Can Someone Give Me An Amen?

Author: Duncan Bell

As mentioned in the previous article on evangelism, when I was a new Christian I thought evangelism would be easy. I believed that if I told people about the love of Jesus that would be enough for me to save the world. Such an approach quickly taught me that there is more to it than just the love of God. The full Gospel has to be present for evangelism to be effective. So this article will be tackling the question of what the role of preaching and missions should be in effective evangelism.

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ,” says Romans 10:17. Throughout these articles the definition for the word “preaching” is simply talking about the Gospel. Therefore in evangelism, preaching is essential because you cannot share a message if you never open your mouth. David Fisher writes, “If the pastor is like a parent, the church is a family. It is a place to grow.”(1) The spirit of evangelism is bringing another person into your family. When I was dating my now fiancé, there was a moment when I had to introduce her to my family. I believe it is a similar idea when it comes to evangelism. One takes care and time to make sure, when they are introduced, that there will be great acceptance of this new person into the family unit. Preaching then is declaring the Gospel message to a person who comes to one’s family. Therefore, it refers to someone you already have a relationship with, but now you come to a point when you decide I need to introduce them to my true family.

Now we focus on missions. Yes, the picture of the desolate jungles, where cannibals roam free and God told you to save them. Not completely accurate. Missions are at the heart of evangelism. Missions are when we fulfill The Great Commission (see Matt. 28:16-20) and we go. It refers to when we take ourselves and we go to people who are not in the family with the purpose of bringing them into the family. Was the apostle Paul an evangelist, pastor, prophet, apostle, or teacher of the Word? Those who have a background in the five-fold ministry might feel a little uncomfortable, but I want to make the point here that we are all called to fulfill all these roles to some capacity. Now the mission field is where all these ministries are found working in unison to bring about great change in the world. Remember, mission work is where we go and take the Gospel to those who do not have the faith for salvation (another topic we will be covering in another article a must read). Evangelism is only evangelism when the Gospel is being presented.

In his book, Tell the Truth: The Whole Gospel to the Whole Person by Whole People, Metzger puts it as follows,

Christians equates social activism with the gospel and evangelism. Do you agree with these statements, commonly voiced by Christians?

• “I enjoy getting the gospel out by tutoring inner-city kids” (South African context would replace ‘inner-city kids’ with township areas).

• “I show the gospel to the homeless by helping them find medical help, food and shelter.”

• “I rejoice in witnessing to the gospel through the activity of helping at the local soup kitchen.”

• “I proclaim the gospel by standing up for the rights of those that cannot speak for themselves.”(2)

So I end with this … Are these acts of evangelism? What do you think?

References:

(1) Fisher DC 1996. The 21st Century Pastor. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

(2) Metzger W 2012. Tell the Truth: The Whole Gospel to the Whole Person by Whole People. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.