For several weeks I have been engaged in thinking and ultimately re-thinking evangelism. The catalyst for this has been a Sunday class on the subject. That experience has been interesting because the premises of the class have challenged some of my preconceived notions about evangelism. In this post I intend to share one particular thought that arose as I pondered the class and associated readings. All of my posts on Sharing Good News can be seen HERE.
People as Projects
“Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you’re not saved yourself, be sure of that!”
? Charles Spurgeon
“Soul winning for Christ Jesus is a great business everyone must endeavor to start and keep it diligently”
? Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
An anecdotal reflection from my past, “You can’t go to heaven alone.”
A dogmatic view of evangelism opens the door to a pharisaical impulse to make obedience the end rather the means.
Each quote, in some way, reflects the idea that the sole purpose of Christians is to win souls for Christ. In the extreme, to not save others condemns to hell. I believe that is a truncated view of life in the Kingdom of God and does violence to the Kingdom. Elevating any clearly mandated responsibility of disciples to an extent that other mandates of Jesus are diminished, denigrated and/or eliminated is an attribute of Phariseeism which Jesus vehemently condemned.
“Instead of giving you God’s Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals.” Matt. 23 MSG
To establish evangelism as the preeminent command of Jesus to his disciples, presents the same risk as when applied to sabbath, tithes, making converts, cleanliness et al.
Christian faith is “a missionary religion.” Christians, both by the internal logic of the faith that they (classically) embrace and by specific injunctions of that faith, are called to bear witness to faith. My sense is that we ought to think of evangelism precisely in those terms, as bearing witness—not converting other people, not making them into Christians, but bearing witness to who God, as revealed in Jesus Christ, is, and leaving the encounter between that God and the person to the conscience of the person and to the work of God in their lives. Christian witness goes wrong when it tries, in subtle or explicit ways, to manipulate people into making a decision, and not allowing sufficient freedom for people to make that decision. Or, to put it the other way, the problem is not respecting the fact that it is the Holy Spirit which adds people to the church, and that Christian evangelists and pastors don’t grow churches. At their best, evangelists do what John the Baptist did: they point to Christ; they say, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” And “He should increase and I should decrease.” Miroslav Volf
I have argued that mission-shaped discipleship is about seeking to be filled, transformed and overflowing with love of God and neighbour at the interface of embodied and virtual life. As such, our participation in the mission of God is substantially expressed through works of mercy, in which God’s love for our neighbours reaches out through us in a holistic way. From a discipleship per-spective, evangelism as a work of mercy is specifically directed towards the spiritual needs of others, by developing transformational friendships as means of grace. Through these relationships, we come to share life and faith in spiritual conversations with the expectation that people will be awakened to the love of God, and seek out his grace for themselves. Philip Meadows -Mission and Discipleship in a Digital Culture
For my own part, I believe Christian mission and evangelism is simply this: Proclaiming and participating in the Reign (basileia, “rule”, “reign”, “kingdom”) of God that has broken into the world through the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. This is “the good news”: the victory over sin and death, the abundant life Jesus promised, and the gift of the Indwelling Spirit are available…today. We do not need to delay gratification, awaiting some far off heaven in the sweet by and by. God’s life is available right now. So any urgency in Christian mission is the urgency of joy. It is not the urgency of doom and gloom. The urgency of turn or burn. The urgency of fear. It is, rather, the urgency that the eschatological wedding banquet is in full swing and you’re missing out. Mission work should move away from “persuasion models” to actually changing the world. The question for missionaries should shift from “How many souls were saved?” to “How have you transformed that community into the Kingdom of God?” MIchael Frost
In my mind, there is no dispute regarding the responsibility of Christ followers to share good news. Sharing good news should be seen as the very nature of Christ followers, not as a responsibility. The issue is, in what manner is good news be shared?
To adopt a dogmatic perspective on evangelism necessarily leads to the objectification of people, making them the means to a well-intentioned end. To present good news as an ultimatum stands in stark contrast to God’s loving expression of grace in the sacrifice of Christ. No person should be denied the opportunity to express their volitional gratitude to such profound good news.
The question to be answered is: “Am I a disciple of Jesus? If the answer is YES, debate on evangelism becomes moot.