The Purpose-full Church: In Evangelism
(NTC4T-7)
I. Defining the Purposes of the Church
C. Evangelism
1. A parable of our present state in evangelism
2. Evangelism Defined
3. Elements of evangelism
a) Presence
b) Proclamation
c) Persuasion
Introduction
The story is told about a major uproar that took place at the Acme Dog Food Company because their sales were consistently going down. The president of Acme commissioned his department heads and managers to try to determine why sales were doing so poorly. The department of advertising got together and discussed just why it wasn’t selling. They discovered they were doing all that could be done to get the product into the minds of consumers. The production department claimed all was on schedule. The shipping and handling department said all was OK. They got the scientist to analyze the food and declared it to be of very high nutrition, one of the top dog foods on the market. The relationships with the retailers were checked out. But still they couldn’t figure out why the food wouldn’t sell. Finally from the back of a smoke-filled conference room at Acme headquarters came a quiet voice with the answer, “The reason why Acme dog food would not sell is because the dogs just won’t eat it.”
I believe this story typifies one end of the continuum of our experiences in evangelism. We’ve read all the right books. We’ve attended the seminars. We’ve been trained in a particular methodology. We’ve listened to good sermons. We’ve memorized some key scriptures, stories and arguments. But when we actually get around to the business of evangelism, our results are meager at best: no one is “buying” what we’re “selling.” We seem to be the only ones who recognize the gospel message as being good news. And although we clearly understand that Jesus has commanded us to make disciples, these types of experiences make us reluctant to want to attempt it again.
A Parable of Our Present State in Evangelism
Now I want to take a look at the other end of the continuum of our experiences in evangelism. Please turn in your Bibles to John 5:1-7 (p. 792). Your translation may include v. 4 as a footnote. I will be reading v. 4 as well. [Read]
I see this incident in the life of Jesus a parallel to the great task of evangelism that we encounter on a daily basis. In v. 3 we see the human need: sickness, disease, brokenness, and an inability to change this condition. In v. 4 we see God’s provision: the stirring of the waters by an angel of the Lord. And in v. 7 we see the problem: there is no one to put the man into the pool after the water has been stirred in order that he might receive healing. Dr. Terry Wardle, one of my professors at ATS, posed these questions about this event: “What happened to the people who got healed? Why didn’t they help the others?”
When you look at this story in the light of these questions, you can see that it is parabolic of our present state of evangelism. Those who have received the gospel message are like those who were able to get into the pool after the stirring and received their healing. And like those who had been healed, they leave that place where so many are desperate and needy and fail to help them into the pool where they can be saved.
The Times-Reporter of New Philadelphia, Ohio, reported in September, 1985 a celebration of a New Orleans municipal pool. The party around the pool was held to celebrate the first summer in memory without a drowning at the New Orleans city pool. In honor of the occasion, 200 people gathered, including 100 certified lifeguards. As the party was breaking up and the four lifeguards on duty began to clear the pool, they found a fully dressed body in the deep end. They tried to revive Jerome Moody, 31, but it was too late. He had drowned surrounded by lifeguards celebrating their successful season.
I’ve drawn your attention to the two extremes of experiences in evangelism which are so prevalent in the Church today: on the one end is a lack of results leading to reticence, and on the other end is self-satisfaction leading to self-absorption. What I want to do this morning is try to move us more to the middle of the continuum—to a place where we are actively engaged in evangelism and we are experiencing the joy of seeing lives changed by God.
I don’t believe that I need to spend time trying to convince you of the great need to reach out to your family, friends, co-workers and neighbors with the life-changing message of the gospel. We all agree with that fact. I also don’t believe that I need to build a case for the fact that we are under obligation from our Lord to be about the task of evangelizing the world. We all agree on that fact also. So my chief purpose this morning will be to make the process of evangelism as practical and understandable as I can. I want to see us move to the place of seeing evangelism as just a natural part of living the Christ-life and not as a rigorous duty to be endured. And I want each of us to see that God has intended to use us naturally—where we are and how were made. We will accomplish this by looking primarily at Jesus’ approach to evangelism.
Evangelism Defined
Before we look at the Gospel records, I want to consider a number of definitions of evangelism. I’ll begin with my definition: Evangelism is communicating the good news of Jesus Christ with those who don’t yet have a personal relationship with Him and leading them to that encounter. The purpose of evangelism is derived from the first part of the Great Commission: Go and make disciples. The key components of this definition are communicating and leading.
As I mentioned in the message on disciplemaking, evangelism is not to be seen as an end in itself. Rather it is the en-try point for becoming a fully-committed disciple of Christ. Understood in its proper perspective, evangelism is a by-product of being a fully-committed disciple of Christ—true disciples make disciples which includes the work of evangelism. Now listen to this definition of evangelism: “Evangelism is communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ with the immediate intent of converting the hearer to faith in Christ, and with the ultimate intent of instructing the convert in the Word of God so that he can become a mature believer” (M. Cocoris, Evangelism, A Biblical Approach, Moody, 1984, p. 14). Again, evangelism is not the end, but the beginning of a life-long process of becoming a disciple.
I would like to consider just one more definition of evan-gelism because it gives an overview of where the rest of this message is going. The 1974 Luzanne Congress on Evangelism defined evangelism in this way (a bit lengthy):
To evangelize is to spread the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that as the reigning Lord He now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gift of the Spirit to all who repent and believe. Our Christian presence in the world is indispensable to evangelism and so is that kind of dialogue whose purpose it is to listen sensitively in order to understand. But evangelism itself is the proclamation of the historical, biblical Christ as Savior and Lord with a view to persuading people to come to Him personally and so be reconciled to God. In issuing the gospel invitation we have no liberty to conceal the cost of discipleship. Jesus still calls all who would follow Him to deny themselves, take up their cross, and identify themselves with His new community. The results of evangelism include: obedience to Christ, incorporation into His Church and responsible service to the world.
Elements of Evangelism
Contained within that definition of evangelism are three key words which describe the three elements of effective evangelism. In order for our evangelistic efforts to produce results for the kingdom of God, we must incorporate these three elements: presence, proclamation and persuasion.
Presence
Presence simply means that people are loved and helped. Presence has to do with penetrating the world around us in an aggressively loving way to become an incarnation of love. It’s piercing the darkness and woundedness that surrounds us in such a manner that people clearly recognize that we care about them, and that we’re not just out to fulfill some kind of quota. It’s about entering to the lives of others and genuinely being interested in them—discovering who they are, what they like, where they hurt, and how we can help.
Of course this will mean that we have to be open to taking some risks and being uncomfortable. It will necessitate that we get outside the walls of our church and our exclusive relationships with Christians and get to know our neighbors, classmates, and coworkers where they are. Some of you may be starting to feel uncomfortable already and you’re thinking that maybe I’m crossing the line of “good Christian conduct.” But before you drag me down from the pulpit and stone me, please consider the example of Christ.
Did you ever notice how many times in the Gospels we read about Jesus just being with people—sometimes even with “the wrong kinds” of people? His first miracle took place at a wedding reception where He turned six stone jars filled with water into 120-180 gallons of wine (John 2:1-11). He once spoke kindly with a woman of ill repute in a public place (John 4:1-26). Jesus’ healing ministry included touching people with life-threatening diseases (Mat-thew 8:1-4). He had a reputation among the religious community as being one who hung out with “sinners.” In fact, Mark tells us that there were many people of this kind among the crowds that followed Jesus (2:15b NLT). On two different occasions, when Jesus saw the physical needs of the crowds that followed Him, he had compassion and provided food for them (Mark 6:30-44; 8:1-10). Even in His teaching ministry, Jesus stressed the importance to going out and being in the midst of the needy. Please turn in your Bibles to Luke 5:31-32 (p. 766). Jesus embodied the value of presence in evangelism—loving and helping people.
One Sunday evening, William Booth (founder of the Salvation Army) was walking in London with his son, Bramwell, who was then 12 or 13 years old. He surprised his son by taking him into a saloon! The place was crowded with men and women, many of them bearing on their faces the marks of vice and crime; some were drunk. The fumes of alcohol and tobacco were poisonous. “Willie,” Booth said to his son, “These are our people; these are the people I want you to live for and bring to Christ.” Years later, Bramwell Booth wrote, “The impression never left me” (W. Wiersbe, The Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, p. 185).
We cannot legitimately move on to proclamation and persuasion until we have loved and touched the world. And I understand the delicate balance that exists between radical identification with our culture and maintaining a radical difference as disciples of Christ—it’s difficult to stay balanced. Yet, I can’t help but believe that if we are called by Jesus to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16)—penetrating our world and making a difference—then He will also equip us and protect us as we are faithful to His call. It’s a matter of faith and obedience.
In an ultimate sense, love is something that must be demonstrated, not just talked about. And love, through our presence in the world, prepares the way for proclamation.
Proclamation
The second element of evangelism is proclamation. Proclamation simply means that people hear and understand the gospel message. Romans 10:17 makes it clear that in order for people to accept Christ, they must hear the message of salvation: Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Just being among people is not enough; they must also receive a clear presentation of the gospel.
The proclamation aspect of evangelism is comprised to two main parts. The first is the communication of the historical gospel message. We need to proclaim the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in clear terms. We cannot water it down or alter the facts to fit our personal comforts or to keep from offending those we are attempting to bring into an encounter with Christ. For example, we cannot gloss over the blood because it’s not politically correct or seems barbaric or antiquated to speak of such things.
Things have not changed since the Apostle Paul preached the gospel and he said in this day, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles (1 Corin-thians 1:23). The cross is intended to be an offense. It speaks of God’s utter contempt for sin and His willingness to go to the ultimate extreme to break the power of sin and to set mankind free. It also speaks of our utter inability to save ourselves and of our desperate need to accept God’s solution to our eternal demise. We are obligated to clearly and faithfully proclaim the full message of salvation as revealed in God’s word.
Let me give you a great passage to mark in your Bibles that outlines the essentials of the gospel message. It has been called the “gospel in a nutshell” by some. It’s found in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (p. 856). [Read] You need to know the essentials of the gospel message and where you can find them in your Bible. The reason I emphasize knowing where to find it in the Bible is because it is helpful to show people that this is not just your opinion on the matter, rather it is God’s word. It also protects you from misquoting the Bible. So it’s a good idea to learn where some key scriptures are and mark them. You may want to follow the “Roman Road” or a similar logical presentation of the gospel message. You can even mark where to find the next reference beside the one you are currently displaying. No matter how you go about it, the main thing is know what the essentials are, where to find them, and how to communicate them clearly.
The second aspect of proclaiming the gospel is your personal testimony. We spent a number of Sunday evenings talking about the importance of our testimony, we worked on writing our testimonies in an effective manner, and we practiced telling our testimonies to one another, so I’m not going to spend a lot of time on that subject. I only want reiterate the fact that your testimony is without a doubt the best tool you have in communicating the truth of the gospel. People can argue with you about what the Bible has to say or what your pastor has to say about the power of the gospel. But the one thing that they cannot deny is your testimony. If God has done a work in your life—if He has changed you—then you are living proof of the gospel.
Turn with me quickly to Mark 5 (p. 747). This is the account of a man who was set free from demonic domination by Christ. His life was a mess. He was out of control. He was constantly trying to harm himself. Everyone was afraid of him. And everyone knew who he was. But after his encounter with Christ, the man was set free and in his right mind. Now look down at v. 18. [Read] Notice Jesus’ instructions to the man, “Go back home and give your testimony—tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And the result of his obedience was that all the people were amazed. It was undeniable what God had done for him. What God has done in your life is also undeniable and will amaze all who hear it.
Persuasion
The final (and perhaps most controversial) element of evangelism is persuasion. Persuasion is what we are aiming for as a result of our presence and proclamation: disciples are made.
I’m sure that there are some who would disagree with me concerning the validity of persuasion as being an element of evangelism. For many, evangelism ends with the verbal communication of the message of salvation. They would argue that we cannot claim any legitimate responsibility in persuading people to accept God’s gift of eternal life. And they make such claims on the basis some pretty good sounding religious lines of reasoning.
Most of us know how the arguments go, so I’m not going to make the case for those who dispute the validity of persuasion as an element of evangelism. Instead, I will attempt to demonstrate why it is a biblical postulate that we should hold and incorporate in our evangelistic efforts. At the same time I will balance this out with what is revealed in other scriptures.
I want to look at three statements made by Christ. The first is Luke 19:10 (p. 782). This is Jesus’ mission statement, His purpose for taking on the limitations of a man. Notice that He did not just come to seek but also to save. In relation to what has already been said, presence and proclamation is the theology of seeking, whereas, persuasion is the theology of saving. The second statement is found in Luke 10:2 (p. 772). Jesus urges his disciples to ask His Father for more workers to bring in the harvest. There is no need for asking for more workers if an actual harvest is not in mind. The final statement is Matthew 28:19 (p. 743). This is part of the Great Commission—a command that we make disciples. Notice Jesus didn’t say, “Try to make disciples”—He said, “Make disciples.” He expected them to make disciples or, to use my terminology, to persuade people to receive God’s gift of eternal life and realize their God-ordained destiny. Persuasion is an integral part of evangelism.
Having said all that, I want to balance this out with the reality that we cannot save anyone. We can say all the right words, present an “air-tight” apologetic, give personal attestation through our testimony and still not persuade an individual to accept Christ as Savior. We can come up empty-handed. This is attested to by Jesus Himself who said on one occasion, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44a). And on another instance He said, “I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him” (John 6:65b). God alone saves—from start to finish.
So how does this sync with what I said earlier about the element of persuasion? Persuasion is not about ability—it’s about responsibility. We are not able to save anyone, but we have a responsibility to be faithful to our commission to make disciples. Another way of looking at persuasion is to see it as a willingness to focus all of our attention on the salvation of the individual we’re trying to make into a disciple. It means praying for the person, being involved in his/her life’, presenting the gospel as if that person’s life depended on it (because it does), and never giving up. Too often we’re guilty of just saying our scripted speech, or handing out some gospel literature or other media, or whatever happens to be “our style” of evangelism without ever having a “view to persuading people to come to [Christ] personally and so be reconciled to God” (1974 LCE). Then we casually pat ourselves on the back and say, “I did my part, now it’s up to God to do His.” We’re missing out on the point when we divorce ourselves from the process emotionally. God calls us to make disciples with passion—His passion—and to be persuasive in our performance of His call.
Conclusion
Evangelism is a matter of presence (loving and helping people), proclamation (making the message heard and understood), and persuasion (making people into disciples).
Let me close with a quote from Bill Bright that summarizes this message on evangelism: “Sharing our Lord and His great message of love and forgiveness is like passing a magnet over a field of iron filings. The filings leap to the magnet. When we exalt Jesus Christ and attractively lift Him up in the power of the Holy Spirit, those who are listening are drawn to Christ in the same measure…If in the power of the Holy Spirit, we communicate God’s love and the im-portant choices people need to make concerning Him, God will take care of the results.”
