unbelieving, skeptical and hostile generation, we will have great opportunity to experience the promise of the Lord:

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 5:10).

We will also have many opportunities to explain why we act differently than those in the kingdom of this world. We need to take every such opportunity and turn it into an invitation to follow Christ in His Kingdom. We set an example for those who will eventually follow. With suffering will come a great opportunity for personal growth as we look to the one who first left us the example (1 Peter 2:18-23).

The evangelist relies upon the Lord to enable him to make the gospel known through his life to those the Lord calls. He spends much time in prayer and in listening to the Lord, to learn how he can embody the gospel to these people. He prays that unbelievers will see a message that impacts their lives, not simply their minds. Those who have lived apart from Christ need to be confronted with a life that is so different that repentance is obviously required. They must see that a new radically transformed life is obtainable through Jesus Christ. Having seen it he is willing to sell all that he has to obtain that kingdom (Cf. Matthew 13:44ff).

As evangelists starting a new church, we need to find a person of peace/honor. We will have to develop a number of relationships in the quest to find the one. If we are working cross culturally we will have to learn what is honorable in other cultures. We must get close enough to that person so he can evaluate our life and judge it to be full of "peace and joy and righteousness in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17). He must see God working in our life, bringing ever deeper surrender as we press upward in God's kingdom (Philippians 3:12-14). He must see a genuine life of joy amidst the pain and suffering of living in a fallen world. He must be able to see us fall short of God's ideal and yet repent, finding the refreshment that comes from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19). Only as we are vulnerable and transparent, and men of peace and honor ourselves can we expect to draw honorable men to Christ--the ultimate Man of Peace and Honor!

Fishing With Nets Whilst Looking for a Man of Peace
It is easy to equate finding men of peace exclusively with friendship evangelism. While this may be effective in some places, we strongly suggest that friendship evangelism is like fishing with a line. If you have a big pond, but don’t know where the fish are biting, it is more likely you will catch fish by using a net. Net fishing has been described by some in Frontiers as apostolic or prophetic evangelism. In this type of evangelism an outsider will find a group (or gather one) and boldly preach good news to it. He and his team will then follow up on those who show interest, especially focusing on those who appear to be men and women of peace.

The prophet or apostle may do better to do this out of his hometown, since a prophet is without honor in his own town. Also there may be security issues that put he and his family in danger. But the point is that we are not talking about friendship evangelism here. Friendships can and should arise from these prophetic encounters. But "net events" are not friendship evangelism. They are wide nets which are designed to catch those whom the Lord is leading. The chances of catching fish in resistant areas using a line approach is minimal, but should be greatly enhanced by using nets.

A good example of a net is the Bible correspondence courses offered in many closed countries. An newspaper advertisement or radio broadcast invite interested ones to write a post office box to get a correspondence course. Those who write can be followed up on individually. This has drawbacks since it usually leads to individual evangelism and conversion and little church planting but it is a good example of a net. Suggestions for improving this net follows below.

The following ideas on evangelism using nets came out of a Frontiers conference with several team leaders discussing this issue.

1. We agreed a good picture for evangelism is a funnel with a big net at the top of the funnel to find seekers. This net could be anything from a correspondence course to street preaching, to a concert, to a coffee shop where the gospel was being proclaimed. Those who show some interest could be invited from there to the second layer down the funnel seminars. These "net events" could be one off ones (like a spontaneous street meeting) or ongoing (like a correspondence course or coffeehouse). A key to an effective net is a response mechanism whereby those who have an interest can respond in some way. In the correspondence course they can write to a PO box. At a coffee house they could be invited to a seminar or Bible study where Christ could be more fully explained to them.

2. This second layer down the funnel could be seminars designed to take those who have some interest and explain how the good news is good news. These could take the form of marriage seminars, child rearing, how to manage finances, how to relate to extended family, any need the Gospel is good news for. Jesus as the way would be much more boldly and specifically shared at these. They could be one off seminars or a series that run a few weeks. It would depend upon the level of motivation of the audience. Those who show additional interest could be invited to the next level, which would be evangelistic Bible Studies. It is at this level where the church planter would be wise to keep his eyes out for men of honor. Is a person bringing others? Is he influencing others to consider what the Bible is saying? Does he have a concern for others and how the truths may apply to his social network? Affirmatives to any of these may indicate a man of honor.

3. The next further level down the funnel would be to have evangelistic Bible studies. They would be best in the home of a seeker, preferably a man or women of peace who would draw from their own social network. This will bring “stickiness” to those who come since there would be a loyalty to the host or hostess. These would focus on the person of Christ, probably by looking in detail at a section of the gospels. These studies would probably run a set number of weeks. The duration and subject would depend on the audience. Appendix 7 is an evangelistic Bible Study which takes a seeker from Genesis to Revelation in 8 studies presenting the gospel in each study.

We should point out at this point that the vehicle we are using focuses on a group as opposed to individuals. Also the centrality of the Word is a real strength (John 10:27). The hope would be for this group to cohesively progresses toward Christ through the Word. If a number came to Christ at the same time, they could be formed into a house church and begin a separate meeting for community where the Lord's table, baptism, worship, prayer, and the word, could be practiced. The gathering meeting could continue of course. In the event only one or two got saved they could either be added to already existing house churches, or, if they were men of peace types, new groups could be gathered around them as new evangelistic studies formed.

4. The bottom of the funnel would be house churches which could be formed around men and women of peace who respond to the gospel. It is expected that members of these house churches would participate new "net events" as well as be trained to lead in seminars and evangelistic Bible studies. In this way, the house churches would not become stagnant but rather continue a vision for reproducing and filling the land.

The following were some specific thoughts and ideas for net fishing for a specific closed country. Note that some sort of response mechanism is necessary for nets: (whether a response by a card or being able to come to a seminar at an actual date, time, and place.)

A. Using advertisements in local newspapers and magazines which target those whom God is already drawing to himself. These would have to be carefully drawn up so as to appeal to family people, not the free radicals (leftists) who have been attracted in the past. This would be a matter of careful marketing. Using a correspondence approach to follow up on these to discern who is responding which could lead to church planting. In this case that means who could you start a Bible study in their home or with a group of friends. Notice the funnel is kept in view.

B. Use a gifted musician who is a also a church planter for concerts as a big net. Seminars could be offered at the end of these. Those who are interested could fill out a card. Perhaps even a card could be given to everyone to fill out and the respondent could even request being notified of other concerts being offered. Seminars could be based on the type audience that Geoff draws and interest measured in these response cards.
Another net using this musician would be distributing his tapes which are scripture sung to local tunes. A response card could be included for request for concerts, or seminars. Some seminar ideas could be how music plays such a large part in the worship of this people group and how that corresponds to Christianity (as opposed to Islam).

C. A church planter who is gifted in the language and prophecy could be used to give seminars as "net events". Seminars on how to have a good marriage, child rearing, how to resolve conflicts, keeping harmony in the home, etc. Anything that the Gospels bring as good news would be open season. Perhaps the business this team has started could be broadened to include this type of service. The man having written much that has been published in the press could be quite a draw at meetings of these associations. He could offer these seminars at these associations.

D. The team could do a broad based survey focusing on philosophy of life, etc. This could help get an idea of what advertising would be effective. For instance one team leader in another country did such a survey and found that the people love God but dislike religion. So they billed their group as a "non religious community of faith". The point is the team would need to develop a survey to find out what would be Good News and then do advertising and seminars based on these findings. The response mechanism could be at the end of the survey "would you be interested in attending a seminar on the topic..." these would be one off seminars that could perhaps be occurring monthly so that there is
something to invite people too. The goal would be to find those whom God is drawing and get them involved in an ongoing evangelistic study. This would have the advantage of involving the whole team. Seminars specifically for women could be designed as well in case they are the initial respondents. But ways need to be developed to get the men involved (see D above).

Key Principles
1. People exist in social networks because God has created man a social, community being. Genesis 1:26f, 2:18ff.

2. In every social network there are key people, either men or women, who are the key influencers to the social network. Luke 10:5-9

3. The best way to go about planting a church is going after these men or women of peace, bringing them to Christ, and through them their social network. Cf. Acts 10; 16:14f, 31ff; 18:5-8

4. Often church planters go after “receptive” people. The problem with this in church planting, especially in resistant areas like the Muslim world, is that the most receptive ones are usually the ones with the least social network. They are looking for a network to be a part of. The problem with this is that they have often alienated themselves from their natural social networks and continue to do so. If you try to gather such a group of “free radicals” you will find that they often repel each other. Such a group usually lasts only as long as the energy of the church planter!

5. Using nets for evangelism will be more effective than line fishing. But one must look for men and women of honor as one evaluates what the net has found.