Matthew 4:18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
1 Corinthians 9:19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
23 And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.
The problem with much evangelism today is that the fish in the lake have changed and we are still using the same lures. While no fish are vegetarian and minnows or squid properly presented will be eaten, all master fishermen have more than one lure in their basket They also know the characteristics and habits of the fish in the lake Some of us need to know that there are very few "Acts 2" fish in the lake anymore. The lake is filled with Mars Hill fish who require many different lures. However, it is still illegal to fish with dynamite and not all things that are legal are biblical.
Look at your lake and see what kind of fish are there. Before the '60s a great many people had a Bible background of some type and you could reach them by pointing to the Scriptures directly and they would be convicted by what they had learned as a child much like the Jews on Pentecost. They were well versed in the Word and when Peter made the application to Jesus it clicked. Also, the Spirit was the real evangelist. Pushing people into a sinner's prayer when they do not understand only makes them twice the child of Hell that they were because they will now say they are saved when it is an almost 100%guarantee they are not. If they do not show up at church or you have to hound them to attend there is something wrong. When I was saved I wanted to be at church 7 days a week. No one had to call me every week to tell me when the doors were open.
Take Paul's example at Mars Hill. He started out from a different perspective. Teaching from the Law to them would have been fruitless as they did not ever have any concept of that. You have to go back to the beginning. Most people today are into evolution, far eastern religions, atheism or some other philosophy that starting out with you are sinner Jesus wants to save from Hell has no meaning as they have no clue what sin is and morality is either foreign to them or based upon something other than the Word. It can be very warped like those who profess Christ and hate the death penalty, but are for abortion and euthanasia.
You have to find out their world view first and then work from there back to Creation and one God before they can understand the Fall, the Law and a need for a Savior. There will be fewer and fewer real conversions happen by a quickie presentation of the Gospel on the doorstep. The Holy Spirit can still do it, but we are called to be fishermen so we need to have some understanding of the fish and lures yet allowing the Holy Spirit to reel them into the good ship Salvation.
Our preaching needs to be changed as well. Not content, as truth never changes, but the presentation. In Africa and some other countries, I can do a three hour message and they will ask for more. Here, we need to realize that the media has created people who have trouble following a long discourse and do not like what we call bold preaching. Ranting and raving will not cut it anymore for most people. People respond to to a more casual or collegiate presentation, which is why Cowboy Churches and similar motifs are drawing crowds and the Billy Sunday style churches are shrinking. I can get my point across and be just as serious about sin without screaming and at times nearly cussing when speaking of sinners and sins. That will work for a select crowd of folks, but most will be turned off.
I am not saying we have to adopt all the stuff the growing churches are using for some of that is Madison Avenue and ballyhoo tactics that are like throwing a grenade in the lake and getting all kind of fish in the boat including those that are inedible. True, tares and wheat will grow together until the harvest, but we may be planting more tares than wheat by our programs.
The best thing is to seek the Holy Spirit's filling. Many Baptists are afraid of that concept thinking it sounds Pentecostal. It is biblical. We tend to do so much in the flesh and according to our tradition instead of letting God do the work. Paul wanted to go to an area and God said no, but sent him to where God was working.
I am in a learning process and the more I see of the Church today compared to the past I can see a vast difference between the two. They were willing to sacrifice everything and we want to give up as little as possible under the guise of living under grace and vilifying any call to sacrifice as legalism. They were willing to die but we want the pie in the sky. We are in an age of apostasy. We need revival or we will see less and fish caught. Shalom!
