My Stance on Evangelism
Hi all,
It seems that everywhere I look there are people telling me to go out and share my faith, to engage the culture and to evangelize the lost. Okay, fair enough. Jesus commanded His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. See Matthew 28:18-20.
Matthew 28:18-20 NIV
Then Jesus said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Now to me, this scripture clearly tells me that Jesus told His disciples to go and spread the good news to other nations, baptizing them etc. Now as Christians we consider ourselves to be disciples of Jesus, so naturally, we too want to go out and share the good news. It's understandable. However, I personally feel that evangelism is NOT something that just anyone can do or should do.
Look at the original 11 disciples and one new one to make a nice even 12 being sent out to do this work. All of these men I believe had spent years with Jesus, learning from Him on a daily basis, being corrected, rebuked and made to be servants of others. What kind of training do we as Christian evangelists have? What kind of evangelistic training did you receive, if any?
I myself received about 4 hours of training in evangelism to go share the good news. After that, I watched programs like The Way of the Master and Acquire The Fire and I thought I was ready to take on the world, that no one could make me believe anything different. No one has. But there are some tough questions out there that really made me think about the things I've read in the bible and the theology contained in there. Like a good Martini my faith has been shaken a time or two.
After some thinking on the subject of evangelism and talking to others on the internet who also engage or have engaged in this practice, my view has changed. My stance on evangelism now, is that yes we are compelled to share our faith which is evidence of Christ in us, but evangelism is a serious business and should not be entered into lightly. As evangelists we are essentially asking people to make a decision with eternal ramifications.
It's not a decision that should be made after listening to a person on a street for a few minutes convict you by God's law, which should be the basis of all evangelistic efforts. As a church body we shouldn't just send a brand new convert out to share their newfound faith because I personally don't think they understand fully what their new faith is. We should send people out there who know this stuff inside and out and can present a sound case for Jesus. Then that person should hand the person being witnessed to a list of churches in the area that they can go to for more information.
The preaching of the "turn or burn" gospel and telling people that they have to make a choice right now because there may be no tomorrow for them, does not sit well with me. Because then we're relying on fear and emotional responses to convict the person instead of the law of God. And the church wonders why there are so many backsliders out there and where they are coming from. It's simple, we're creating them. I will go into more detail about that in my next post.
posted by Zecryphon | 12:14 PM
4 Comments:
Excellent presuppositions. I am very curious to read your next post. After you complete the whole thought I will post a better comment.
Sable,
Thanks for the comment and the apology. But the person you need to apologize to is Ninjanun.
Now on to your post. Did you know your husband was an atheist before you married him? If so, why did you marry him? We are not to be yolked with unbelievers. Did you really think you could turn him to the Lord once you were married? A "date to save" kind of a thing.
Atheists are just as varied as Christians, when it comes to why they have no belief. You're right they love to bash Christians. Another thing they like to do is say "there is no God." Then when we counter that with "Yes there is," they say "prove it." If we ask them to prove their statement of "there is no God", they fall back on "well you can't prove a negative statement." Well isn't that convenient? They have no proof, but instead of admitting that, they just opt out with "you can't prove a negative statement." They also love to say that since we're the ones making the claim that God exists, we have to prove it, and the burden of proof lies with us. Even if we present evidence to prove the Bible is true and God is real, they won't accept that the burden of proof has now been shifted and that it is up to them to disprove what we have said. They're very childish in this regard.
It is easy to share the good news with people. A great podcast to listen to or just go to their website to listen to the show is The Way of the Master. You can find it by going to www.wayofthemaster.com They have tons of tools and ways for you to naturally share your faith without fear. Just ask someone "hey what do you think happens when you die?"
I think one of your problems is that you think that it is up to you to save people. It isn't. It never has been. It is a work of the Holy Spirit. All you have to do is plant the seed. Once you've done that, God will see to it that others come along and water that seed and take care of it, til that seed either blossoms into a believer with strong roots and good fruit or blossoms into a believer that will fall away and die or that seed may never blossom at all. The point is, once we have shared the gospel with someone, it's out of our hands. The goal of evangelism is not a decision for Christ, but a recognition from the person being witnessed to that they have lived in opposition to God and recognize that they have sinned and have a very serious problem on their hands.
Go to www.wayofthemaster.com They have tools and materials that will help you share your faith, simply and Biblically. They will teach you how to share your faith the way Jesus did, by using the law. They also have a course in evangelism that you might be intersted in. Don't give up, your heart is in the right place, you just need some refinement in your approach.
Hi Zec, I thought it only fair that since you read my blog, I would read yours. This may surprise you, but I appreciate your sentiments here about the delicacy of evangelism.
I spent many years with a conservative parachurch organization who sent everyone out to do street evangelism.
Over time I have come to see that as a very ineffective way to share the Gospel. Of course today I question the gospel message itself; nonetheless I appreciate your sense that not everybody ought to be doing it, and that care should be exercised with the methods used therein.
***Another thing they like to do is say "there is no God." Then when we counter that with "Yes there is," they say "prove it." If we ask them to prove their statement of "there is no God", they fall back on "well you can't prove a negative statement." ***
This highlights the crux of the issue, no? Neither side can "prove" the truth of their claims. Both sides have evidence that supports them, but neither one has the trump card... so both sides usually fall back on the evidence that most convinces THEM.
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