Article:
"Eleventh Hour" Evangelism
by David Litwin
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. And when He had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. He went out about the third hour… and said, ‘you too go into the vineyard and whatever is right I will give you… again, he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour and did the same thing. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing; and he said to them, ‘ why have you been standing here idle all day long?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into the vineyard.’” Portions of Matthew 20: 1- 7 NASB (read Matthew 20: 1-16)
Having a daughter just over the age of two, my after-work nights are often spent in front of the television watching children’s videos. Thankfully many of the latest big budget children’s films contain subtle humorous nuances for us adults. But after a film’s fifteenth to thirtieth viewing, interest wanes quickly. So I find myself shifting my concentration from the center screen to those events and characters happening on the periphery or deep in the background. I can get another twenty or so viewings in by watching for funny hidden or easily missed secondary point-of-view moments, scrutinizing scene props to ensure everything remains consistent during the film (Curious George is notorious for inaccurate sizing issues), or pausing scenes and admiring details that only flash by for a micro-moment (the minute detail in Cars is staggering). Much of this meticulous peripheral work passes blindly before the eyes of ninety percent of its audience. But for those willing to seek them out, some of the greatest film gems are excavated outside the central spotlight.
The parable in Matthew 20 (above) is no different. From the central point of view, the spotlight of the parable appears to be on the amount of work each group completed in contrast to their equal financial compensation. In further support of this central lesson, the parable ends (except in the King James and NKJ) with Jesus asserting the “last shall be first, and the first last.” For years, I heard numerous sermons giving me solace that should I have an alcoholic, philandering, God-hating relative, his or her death-bed repentance meant the same salvation as someone like my grandfather, a multi-decade self-styled missionary and builder of countless churches in other nations. But if we extend the camera lens back a little wider, a far more universal and historically relevant finding is uncovered. From that lens we will unpack what we are calling Eleventh-Hour Evangelism, uncover its critical historical need, address its (currently) counter-intuitive approach, and expose the honorable and humbling position this group has been given.
A VERY UNIQUE HOUR
Based on the limited information in this passage, we first find a central character: a landowner, and an opportunity: working in his vineyard. But any opportunity needs capable fulfillers. So the land owner travels to the marketplace to do his recruiting. In the early morning, he hires the passage’s most skilled negotiators and sends them into his vineyard. Though wage is not specifically discussed, he offers a similar opportunity to those standing in the marketplace on the third, sixth, ninth and eleventh hour. As the workday concludes, the men, some more exhausted than others, line up for compensation. To the surprise of the early hour workers, each group receives the same wage. Thus we are clearly shown and then even told, that the first and the last were on equal footing – case dismissed, lesson learned.
But shifting the focus toward the periphery of the story, something very unique happens in the eleventh hour. The eleventh-hour group didn’t just head out into the vineyard. They had to be engaged. The previous four groups heard the offer, recognized some form of compensation, and went. But for the eleventh-hour group, employment called for a new method. The eleventh hour required interactive dialogue.
CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT
Eschatology aside, we at the Daniel Project believe we are living in an eleventh-hour society. In response it is time for a new paradigm in evangelism. What saved us, whether in first, third, sixth or ninth hour, won’t have the same impact on this eleventh-hour society. It is not merely new first- to ninth- hour evangelism tactics, but a new methodology of evangelism, that must be explored. Its genesis is a radical paradigm shift from “cultural relevance” to “cultural engagement.”
Much of today’s church is clamoring about for cultural relevancy. But the strategy is often to look like the world, through techno-wizardry, entertainment-based preaching and post-modern structural standards, in order for people see the need for God’s Kingdom. This is like becoming a paid prostitute to win more “Johns” to Christ. The eleventh hour culture recognizes the inconsistencies. When polled, the vast majority of America’s young people claimed the church is ‘judgmental’ (87%), ‘hypocritical’ (85%) and ‘old-fashioned’ (78%) [1]. And in just three years (2003 to 2006) the percentage of adults that are “absolutely certain” there even is a God has dropped a staggering twelve percent [2]. Despite a multi-decade crusade for “relevance,” society is growing perpetually less tolerant and considerate of our current form of Christianity. It is not cultural relevance – but cultural engagement – that will bridge the growing gap between the eleventh-hour society and the church. By breaking down each known aspect of the parable’s eleventh-hour call, we can extract a blueprint for this new form of evangelism.
