A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original article appears below. Mark Graham is a member of St. Gile’s Church in Prince George, B.C.
Over the last few years, evangelism has become a priority of the Presbyterian Church in Canada and in typical Presbyterian fashion we have established the appropriate committees to deal with the problem. I am a member of the committee in our presbytery.
Of course we realize how difficult evangelism is. We live in an essentially secular society where fewer than four out of ten attend church with any regularity. Man generally no longer considers God a necessary hypothesis to explain man and his world. The old standby Christian buzz-words are foreign to the majority. Words like “heaven,” “hell,” “born again” and “sin” have little impact on a society that has grown away from the sphere of the Church.
To make matters worse a huge credibility gap exists in the minds of many non-believers between the institutional church, its members and the message of the gospel. Non-believers have no trouble showing us the injustices and even the atrocities perpetrated by the Church or its agents over the course of history.
To further compound the problem many of the evangelical efforts today can act as a deterrent to the redemption of the non-believer.
The method of evangelism we see most often is the large-scale proclamation ministry where large groups gather to hear a speaker, or television ministry which reaches the people at home. These methods are legitimate but very subject to abuse by their proponents and subject to derision and scorn by non-believers.
Frankly, a lot of people I know think that television evangelism is a joke. They mistrust the motives of the evangelist. They feel he is manipulating people for profit and political power under the guise of Christian doctrine.
Proclamational evangelism tends to be confrontational in nature and offers only brief exposure to the non-believer. By nature it is basically impersonal and sometimes out of touch with personal reality. Because there is no focus on individual needs it can be like a vacuum cleaner salesman trying to sell a carpet cleaner to someone who has no carpets and really needs a floor polisher. However, proclamational evangelism is a scripturally valid method.
Contrary to the approach of some evangelists, the average unsaved person is not desperately seeking the answers to life: more often than not, they are generally satisfied with life. However, it should be noted that happiness is a relative thing. People are happy given the light that they have. They give no consideration to what they could become in the light of Christ’s love. For them only a vague doubt about the meaning of their life remains.
In the light of an environment full of inaccurate information, inappropriate ministry and hypocrisy on the part of the institutional church and its members, no wonder Arnold Toynbee said “most people have not rejected Christianity but a caricature.”
So we have a large secular population that has lost touch with the Church and we have a good deal of confusing evangelical information circulated which many find not to be credible.
As Christians we not only have to bear “good news,” we have to be “good news.” This is the incarnational aspect of evangelism. It is from developing towards Christlikeness, both individually and collectively, that we can regain our credibility as Christians. It is a precondition for the successful proclamation and invitation aspects of evangelism. It is at this point that the image of the Church as a bride comes in.
The bride is a symbol of purity, hope, trust and beauty. Remember how beautiful Princess Di was on her wedding day? In contrast, you could imagine the scandal if Sarah Ferguson came up the aisle in tattered jeans and fell down drunk at the altar. The royal family and Prince Andrew would be disgraced. Its God’s intention for his Church that she be a beautiful bride so that he may be glorified rather than disgraced.
As Christians we not only have to bear “good news,” we have to be “good news.” This is the incarnational aspect of evangelism.
Ephesians 5:27 reads: “… and to present her to himself as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish but holy and blameless.”
So the bride to be beautiful must be holy and blameless.
Holiness or wholeness, portrays one who is functioning in accordance with God’s intention. Growing in the ability to act as an integrated person reverses the disintegration that sin produces. Holiness is a statement on the moral condition of a person.
Blamelessness stems from holiness and can be defined as behaviour in a certain set of circumstances which is beyond repute. There is a relational aspect to blamelessness for it presupposes an interaction with people, events or circumstances.
When believers are moving toward holiness a credible lifestyle emerges (blamelessness) and their potential for effective witness (beauty) increases dramatically.
Christ is the embodiment of the holy and blameless lifestyle. God sent his Son into a sinful world as a visualization and verbalization of the truth, the essence of the living God.
“Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth. As you sent me into the world I have sent them into the world” John 17: 17-18.
So we are sent into the world to carry on his mission. It is helpful here to examine the different lifestyles and evangelistic approaches that are exemplified by Jesus and John the Baptist.
John the Baptist was of priestly lineage and had the cultural freedom to wear fine clothes and eat rich food and drink wine. However, God had a plan for him which involved abstinence and separation.
Jesus was more personal in his style. He mixed with common folk, the “sinners.” He identified with them and was a physician to them. John ministered from without as a prophetic voice where Jesus ministered from within as shepherd and physician.
The riff-raff Jesus associated with were not judged appropriate company by the religious leaders of the day and Jesus was considered a radical for associating with them.
Associating with non-Christians is risky business but is “where it’s at” in terms of incarnational evangelism. We must keep a balance between critical transcendence (our radical difference from the world) and concerned cultural participation (our radical identification with the world).
Our holiness allows radical identification to be an effective alternative for the Christian.
Radical identification involves a tolerant attitude in matters without moral significance. We are to share common interests with our fellows and be a server of men and women. As Paul said in Corinthians:
“I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.”
Good judgement is the key.
In order to walk the fine line between radical difference to the world and radical identification with the world, a support group is a must.
That support is to be found within the body of Christ, the Church. If we are to function as beautiful people the Church must be our “beauty parlour.” Reading Acts 2: 42-47, we can pick out four beauty-enhancing techniques employed by the Holy Spirit in the Church. These are learning, fellowship, worship, and sacrificial serving.
Learning is an ongoing process. How are we going to be good witnesses if we don’t know the basics of our own faith? The Bible is not like a cadaver to be dissected and analyzed dispassionately. Its message is alive.
Fellowship, in the Christian context, is the sharing of our gifts with one another and is a large part of our edification process. It provides a framework of love for the disciplines of learning, feedback and self-disclosure between believers. These are necessary in order to grow in holiness and maturity as Christians. When the unbeliever sees true fellowship practised within the Church he or she sees beauty.
The Christians in Acts 2 broke bread together, prayed together and praised God together. These are facets of worship. Worship acknowledges the person and presence of God and responds in praise, thanksgiving and obedience to Christ’s victory over sin and death. In the midst of a cruel world, worship provides us with strength to face the difficulties and discouragements associated with walking the fine line of Christian service. As understanding and faith increase, worship deepens, praise intensifies and obedience increases. The result is an outward radiance visible to non-Christians.
Service is probably the most effective means of evangelical effort. The non-Christian sees beauty when they see uncommon responses of charity and unusual acts of care and concern. Service flows out of learning, fellowship and worship.
So therefore the Church must become a learning centre, a healing communion through fellowship, a responding community through worship and a service-oriented society in response to what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. For it is our individual and corporate actions and development that can either make or break any attempt we make to evangelize. Do not limit God’s ability to equip us for this task.