We exist to communicate God’s Word!
There is more rejoicing in heaven over 1 sinner who repents than 99 righteous.
This biblical truth is clearly taught by Jesus in Luke 15. Just as the lost sheep, lost coin and lost son when found bring rejoicing, so too must we find the lost and bring rejoicing to heaven.
To disagree with this biblical priority for the allocation of ministry resources is put oneself in league with the elder brother and to be clearly out of step with the Heavenly Father.
There are two competing philosophies for accomplishing evangelism. Each is important and necessary. The technical terminology E-1, E-2, and E-3 is used to differentiate the cultural distance across which evangelism occurs.
E-1 (evangelism one) refers to monocultural evangelism. Both E-2 and E-3 involve cross-cultural evangelism, with E-3 crossing a more radical cultural bridge than E-2. E-2 and E-3 evangelistic ministries require different strategies, different planning, different gifts, different training, and different insights from E-1. In the minds of most Christians leaders in America, the field of evangelism specializes in E-1, while the field of missions specializes in E-2 and E-3. Church growth theory includes all three.
Once the cultural distance is overcome we must decide what evangelism means for you and our church family. Some contend that living a Christian life in the presence of non-Christians is in and of itself evangelism. Few evangelicals hold a presence view of evangelism. Among evangelicals the major debate on evangelistic goals revolves around the differences between proclamation and persuasion. Those who advocate “proclamation” suggest that the goal of evangelism is to verbalize the gospel so that unbelievers hear it and understand it. If individuals respond then evangelism as evangelism has been accomplished, although most would recognize that “follow up” is still needed. J. I. Packer presents a strong theological argument for this position in “Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God.” In this work, Packer argues that the essence of evangelism is not producing converts, but is rather faithfully making known the gospel message.
At FBCE we propose a “persuasion” view of evangelism. We do not reject either presence or proclamation. We regard both as necessary for biblical evangelism. As persuasionists, however, do not accept either presence or proclamation as the evangelistic goal.
We believe the goal of evangelism is to persuade unbelievers to become followers of Jesus Christ and responsible members of a Christian church. As persuasionists we assert that no matter how many times an individual may hear the gospel, if they do not become a confessing and practicing disciple of Jesus Christ then they are still un-evangelized.
There are two other considerations regarding evangelism which our church must consider as we seek to improve our evangelistic effectiveness. We need to consider the methods we will employ to accomplish evangelism.
Two views, lifestyle evangelism and initiate evangelism, dominate the methodology of accomplishing evangelism. The most articulate spokesman for the lifestyle evangelism philosophy has been Joe Aldrich. In his “Lifestyle Evangelism,” he puts forward the thesis that a Christian becomes good news as Christ ministers through his serving heart. As his friends hear the music of the gospel (presence) they become predisposed to respond to its words (proclamation) and they hopefully are persuaded to act (persuasion). Lifestyle evangelism is a more passive approach than initiative evangelism.
According to Aldrich the two greatest forces in evangelism are a healthy church and a healthy marriage. According to Aldrich, the Christian family in a community is the ultimate evangelistic tool. It’s the old story: “When love is seen, the message is heard.” Aldrich maintains that there are three basic categories of personal evangelism:
1) proclamational
2) confrontational/intrusional
3) incarnational/relational
Each type is legitimate and used of God, but Aldrich believes that one type of evangelism (relational) more effectively utilizes and maximizes the individual talents of each believer and at the same time gathers the music into a more harmonious presentation.
Initiative evangelism is advocated by Mark McCloskey in “Tell it Often – Tell It Well.” McCloskey argues that because the Holy Spirit authenticates and uses the proclaimed word to convict and convert an individual’s heart, effective evangelism can occur in the absence of a relationship between the evangelist and the one being evangelized. Combining this truth with the urgency for the task of evangelism communicated in the Bible causes Christians to take the initiative in evangelism. Initiative evangelism is a more aggressive approach to evangelism than lifestyle evangelism.
To illustrate the difference between the two views of evangelism McCloskey shares the following story:
His wife had been pursuing an evangelistic ministry in a dormitory on a mid-western campus. She had contacted the women through a letter of introduction inviting them to meet with her to discuss the gospel. She then visited the ones who expressed an interest. One afternoon she encountered criticism of her efforts from an unexpected source. A woman who had agreed to meet with her turned out to be a Christian, and she was concerned that her not having a personal relationship with the women she was meeting was doing more harm that good for the cause of the gospel. She felt that his wife was not the ‘right person’ to be sharing Christ with these women. His wife readily agreed that there was a better person for the job. She asked the woman, ‘Would you see that every woman on your floor has a chance to hear the gospel?’ but the student replied, ‘No, I don’t know how to go about it; besides, I’m not sure I’m even willing.’ His wife replied, ‘Although I’m not the most likely person to reach your friends for Christ, it’s because of thinking like yours that people like me have to go about it the way we do.’
Initiative evangelists believe that as many as possible should hear as soon as possible, as clearly as possible. The other woman, operating in the context of lifestyle evangelism, believed in the superiority of sharing Christ in the context of interpersonal relationships. She believed that to do otherwise was improper.
Our church has sought to develop an evangelism strategy which utilizes both methods for accomplishing evangelism. We use both approaches in our church. The fact is, Christians should be relational and intentional in all of our evangelistic efforts. The training we conduct in evangelism for our church takes advantage of both methodologies.
Paige Patterson gives a responsible position in “Lifestyle Evangelism.” According to Patterson, a biblical and balanced view of evangelism must have seven principles.
First, evangelists need integrity. Christians need to be open and honest with those whom we are building relationships that our motive is to enable them to experience God’s saving grace. Next, evangelists need sensitivity. We need to be friendly and not pushy when evangelizing. Jesus would never be rude or crass in His evangelization. Third, evangelists must be pure in their motives. Any motive other than bringing glory to God is improper. Christians do the work of evangelism as blind beggars who have found bread and wish to show others our newly found source for sustenance. Another principle which evangelists must bear in mind is urgency. Hell is a reality, time is not on our side, or those who are lost. We must share Christ now; evangelizing must be our most compelling task. Evangelists also need to be accountable. All of our methods must be biblical and effective, those which are not must discarded. We must acknowledge that having many converts and few disciples is unacceptable. Next, if we are applying biblical methods and proper methods then we will see souls saved and disciples made. Finally, it must be clear that evangelism is not accomplished until disciples and not simply converts have become the only biblically authentic goal we strive together to achieve.
