Reforming Evangelism
1. Introduction
2. Preparation
3. Is it Biblical?
4. Practice
5. The Diagram
6. Assurance
In light of a question I received today let me make one more quick post for the sake of clarity before I get to the practical suggestions about a new/old kind of evangelism.
1. What “seeking evangelism” is not.
While some have wrongly turned the idea of being prepared for the Kingdom into a system that oppresses people, and forces them into long periods of introspection, most of the puritans rejected the idea that a uniform experience should be promoted. While some must go through a more drawn-out process under the law before they are broken, others are prepared, seek and find the kingdom more easily, or more quickly. The point is, no one enters the kingdom apart from being prepared, and this generally is a longer process than most modern evangelism tends to allow for. To create a universal paradigm that we expect all people to go through in coming to Christ is the same mistake being made today, though in the opposite direction.
2. Is seeking evangelism biblical?
Is preparationism, or “seeking evangelism,” biblical? Do we see individuals being prepared for conversion? Can we find the process of being drawn to God prior to saving faith in Scripture? I believe the answer is yes.
Some have a shorter experience of preparation, while others’ are more protracted. Consider Abraham, whose initial encounter with God did not result in conversion. Instead he interacted with him and his will for some time before “he believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Consider Jacob, whose conversion comes after a prolonged interaction with the God of his father.
That people must experience conviction and brokenness prior to entering the kingdom is easily established in Scripture (Mt. 5:3; John 16:7-11). Accordingly we see Jesus at times issuing a more general invitation for people to come and believe, but then his specific exhortation comes to those who are “distressed by reason of their sins, who see themselves as miserable and undone (Mt. 11:38; Isaiah 55:1; Rev. 22:17).”1 Jesus often describes his kingdom as a difficult thing to find and warns of the many hindrances that get in the way of salvation (Mt. 8:13; Lk. 13:24; 14:25-33; Jn. 5:44). And Jesus indicated that some are closer to entering the kingdom than others (Mk. 12:34). This is why Jesus’ evangelistic approaches varied so much; because each person was in a different place spiritually and needed to be encouraged further along in seeking (or in their need to begin seeking) salvation.
I hope that helps. Next up, some of the practical ways we can and should evangelize.
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1 Solomon Stoddard, A Guide to Christ pg. xvii
I am the Lead Pastor of Redeemer Fellowship; husband to Jen; Dad to Katherine, Elias, Madeline, and Kilian. If you're in town you can probably find me in the local coffee house or running through the neighborhoods.
{ 12 comments }
Good stuff. I am exercising patience while waiting to see where you are going. A question though, and perhaps you will deal with this:
Would you then completely discount ‘instant conversions’ as not being even possible?
I would since even the most sudden turn around, in retrospection, is preceded by a period of breaking before God.
Thanks for your patience James while I ramble on about this stuff. I would put it this way; some fall under the conviction of God’s spirit and respond quickly (the jailer in Acts 16 for example). But such a conversion is always preceded by humiliation. For most I believe it takes a bit longer. Ask people who were converted as adults – who appear to be real converts. What was their experience like? Did they hear the Gospel once and respond? The majority seem to find the kingdom after going through this process of preparation in days/weeks/months.
I am planning on sharing examples of conversions from our church in the next posts.
I meant to include this as well: Perhaps the jailer’s conviction began after the arrest and beating, or maybe after hearing the two men singing songs of praise while suffering. It could have all happened in hours I suppose. Though I think most have a longer experience than this. And the truth is, we don’t have all the background info on the jailer to really make a case for quick conversion. He may have been wrestling with god for some time. But I’ll take it as an example of quick conversion for the sake of discussion.
The problem is not that people MUST wait for days, but that the church presses them to make a decision in minutes and then gives them false assurance (this will be dealt with later).
Excellent series so far. I really appreciate this look at a “deeper” evangelism. Kind of puts the SBC goal of 1000000 in a disconcerting light.
David,
Where are you at/what are you doing in Chicago? Thanks for stopping by.
Hi, Joe. My wife and I live on the western edge of Uptown on the North Side (some call our neighborhood Sheridan Park). We’re a 25 minute walk from Wrigley field. Been here since ’93, when I graduated from Wheaton. Currently I’m a computer programmer, with some kind of long-term goal of getting into ministry of some sort (vague, I know). Up until very recently, we attended an ususual and in many ways wonderful SBC church, Uptown Baptist Church, but it was time for us to move on. Currently we’re looking for a new church. Well, there’s some info . . .
Thanks for the welcome!
David,
One of our members, a student at Moody Bible Inst. just moved up there. He’s a two bloks from the church. He comes back on the weekends for now, hangs with his family and works with our church. I know a guy at Uptown. Dave… something. He has long blond/brown hair. Musician. I hope you find a good church man. If you ever are out west – way out west (44 miles from the city) – you should join us for worship.
Joe, I’d enjoy a chance to visit your church. Maybe I’ll make it out there. If you’re ever going to be in the city with some free time, drop me an e-mail. Maybe we could meet over dinner or coffee or something.
Joe,
You are right on here. You have a way of speaking difficult truth with grace and precision. Many may think that to train people up in good doctrine is too much of a labor. This can be evidenced in the level of doctrinal ineptitude even amongst elders and overseers of many churches. The truth is, if pastors learned doctrine themselves then they would have a better starting point from which to teach their people. Thanks for posting this.
Thanks man. I appreciate that. You coming to Theology Pub this Wednesday night? Should be a good group. I’ll send out e-mail reminders tomorrow.
Joe,
Great set of posts. I am glad to get home and make the opportunity to go back and read the blogs that I have all too infrequently seen over the past five weeks. Also great to see Stoddard’s Guide to Christ. While he went a little far in some areas, this work on preparation and his sermon reproving preachers are too of my favorite Stoddard writings. How wonderful it would be if even a small percentage of evangelical churches really grasped the work of evangelism the way Stoddard did. Perhaps we would see seasons of refreshing and harvest similar to those Stoddard experienced in Northampton.
Stoaddard, like most of us, falls into some error, but I love his advice on evangelism. Love the pics from your trip man.
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