Evangelism

‘The word evangelism still sends shivers down the spines of many people. There are various reasons for this. Some people have been scared off by frightening or bullying harangues or tactless and offensive or embarrassing and naïve presentations of the gospel. Others have never suffered such indignities but heard or read about them and are glad to have a good excuse to pour scorn on all evangelism- as though, because some people do it badly, nobody should ever do it at all.’


‘Much evangelism has, of course, consisted of taking the traditional framework of a heaven-and-hell expectation and persuading people that it’s time they consider the heaven option and grab it while they have the chance. What’s stopping them getting there is sin; the solution is provided in Jesus Christ; all the have to do is to accept it!

Millions of Christians today are Christians because they heard that message and responded to it. Am I therefore saying-since plainly I think that way of putting things is at best lopsided- that they have been deceived or mistaken?


No.


God gloriously honours all kinds of ways of announcing the good news. I do not suppose for a moment that my own way of preaching or talking to individuals about God is perfect and without flaws, and yet God (I believe) has graciously honoured some at least of what I do. No doubt he would have been far more honoured if I had done it better and more prayerfully. No doubt the flaws in my own preaching, and the difficult flaws in other presentations, will eventually show up in the Christian lives of those who come to faith as a result, and no doubt we all ought to polish up and improve what we do for the sake of our hearers and the honour of God. But, as every generation knows, it isn’t the quality of the preaching that counts but the faithfulness of God…God works as a result of prayers and faithfulness, not technique and cleverness.


But none of this is an excuse for not understanding what happens when we evangelize or not shaping the way we do it in accordance with the full biblical gospel.’