Where all Evangelism must Start
As Christians, we desire for those around us to know Christ. In the New Covenant of Jesus Christ, God calls the world to be reconciled to Him through His Son, and this is witnessed through His Church, fueled by the Holy Spirit. Having tasted and seen that the Lord is good, we want those around us to also experience the love of God and be born again.
But evangelism can be intimidating.
An essential truth to remember is that we are ultimately powerless over whether a person chooses to authentically follow Jesus. It is their choice, not ours, and it is more importantly the power of the Holy Spirit to convict. It is important we know our place in God’s work, and that we rely solely on Him in prayer and surrender to His will.
But what about how we witness the Gospel? People are diverse, and discussing spiritual matters can be intimidating. It especially isn’t light to discuss matters of life, death, salvation, and condemnation.
The market world of Christianity certainly hasn’t overlooked this, at least in Western culture. Conferences, courses, pamphlets, videos, books, podcasts, and all sorts of resources have come out over the last century to help equip the modern Christian in evangelism. For those who are shy and may be intimidated to discuss deep theology, simply give a stranger a gospel tract. For those who want to challenge the most outspoken Atheist at their job or school, study an apologetics book on how to win debates and prove the existence of God. For the more emotional critic, expose the holes of their philosophy, and show how they have broken the Ten Commandments at one point in their life.
I’ve seen good come from some of these methods. Despite some of the good, I have witnessed far more damage done if I’m being honest. Are these methods objectively bad in all circumstances? No, I am not convinced of that. However, I do find these methods to be far too relied on, and left on their own, they can easily fall short of presenting the full Gospel. Also, some of these methods that are claimed to be “biblical” I find not to be the case, and instead is an American, modernized twisting of how the Apostles evangelized in their Jewish/Greco-Roman culture.
Prideful attitudes, oversimplifying (and often misrepresenting) the Scriptures, asserting 21st century Western ideas into the Bible, studying less Church History and more modern philosophies, using tactics of guilt tripping or fear mongering, and reliance on self confidence instead of the Holy Spirit are just a few examples of what can go wrong.
I want to take a look at a quote from one of the earliest written sermons we have, 2nd Clement. We have previously looked at this specific passage before, but I find it so convicting that it bears repeating. The Preacher in 2nd Clement is calling a congregation to repent from sin. First, he argues that the individuals in the church sinning don’t know when Christ will return, so they shouldn’t procrastinate from repenting. Next, he argues that this lack of repentance will hurt their witness to the world:
“For the nations, hearing from our mouth the oracles of God, marvel at their excellence and worth; thereafter learning that our deeds are not worthy of the words which we speak—receiving this occasion they turn to blasphemy, saying that they are a fable and a delusion.
For, whenever they hear from us that God says, ‘No thanks to you, if you love those who love you, but you have thanks (credit) if you love your enemies and those who hate you.’—whenever they hear these words, they marvel at the surpassing measure of their goodness; but when they see, that not only do we not love those who hate (us), but that we love not even those who love (us), they laugh at us and scorn, and the name is blasphemed.”
2nd Clement brings up a timeless conviction. Our hypocrisy as Christians is not only a stumbling block to the lost, but a blasphemy against the holy name of God. In my opinion, the key to all evangelism is this: We must witness the death, resurrection, and teachings of Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit, practice what Christ taught.
To evangelize is to obey the Kingdom teachings of Christ. By obeying the Kingdom teachings, the Kingdom of Christ shines to those who are lost. (Matthew 5:13-16) I do not believe it is a coincidence that Matthew arranges Jesus’ “salt and light” teaching in the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. I believe Matthew is suggesting that we as the Church are being the salt and light of the world when we follow the Sermon on the Mount teachings.
This is far more important than winning arguments, answering all objections, or giving out hundreds of tracts. When we as the Church love God with all our heart, love our neighbor as ourselves, not resist our enemies, even show love to our enemies, admit when we are wrong and sincerely apologize, and not invest in earthly treasures, we are abiding in Christ and witnessing the power of Christ to those around us.
I do believe there is a place for responding to objections, defending doctrine, and debating with critics. But all methods of evangelism must be founded on humbly submitting ourselves to Christ. We cannot tell others that Jesus is Lord if we ourselves are unwilling to submit to His Lordship.
As we see in the 2nd Clement passage, good evangelism includes authentically loving our brothers and sisters in the Church. If we are unwilling to submit to our brothers and sisters in love, (Ephesians 5:21) mourn with those mourning, (Romans 12:15) seek justice for those in our congregations who have been abused and oppressed by those in power (especially professing Christians in power), (Isaiah 1:16-17, Proverbs 31:8, Luke 19:8-9, James 1:27-2:26) we not only sin against God, but the lost see this and dismiss the Gospel.
I am not trying to sound anti-apologist, but Jesus did not teach how to debate well, He taught how to love others. Personally, I need to hear all of this multiple times a day, because I am very flawed and I like to argue. I want to address this in a spirit of humility, as someone who has been hurt by some of these previously mentioned methods of evangelism, and admittedly have hurt others by some of these methods.
To my brothers and sisters who are intimidated to evangelize or feel overwhelmed, I want to encourage you. If you have a coworker, family member, or friend who you want to evangelize to but don’t know where to start, know that the Holy Spirit is enough.
Jesus Only
I want to make clear that what I am not stating is that we evangelize simply by our moral behavior. Paul states what matters most is the death and resurrection of Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8) Whoever we evangelize to must know the Gospel of Jesus, that He died on the cross for our sins and rose again, conquering death and all powers.
In regards to our behavior, I am not suggesting a works righteousness or personality-driven evangelism. Rather, by following the commandments of Jesus and imitating His servant hood we point to Jesus in our words and actions. (Mark 10:42-45) We take no credit for anything. It is because of His teachings, and the New Life He has given us that we witness this way. We lead evangelism in our weakness, relying on the Holy Spirit over our skills and intelligence. (1st Corinthians 2:1-5, 2nd Corinthians 12:9)
There are many different methods and styles of evangelism, and they can make a great impact. The world is diverse, and there are diverse ways of sharing the Good News. But our starting point is following Jesus ourselves, individually and together as the Church. Any method of evangelism, no matter how seemingly effective, should not and cannot be separated from this.
Bibliography
Schaff, P. (2016). The Complete Ante-Nicene, Nicene, and Post-Nicene Collection of Early Church Fathers. Toronto, Canada.
See also: What does it mean to “imitate” Jesus?