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The Subtle Misdirection of Contemporary Evangelism Methods

3/29/2006

As someone once said, if Satan can’t destroy the church, then he’ll settle for joining it. If he can’t completely stop the spread of the gospel, then maybe he can just slow it to a crawl.

This article has been on my heart for a long time and I feel as if I’m in labor until I give birth to it. I am saddened by the knowledge that my views will, once again, put me at odds with many of my Christian brothers and sisters. But I can no longer remain silent.

Those of you who know me or know about me are familiar with the fact that I was an “on fire” Christian during part of my teen years and then spent 20 something years in apostasy. About 3 years ago, the Lord got my attention by allowing me to reap what I had sown and I will be forever grateful that He did. He used those consequences to bring me back to Himself.

That same experience which has given me a unique perspective of CCM (being heavily involved in Christianity, stepping out of it for 20 years, and then coming back to it) and has also provided a unique perspective on today’s evangelistic methods. Having been very involved in personal evangelism as a teenager (and being involved with Campus Crusade for Christ), I found a very different attitude towards personal evangelism prevalent when I returned to the fold. It reminds me of the parable of the frog and the boiling water; if you place a frog in a pot of boiling water, he’ll jump right out. But if you put him in a pot of cool water and gradually turn up the heat, he’ll just sit there and cook to death. The way we approach personal evangelism has gradually changed over the past couple of decades and it’s difficult to recognize if you’ve been in the middle of it all along.

The most prevalent perspective within the church in America today towards evangelism (among both pastors and layman) is that we live in a “postmodern” world and that the only way to be effective in reaching the postmodern man is to allow him an opportunity to observe and experience God’s work in your life over time by building a relationship with him. Once credibility is established, then the postmodern man will be more likely to seriously consider what you have to say concerning God.

Of course, there is no clear consensus as to what the term postmodern means and why it is unique to this generation. However, in general, the connotation seems to be that there are no such thing as absolutes of any kind and the only “truth” (if one can call it that) is experiential truth (i.e., what works for you). Therefore, no one point of view on any given topic is more valid than another.

What is immediately apparent to me is that this worldview is not new or unique. If you look back over the history of just about every advanced culture that has come and gone you will find varying degrees of this relativism. It’s echoed by Pilate when he coyly asked Jesus, “What is truth?” The assumption that this concept is something new requiring a complete revamping of how we spread the gospel reflects a subtle conceit that man has become so advanced and our minds so wise and complex that what worked in Jesus’ day will simply be dismissed today.

Another assumption implicit in this approach is that the effectiveness of our witness is dependent on us…not God. It is dependent on how gently we ease the potential convert into an eventual discussion of God…on how careful we are not to offend them…on how alert we are to not to say or do anything which might cause them to question our credibility…on how persuasive we are over time. After establishing and painstakingly maintaining the relationship over a significant period of time, and if and when all of these factors come together at just the right point, then we can cautiously share with them how to become a Christian. If they choose to become a Christian, then we enter the next phase of our relationship with them where we disciple or mentor them so that they, in turn, can repeat the whole process with someone else.

The practical effect of this approach is to intimidate most Christians out of even considering sharing the gospel with someone since most of us don’t feel up to the task of having our lives under the microscope of those people we would like to see come to know Christ. For those brave few who choose to forge ahead anyway, the number of people that they have actually shared the gospel with (as opposed to the general sharing of what God has done in my life, etc.) in their lifetime is reduced to so small a number that most can count them on one hand.

I am grieved by the many sincere and dedicated Christians I see who are espousing this method. When you read the authors who promote this approach, you often find a not-so-subtle sneering at how the gospel has been spread in the recent past. They deride the use of tracts such as “The Four Spiritual Laws” and the efforts of street ministers as being arcane and often driving people away from Christianity. They do this in spite of the fact that everyday thousands of people around the world are led to Christ by these methods. They ignore the fact that Campus Crusade for Christ is the largest Christian ministry in the world (with 26,000 fulltime staff and more than 225,000 trained volunteers in 191 countries) and their tract “The Four Spiritual Laws” has been printed in more than 200 languages and distributed to more than 2.5 billion people which means that it is the most widely disseminated religious booklet in history. Their movie giving the gospel story (the JESUS film) is believed to be the most widely-viewed film in the world. Now available in more than 700 languages, it has been seen by an estimated 2/3 of the world's population from remote jungles to bustling urban centers.

When confronted with the large numbers of people who come to know Christ through these methods, the usual response is that having someone “recite the sinner’s prayer” doesn’t mean that there has been a true conversion and they then point out that unless someone follows-up with the new convert they may fall away from the faith. The same fundamental assumptions we discussed previously as the basis for declaring relationship evangelism as the only effective means of sharing the gospel underlay these statements…it is all up to us…not God.

If when we share the gospel and God’s Word with someone with whom we don’t a have a true relationship, the effectiveness (both short and long term) depends on the persuasiveness and completeness of our presentation and the quality of our follow-up, then it is correct to assume that postmodern man will be mostly unaffected. If when someone hears the gospel (whether through a tract, a radio program, or a conversation with a stranger), they choose to say the sinner’s prayer and the prayer is only words, then it obviously means nothing. And if whether someone one grows as a Christian or falls away from the faith is dependent on the quality of our follow-up, then there is little hope that they will have a conversion which will be continue for their entire life.

However, the Bible says these things do NOT depend on us but on God!

Does whether someone accepts Christ when I present the gospel depend on how well they know me and trust that I believe what I say and on the timing of my presentation?

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Isaiah 55:11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him”

Luke 12:11,12 "When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Matthew 13:18-23 "Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."

Does someone really become a Christian just by saying the sinner’s prayer?

Romans 10:9,10 if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”

Luke 11:13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

Is whether a new convert grows as a Christian dependent on the quality of my follow-up?

Philippians 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

John 16:13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth”

1 John 2:27 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

So we see that the whole premise which limits personal evangelism to establishing relationships with people in the hopes of one day being able to present them with the gospel is faulty. It operates on the premise that how effective we are in getting the initial conversion and in the new convert growing depends on us when the scripture clearly illustrates that it depends on Him.

Does that mean we shouldn’t witness to those with whom we have relationships? Does that mean we are to use no discernment in how we present the gospel and that we are to make no effort to disciple others and encourage them to find a church where they can be discipled? Of course not! Let me be clear; allowing your friends and family to see Christ working through you in everyday life is an integral part of being a Christian. Using discernment on what to say and when to say it is an obvious element of spiritual maturity. Allowing the Lord to guide you in developing deeper personal relationships among certain younger (spiritually speaking) Christians so that you might mentor them in the faith is an honor and a serious responsibility. And telling new Christians the fundamentals of how to grow spiritually and encouraging them to find a church home is essential to every conversion experience. But they are NOT a substitute for spreading the gospel!

2 Timothy 4:1-5 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Could God’s Word have said it more strongly?! Preach the Word! In season and out! That means when it’s convenient and when it’s not…when it’s popular and when it’s not…if your Christian friends are willing to go with you or if they’re not…if your Christian friends agree with what you’re doing or not…whether anyone listens or not! You are NOT responsible for the results…God is. We are only responsible to obey.

Some may say that Paul was speaking specifically to Timothy and that he didn’t really mean for all of us to “do the work of an evangelist.” Hmm, if that’s true then we need to take a closer look at how the whole Bible is applied to our lives. The same principle would say that the Ten Commandments were only directed to the Jews so we don’t have to follow them. Each of the epistles were meant only for the churches and individuals that they were addressed to so we can only derive very general principles from them for application to ourselves. And the Great Commission was not actually direct towards us but to the twelve apostles so we’re completely of the hook! However, the attempt to dismiss God’s Word in 2 Timothy as only directed from Paul to Timothy soon falls in on itself as a poor effort to evade responsibility.

Witnessing to those who know you by your everyday words and deeds and discipling those that God directs you to are obvious parts of the Christian walk. But they are only part of a larger approach to personal evangelism. Look at how Jesus and the apostles did it! They would preach the gospel to the masses and many would believe. Occasionally one of the masses who believed would be chosen for a closer relationship and would receive more focused teaching. But if they had used the methodology being espoused by the church today, there would be no preaching to the masses. There would just be individuals trying to establish relationships with those with whom they came in contact on a regular basis and hoping to at some point convert and disciple them. If Jesus and the apostles had used this method, Christianity would have died out in the first generation. There MUST be a presentation of the simple gospel to the masses FIRST which depends on God for the results. THEN, out of those who believe, God will occasionally direct you to personally disciple one of them. For the remainder of the believers (as well as for yourself and those who you disciple), the church is the place where they can grow and fellowship and establish personal relationships.

So, it should come as no surprise that a recent survey by the University of Chicago shows that the percentage of Americans who consider themselves Protestant has dropped below 50%. Our current approach to evangelism sounds like a “high quality smaller quantity” sort of approach but the effect is to bring personal evangelism in America to a crawl if not an outright standstill. The church and its members need to start preaching the gospel again. Sharing what God means to you and how He has changed your life, being a good person, helping others…these are all good things but it’s the gospel which saves people’s souls. And if they aren’t being saved, the rest of it is meaningless.

In the name of more effective evangelism, we have mistakenly accepted the Satanic premise that people will no longer respond to a simple, direct presentation of the gospel. That we need to couch it in inoffensive generalities and establish credibility with them one on one before we can even attempt to share God’s Word with them. We need to start trusting God’s Word and His promises and trust the Holy Spirit to do the work. We need to stop substituting the same sale techniques that are used to get you to buy a car for the power of God. God has not changed and neither has His Word. The human heart is the same today as it was 2000 years ago and it will still respond to the Holy Spirit. It’s time for us to stop spinning our wheels and “preach the Word…in season and out!”