Hauerwas on Evangelism

A few weeks back I mentioned Stanley Hauerwas’ new commentary on Matthew.  I’ve been reading it along with the gospel of Matthew and it has been a wonderfully enriching experience.  Toward the end of his comments on Chapter 9, he writes about Jesus’ tendency to stay on the move,

Jesus never tarries.  Like foxes and birds, he is always on the move.  The kingdom is a movement that requires him to go to those to whom he has been sent.  That he must go to those in need indicates that the gospel is not and cannot be a set of beliefs.  The gospel is this man, and this man must encounter actual men and women in order to call them into the community of the new age.  Evangelism is people meeting and coming to know people.  As we shall soon see, the disciples will be sent out to the people of Israel.  There can be no substitute for the sending of people.  A church that is not a missionary church is not a church.

Amen and amen.  A church that is not a missionary church is not a church.  As pastors we need to meet people as well.  This makes me wonder, is a pastor who isn’t a missionary pastor really a pastor?