WHERE HAS ALL THE EVANGELISM GONE?
By Dr. Ruben Schwieger
Where has all the evangelism gone in much of Christendom? In fact, if the word “evangelism” is used, it often is used negatively. It is seldom used in sermons, in writings, or in various discussions about the directions and trends in the future of the church. It is as though Christians and congregations have abandoned the whole concept along with the word. Perhaps it was, in part, because of the practice of some to use heavy-handed condemnation and even aggressive behavior toward non-Christians and call such behavior “evangelism.”
It seems that evangelism programs such as Evangelism Explosion, The Four Spiritual Laws, the Navigator’s Program and others have fallen into ill-reput. In fact, if you open Navigator’s website, you see no use of the word “evangelism.” Their focus has changed to discipleship. In past years, many churches held week-long revival services when the emphasis was on evangelism. Today, a congregation might have some type of weekend or week-long event that, rather than focus on evangelism, focuses on renewal or some other non-evangelistic topic. And we can’t forget the evangelistic teams, designed to help non-believers become believers, that once traveled from city-to-city, some erecting large tents. The programs and events mentioned above were, of course, highly visible. Many congregations, state and national organizations seem to settle on programs that are good but avoid dealing with reaching the lost for Jesus. Has any new emphasis that would help Christians become personal evangelists been developed?
Congregations have so-called outreach programs, such as block parties, trunk-or-treat, and other special emphasis events designed to attract people to a local church. Often, these show that church people are caring people. Unfortunately, there are no intentionally planned efforts to share the gospel, the good news of God’s love, with those visitors. There are few, if any, sermons that focus on helping those visitors become Christians. In past years, worship services closed with an altar call. Today, how many churches even have an altar?
Furthermore, there are few training sessions, or other programs provided for preparing church members to confidentially become personal evangelists. Too often, the pastor and other congregational leaders are not models that congregants could emulate in sharing their faith with friends, family members, neighbors or colleagues.
In the local church’s social media, websites and other communication tools designed to reach people outside the church, there is typically no indication that the congregation has any focus on helping people to place their faith in God. There are listings of community service projects, opportunities for worship, children’s and youth programming, etc., but no mention of the church’s desire and goal to share the good news of the gospel. For some congregations, the mission and vision statements give no indication that at least some focus for the church is on leading people to Jesus.
Two central concerns that seem to be in vogue by state and national church agencies include: Discipleship and Church Planting. Both appear to avoid direct emphasis on getting people saved.
There is significant emphasis on developing discipleship programs, and on training and encouraging church members to be disciples and/or enable them to disciple others. Apparently the idea is that somehow people will be brought to Christ if all in the congregation are disciples. This raises a couple of significant questions: one, can a non-believer be discipled? Two, in their discipleship training are disciples trained to bring people Jesus?
Another programmatic emphasis, particularly among state, regional, and national organizations is recruiting individual church planters and church planting congregations. Various resources are made available to help new church plants become viable congregations. These new congregations, however, are typically not formed of new Christians, people that have been brought to faith by church planters. Rather, the rationale seems to be to create a congregation and hope that among people transferring from other churches, there will be some people new to church who might someday become Christians.
A proper understanding of two verses in God’s Word will guide Christians to better grasp their role. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samara, and to the ends of the earth.” -Acts 1:8. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” -Jeremiah 29:11.
The word “you” occurs in both verses, but maybe Christians have trouble understanding that word. They readily choose the singular “you” when they read: “I know the plans I have for you…,” when it is actually plural. They presume that God is saying, “I have a plan for your life personally and individually.” A reading of Jeremiah 29 makes it clear that Jeremiah is speaking to “the surviving exiles and the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.” -Jeremiah 29:1. “You” in Jeremiah 29:11 is clearly plural.
But when they read: “You shall be my witnesses…,” in Acts 1:8, they assume that “you” is plural and excuse themselves personally because it applies to the church, to Christians as a group. That erroneous interpretation lets them off the hook. They don’t have to be witnesses.
Jesus said to the remaining eleven disciples, “…go (you) into all the world,,,.” (Matthew 28:19) and later to those same disciples (and perhaps others), “You shall be my witnesses…” (Acts 1:8). It is likely that though he was speaking to the group, in both instances Jesus used the singular. A short time after he spoke, the disciples individually witnessed to the crowds in Jerusalem. And later, Peter and Phillip went on evangelism trips individually.
Actually, the witnessing to the crowds in Jerusalem was not the result of an organized and coordinated effort by the disciples, rather they took advantage of the crowds that were surprised to hear some uneducated peasants speaking in languages common to other parts of the world.
Should not every Christian go and do likewise?
What are we to do today?
- Believers in every congregation must be taught that he or she is to be an evangelist. It all starts with either asking the Lord to put the name of some one who needs the Lord on his or her heart, or, to find a way in his or her setting (family, friends, work, social connections, etc.) to share the value, joy and peace of living as a Christian; that being a Christian is the very best way to live.
- In addition to teaching, the pastor and church leaders must model the above. The pastor, in particular, must preach and encourage members in the congregation to follow his/her example to go make disciples.
- The congregation should provide training in personal evangelism. Believers need to know when to speak and when to listen. They need to understand that their commitment to lead someone to Jesus may stretch over several months and even years.
- Church state, regional and national organizations need to emphasize winning people to Christ and to develop programs that will effectively use church planting, discipleship training and other church events for that purpose. These programs should feature how to win someone to Jesus and lead new converts to Christian maturity, among other programs that are felt to be necessary.
- Evangelism should be a primary focus in all websites and publications from state, regional, and national church organizations. They should publish news about baptisms, successful programs, etc., that have happened in churches across the country.
- Missionaries, both home and international, should be given the same mandate as pastors. They should be sent to unreached people groups. They should be trained to assist national churches in their efforts to reach people for Jesus. Concomitant with that, the social service activities and tasks that are now part of the missions be de-emphasized.
- University and seminary ministerial training programs must provide training in personal evangelism for every student.
These things seem to be foundational for any church that proclaims “Jesus is the subject!”
