Tony Evans: Practicing What He Preaches

CBN.com SCOTT ROSS: Radio programs, tapes, booksis it hard to stay humble?

TONY EVANS: When you have a wife like I do, not too hard!

ROSS: Shes also a doctor and in the ministry.

EVANS: We keep each other humble. Thats just a way of life.

ROSS: Looking back at your own journey, did you think it would come to this? Was your vision large enough back then, or was your God too small back then?

EVANS: Well, Ive always been a visionary and always had an entrepreneurial mindset. I remember starting this church in a house with 10 people. That first year I dreamed about the day wed own a lot of land and have a comprehensive ministry and see the Word of God go out as far as it could possibly go. From a dream standpoint, I was a lot like Joseph: I had big dreams; they were just before my time. But its been a wonder to our eyes to see what God has done.

ROSS: Going back to your roots, youre from Baltimore, Maryland.

EVANS: Born in Baltimore, Md. Born into a non-Christian home. When I was about 10, my parents became Christians. Things became radically different.

ROSS: And your dads influence?

EVANS: My dad was the dominant person. He became a Christian first. My parents were about to split up, but he became a Christian, won my mom back to himself, led the kids to Christ, and took us to a Bible teaching church. That began the foundation for the rest of my life.

ROSS: How important is that? It is discounted these daystwo moms can raise a child, or two dads, or raise one without a father. I dont want to go off on a tangent, but how important is that whole influence of the father at home?

EVANS: The last couple of verses of Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament, say, 'The land is cursed when theres fatherlessness that abounds.' You see it in crime, juvenile delinquency, the rebellion today the absence of dad at home. Thats why it is such a passion for me to see men take their rightful fathering role because it has a lot to say about how the kids wind up.

ROSS: What about the dads who are working the 60-70 hour week? You have a lot of responsibilities, but you also have children. Youre a husband, all of that. How do you prioritize that?

EVANS: You have to get the biblical order straight. The biblical order is your relationship with God, your relationship with your family, and then your ministry. When thats out of whack, everything else gets out of whack with it.

ROSS: What about kids born into a family where dad is absent or there has never been a father and there is a mother who cant handle a 62" young man growing up? How do you respond to that?

EVANS: What we tell those mothers is you need to be part of a vibrant church. God says Hell be a father to the fatherless, a mother to motherless. That doesnt mean a floating spirit. That means Hell work through His men to provide surrogate parenting.

ROSS: A term you usedefine itthe 'alpo' crowd? What are we talking about?

EVANS: Were talking about 'who let the dogs out?' Were talking about indiscriminate sex with no responsibility that does not take marriage seriously and that ignores the biblical standards. I'm not talking about the struggling person who needs help and is open to help. Im talking about the rebellious person who doesnt care. That is the life of a dog, and if you want to be part of the bow-wow generation, that speaks a lot about your character. But if you really want to be a man, youre going to rise to the occasion, to your biblical role as husband and father.

ROSS: How do you speak to homosexuality? It seems the church has come down hard on homosexuals as some special kind of a sin. How do you respond to that?

EVANS: Our principle is to hate the sin and love the sinner. Youve got to be repulsed by anything that blatantly disregards the law of God. At the same time, thats what Calvary is all about. Calvary is reaching out to sinful people, not just a class of sin, because they see their alienation from God and are desperately in need of His grace.

ROSS: Youve dealt with pornography. You speak to it. One of your high-profile church members, Kirk Franklin, a singer, choir leader, successful musician in his own right, he also came out publicly not too long ago and said he had a real struggle with pornography. Hes a married guy, children, loves God. How would you respond to that with him?

EVANS: Well, I responded as I always do, with clarifying your identity. Most people dont know who they are, so they go to errant means to get self-discovery. Since the sexual area so defines men and is so accessible to men, its easily reached after as a defining point. It has to do with who you are and whether you are really a man. All of this is the wrong definition. Once we can clarify a persons identity in Christ, help him understand the walk with the Spirit, he can discover that the law of the Spirit is indeed greater than the law of flesh. But without an understanding of your new identity in Jesus Christ, you have no reference point with which to reject the false identity and masquerade parties that Satan invites you to.

ROSS: Were taken in by that.

EVANS: Absolutely. Hes a Halloween freak and he loves for us to put on masks.

ROSS: Our cult celebrity, when he came to youa brother in Christ, a man in needyou didnt cater to that?

EVANS: No, you come here the same way everybody comes herethrough the Cross. At the Cross, the ground is very level, so youre treated like everyone else. We recognize gifts, we honor people, give them due, but there is only one celebrity: thats Jesus Christ.

ROSS: Is this one of the areas the church has failed in preaching of the Cross?

EVANS: Oh its terrible. We lift up people who arent qualified but gifted, and we elevate the gift over character. This thing of somebody gets saved and has been saved five minutes and theyre a spokesperson for the Christian faith is devastating.

ROSS (reporting): In terms of community outreach, Dr. Evans has his members practice what he preaches.

EVANS: How can you have all these churches on all these corners with all these preachers, and all these people and all these programs, and all these buildings and still have all this mess? Theres a dead monkey on the line somewhere. If you have all of this going on, theres something missing. Unfortunately, the church has become too ingrown. Anyone joining our church must take a ministry. You cannot become a member unless youre here to serve because then its 'preach to me, pray for me, sing to me, but dont expect anything from me.' Thats the existence of a leech.

ROSS: Let me hit you with a word revival. What does that mean to you?

EVANS: Revival is the life that the people of God ought to have and are returning to. I dont look at it as a special event, but getting back to the life of the Spirit that we were granted at the point of salvation and we are to come into. I think thats a problem. Weve left the Spirit for programs, for performances, for tricks and gimmicks because we dont really believe the Spirit of God works.

ROSS: How do you love your enemies?

EVANS: You love your enemies by meeting their needs even at your own expense as long as the need youre meeting is legitimate.

ROSS: With Iraqis?

EVANS: With Iraqis, absolutely, because Jesus Christ died for them, too. We feed them and clothe them and introduce them to freedom and share the greatest freeing message anyone could ever experience, and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then it really becomes 'good news.'

ROSS: We are the letter. You are the letter read by all men. They come by and see a pretty building

EVANS: Thats not enough. A pretty building with an impotent ministry is a waste of time and Gods money. God is not interested in it, so neither should we be.

ROSS: You say you are an entrepreneur, you keep building. Where are you going?

EVANS: Training leaders is a big part of what we do, getting the message out through more writing, tools of media so more people can get a philosophy. We call it a kingdom philosophy for the reason why the church exists.

ROSS: Let me pick up on that. Is Sunday morning the most segregated time of the week?

EVANS: I think one thing that hinders revival is that massive revival will not occur outside of unity because God does His work in a unified mechanism. Eleven oclock is still probably the most segregated time in America, but more churches are realizing this. Promise Keepers has done a lot to push this, and African American pastors are open to it. God recognizes different styles. He loves to go to different churches every Sunday. He just wants to know there is Spirit and truth.