Moving Jesus Beyond the Pulpit: Doing It the Community Way Can Help Church Growth

By Dr. Sunday J. I. Etsekhume

Moving Jesus beyond the Pulpit: Doing It the Community Way Can Help Church Growth describes the challenges facing Christianity and the church. Although these challenges are very significant, they help to boost the efforts of the present disciples of Christ to be good ambassadors to the world.

What prompted the writing of this book is that author Sunday J. I. Etsekhume clamored for a dramatic change in the way some churches do outreach. Some churches only prefer to do outreach from the pulpit, but ignored the practice in the community where they are situated. The book also describes various ways in which the church can show love and care, which indicates the various ways that can portray the church healthiness. For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me, (Matthew 25:35-36).

The book also argues against the idea that church leaders would not compromise their positions as spiritual leaders, due to financial insufficiencies, in order to become fleshy leaders. The arguments further center on how the church can do evangelism without jeopardizing church principles and some of the Christian rules of conduct. Finally, the book focuses on the pulpit, where sermons are preached without the preachers practicing what they preachedhypocrisy!

Dr. Etsekhume has written an insightful, thoughtful, and thought-provoking rationale for getting back to basics in terms of the way the Church approaches ministry. Moving from pulpit to pew, from leadership to follow-ship, and from minister to member, Dr. Etsekhume identifies the spiritual, organizational, and interpersonal challenges facing the Church and recommends Scriptural principles for addressing them. By turns compassionate and passionate, Moving Jesus Beyond the Pulpit is a wonderful reminder of the restorative, renewing, and revitalizing power of Christ, both in the congregation and in the community at large.

Minister Sonja A. West

Associate Minister, Mariners Temple Baptist Church, New York, NY.

Dr. Sunday Etsekhume analyzes some of the issues that address the Church, both from inside the institutional church and issues in the context that hinder the mission of the Church. In this book, one finds thoughtful and pragmatic methods for addressing some of the problems of the church and the larger community! Moving Jesus Beyond the Pulpit is an important work that will be beneficial both to the church and the academy. I highly recommend this work! Dr. Cleotha Robertson, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor Department of Old Testament at Alliance Theological Seminary, New York City and the Senior Pastor Sound View Presbyterian Church, Bronx, New York.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490835419

Dr. Sunday J. I. Etsekhume

Dr. Sunday Joseph Idowu Etsekhume is the founder of Christ Community Outreach Center, Inc., an organization whose effort is to transform the Bronx. He is also the author of the Inspiration to Heaven: The Way to a Successful Journey. He is a member of the National Association of Christian Ministers.

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Copyright © 2014 Dr. Sunday J. I. Etsekhume.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

All Scriptures quotation, unless otherwise noted are taken from The New Hendrickson Parallel Bible, Copyright © 2008, by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Tyndale House Publishers, and Zondervan Corporation. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-3540-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-3539-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-3541-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014907655

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/10/2017

Contents

Abstract

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 Components Of A Healthy Church

•   A Healthy Church

•   The Word Of God

•   Worship

•   Importance And Usefulness Of Hymns

•   Passion Of Christ And For Christ

•   Prayers

•   Converted People

•   Making Disciples

•   Evangelism And Mission

•   Love And Caring

Chapter 2 Leadership And Coordination

•   Leadership Defined

•   Community Outreach

•   Divine Intervention To Control Violence

•   Leadership And Ordination

•   Accountability In The Work

•   Consistency

•   Commitment

Chapter 3 The Criteria For Answered Prayers: A Perspective On The Lord’s Prayer

•   The Meaning Of Prayer

•   The Lord’s Prayer Analyzed

Chapter 4 Forgiveness: An Attribute Of The Kingdom

•   Forgiveness As A Condition For The Kingdom

•   God Forgives Sinners Who Call On His Name

•   Forgiveness As A Condition For Judgment

•   We May Learn Some Lessons From This Chapter On Forgiveness

Chapter 5 Attestation Of The Christian Faith

•   Creeds

•   Importance Of Creeds

•   Aberration Of The Creeds

•   Solution To The Aberration

Chapter 6 Beyond The Pulpit

•   Priests On The Road

•   David And Bathsheba

•   Overcoming The Bumps

•   Fasting And Praying

•   Making The Right Decisions

•   Clergy: The Abuse Of Confidentiality

Chapter 7 Here Is The Starting Point

•   Definition Of Identity

•   God Has Plans For Everyone

•   God Is Aware Of The Oppressed

•   God Has Promised Deliverance

•   Moses Sent To Pharaoh

•   Application

Chapter 8 The Moses In Me: The Smoke That Cannot Be Hidden

•   Teachers Of The Word, Not Believers Of The Word

•   Anger

•   Patience And Self-Control

•   What Patience Is Not

Chapter 9 Marching Toward The Path Of Rebuilding

Bibliography

In this book, Dr. Sunday Etsekhume portrays the need for Christians (leaders and laity) to leave out the Word of God and be good ambassadors of Christ here on earth. Moving Jesus beyond the Pulpit is the ultimate responsibility of the church. Dr. Etsekhume’s attitude is that Christ must be preached all over the world. The people around us must see the Jesus in us, and this is made possible by the Holy Spirit empowering and working in us once we surrender to God.

Pastor Francis Inofomoh

Banner of God’s Grace Church, Bronx, New York

ABSTRACT

I n view of the many challenges facing Christianity and the church, I foresee victory in overcoming the challenges facing us. These challenges are what prompted me to initiate the writing of this book. However, there is a need for a dramatic change in the ways we do outreach. In Moving Jesus beyond the Pulpit: Doing It the Community Way Can Help Church Growth , my observation is that some churches only do outreach from the pulpit but ignore the practice in the communities where they are situated. On the other hand, other churches have been trying to meet the needs of Jesus Christ: For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me (Matt. 25:35–36).

The challenge is to all humanity to self-impose these duties as a social action¹ upon their lives. I also realize some church leaders have comprised their positions as spiritual leaders due to financial insufficiencies. My research centers on how the church can do evangelism without jeopardizing church principles and Christian conduct. I also conducted interviews with some church leaders and visited some churches to look at some leaders’ administrative patterns and their relationships with their members. My observations mainly focused on the pulpit, where sermons are given, without the preachers practicing what they preach, which is hypocrisy!

Dr. Sunday Joseph I. Etsekhume

The Founder of Christ Community Outreach Center, Inc.

DEDICATION

Dedicated to my late brothers and sisters:

Brother Steve Oseni Etsekhume,

Sister Constance Abosede (a.k.a., Omosi Etsekhume),

Sister Christiana Omonegbe Agba, and

Brother Pius Osemobo Etsekhume.

Blessing, my wife, and my children, brothers, best friend, and spiritual companions.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

T here are countless church leaders whose wise thinking and influence, both in the church and in society, contributed to the chapters in this book. Regardless of concern for reprisals or others’ thoughts, these contributors spoke honestly about their expectations from their leaders and the weaknesses they witnessed. Other church leaders (elders, deacons, and trustees), through their quest for change in the status quo, never opposed a good course. Instead they jumped in offer to air their views in what they believed would be a reenactment facility for pastors, even if it meant opposing and confronting them to their very faces.

While I certainly appreciate God for His wonderful love and His graceful gift of life and strength to write this book, I would also like to thank my wife, Blessing, and my children: Rose, John, Regina, Precious, and Samuel Etsekhume, for their immense contributions to the success of this book.

I also want to praise God on behalf of the following people for their suggestions on this book: Brother Lucky and Patrick Etsekhume; Rev. Dr. Cleotha Robertson, professor of Old Testament at Nyack College/Alliance Theological Seminary and pastor of the Sound View Presbyterian Church; Rev. Dr. Barbara Austin-Lucas, professor of religious education at Nyack College/Alliance Theological Seminary and pastor of the Agape Tabernacle International Fellowship in Brooklyn; Rev. Isidor Agoha, pastor of Triumphant Life Church, Bronx, New York and author of Demons Are Subject to Us; the late Dr. Adegoke A. Oyedeji, and pastor and chairman of Christ Apostolic Church, first in the Americas, Brooklyn, New York; Pastor Francis Inofomoh; Rev. Michael Oladubu, pastor of CAC Living Hope Chapel, Bronx, New York; Dr. Andrew Omotoso, pastor of Bethel Assembly Church in Manhattan; Pastor Johnson O. Ogunwuyi; Rev. Timothy Adelani, pastor CAC Manhattan; Min. Sonja Anita West, associate minister at Mariners’ Temple Baptist Church, New York, New York; Pastor Solomon Oyeleke of Christ Apostolic Church (Mount Pleasant), New York; Douglas Solomon, my supervisor at the Office of Child Support Enforcement, correspondence unit, group 1; and last but certainly not least, Sister Charlene Belfort, who provided the motivation and financial assistance for the completion of this book.

INTRODUCTION

T he title of this book, Moving Jesus beyond the Pulpit: Doing it the Community Way Can Help Church Growth, is fairly self-evident. It aims to transcend the pulpit and to bring Christ to people in the communities. Jesus is trans-cultural, and His role in the Trinity transcends cultures. ² Therefore, presenting Jesus exclusively from the pulpit not only limits His power but also shrinks the scope of His intentions. Jesus intended for the gospel to reach all people, regardless of tribe, culture, and age (Matt. 28:19–20). Fox, in buttressing this point, states that Jesus was always Jesus of Nazareth, who later became a practicing Jew from Galilee, ³ and later Jesus, the Christ, ⁴ signifying that His status as the messiah, cuts across His biological, ethnic, and cultural background and established [Him] in cultural terms as a trans-historical, divine member of the Trinity, ⁵ who transformed the universe and inundated humanity with His love and care.

One way to reflect Jesus’ transcendent nature is to extend the preaching from the pulpit into the surrounding communities and environments where we live, as Christ’s disciples did at Antioch (Acts 13). The disciples did not discriminate against the Gentiles; Paul acknowledged the people, as Fellow Israelites and all Gentiles here who worship God (Acts 13:16). He acknowledged the power of God, who led the Israelites out of the Egyptian bondage. The message of the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was preached (Acts 13:17–39). Paul and Barnabas boldly proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 13:46), and those who believed were glad and glorified God, and they were ordained to eternal life believed (Acts 13:48 KJV). In all ramifications the disciples spread the gospel.

The church as the true representative of Christ would be better off if the whole part of the body worked together (Rom. 12), regardless of culture and denominations. In most churches, particularly in the mainline denominations, congregations are comprised of only one primary ethnic group. People still travel several miles to worship. To be clearer, the people who attend services are people from the same ethnicity and culture. John M. Perkins observed that race divided us into separate churches,⁶ which accounts for the church’s inability to address the problem of poverty and other social and economic ills in our societies.

The problem of racial polarization⁷ also gives an impetus to why the church can never be united on national issues. It is understandable that demography may account for the lack of diversity. However, I also see the problem of the demography as a way of diversification in unity. Unity could be restored if outreach could appropriately impact the diverse communities.

The problem of diversity we experience now is not just the attitude of the people at the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11) but that there is a benefit on the application of the language disparity, which arises through cultural division at the tower. The gospel would have been limited or confined to certain people if not for the language discrepancy. The people spoke different languages; therefore they could not unite to form an association that competed with God’s leadership. They wanted to build a building to reach heaven to make a name for themselves (Gen. 11:4). Now Christians ought to be united in cultural diversity and languages to form an association for God, not as competitors. This book reflects upon some issues that have created disunity in churches and why people will travel several miles away from home for worship, when there are churches in their neighborhood.

THE PULPIT DEFINED

Pulpit is defined as a raised platform or stand in a church that is used by priest or minister for preaching or leading a service.⁸ The pulpit is one of the most important pieces of furniture in the church. It can be made from wood or even acrylic Plexiglas.⁹ It also includes the lectern, which supports the Bible.

Another definition of the pulpit is: a raised platform on which a speaker stood; not a lectern of high reading desk behind which a reader stands.¹⁰ There is only one mention of pulpit in Scripture, and it is written according to the book of Nehemiah that Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden pulpit which they had made for the purpose (Neh. 8:4).¹¹ Aside from being the place where speaker stands, sermons are delivered, and worship is conducted, the pulpit not only affords the speaker, preacher, or worship leader a better view of the congregation but also gives the congregation a better view of the leader.

The church in the community to some extent has become a symbol of continuous criticism. While churches strive to implement various outreach programs, which could appeal and appease the communities, the church continues to receive more criticism, indicating that the church has not yet meet the need of the communities. To authenticate the presence of the church in communities, proclamations from the pulpit must be accompanied by the good work of the church in the community. This means our preaching must go beyond the pulpit by way of practicing what we preach; after all, the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch (Acts 11:26), after the Antiochians noticed their adherence to Jesus Christ. This book urges churches to be more engaged in community services.

Information, lessons, and lectures delivered from the pulpit are very important for growth and spiritual development; unfortunately, most people now look beyond the pulpit and outside the church for interpretations of the Word. This is inevitable because most leaders exhibit hypocrisy instead of holiness. Instead of pastors speaking of the saving grace of Christ, the weight of people’s sin is left hanging around their necks as a continuous condemnation of their past lives. Prophesies that are not in conformity with Scripture are pronounced from the pulpit. It should be no surprise that they fail to come to pass because they are out of place with biblical truth and reality. Sermons are not adhered to, and the pastor’s practices often contradict the preaching.

These inconsistencies pose a great problem, causing hate, mistrust, and misconceptions of the entire church. Yet the importance of the pulpit must also be stressed. During the struggle for emancipation the people (Christians) were revolutionized as the campaign for emancipation loomed in the air and uplifted the people into prayers for freedom and laws that opposed slavery and those that supported equal rights for all. Even with such achievements, the church is not trusted. Urgency is needed in confronting the problem of mistrust and misconception because if solutions to these issues are not a high priority, then this will negatively influence church members, leading them to accept criticism of the church and deconstructionism as the norm. This, in turn, may also cause members to backslide and eventually lead to marginalization of the church.

The purpose of this book is also geared toward establishing greater accountability, stewardship, outreach and character, and integrity of pastors and leaders outside the church as well as inside. The book also expresses concern about the conduct, responses, and motivation of church leaders concerning diversity and style of communication. Why pastors and leaders? The theological implication of pastors as elders of the church gives overwhelming responsibilities to them, which also makes them vulnerable. Pastors are to include preaching the Word in their community, converting people and turning them to the Lord, (Acts 11:20–21). In his book Pastoral Leadership, Alexander Strauch states,

According to the New Testament, elders lead the church, teach and preach the Word, protect the church from false teachers, exhort and admonish the saints in sound doctrine, visit and pray, and judge doctrinal issues. In biblical terminology, elders shepherd, oversee, lead, and care for local church.¹²

Pastors and other spiritual leaders are the key operative vessels that can positively impact the congregation. Pastors are empowered to be responsible for the enhancement of the congregation; they mirror the congregation anywhere they are featured. In other words, the health of the church is directly related to the character of its leaders. The health of the church also cannot be ascertained without consideration of the characters of the leaders, whose actions should also not be overlooked because they coordinate the various segments in the church. Besides, faith without works is dead (James 2:14–26).

HYPOCRISY INSTITUTIONALIZED

Institutionalized performance masquerading as preaching can sully the reputation of the church. Some church leaders use feigned lip to preach the Word; unaware that the congregations are also looking for the truth, either in words or demonstration. The congregant attention may be diverted if they happen to know the truth, by studying the Scripture (Acts 17:11). Hypocrisy, known also as feigned high principles,¹³ is the false claim to or pretense of having admirable principles, beliefs or feelings.¹⁴ Churches are expected to do more than they are doing right now in the communities where they are located; they are called to be caring and hospitable (Matt. 25:31–46). The unchurched keep this saying in mind when they are dealing with the church. Preachers are also not consistent in following what they preach to the community; the church is being looked at as not fulfilling its promises. Contrary to most views, there is an overwhelming expectation from pulpiteers. Church members and nonmembers alike demand much from pastors in terms of prayers and services. Some members also expect money from them due to the flamboyant televangelists who proclaim from the pulpit a prosperity that it often never achieved.

Furthermore, leaders face difficulties when trying to be authentic in their daily dealing. Despite the argument on defining authentic leadership and the fact that no clear-cut definition has been agreed upon,¹⁵ authentic leadership is misunderstood for authority and authority confused with power and command. Authority is defined as the right to command; the right or power to enforce rules or give orders.¹⁶ However, the authority vested in congregational leaders has been misconstrued as domination while it should be done in humility (John 13:1–10). Jesus did not enforce authority; He demonstrated authority. Ronald Heifetz, in The Root of Authority, writes,

One of these key impediments is authority. Because we so commonly equate leadership with authority, we fail to see the obstacles to leadership that come