Real Evangelism

Evangelism is a subject which is simultaneously celebrated, promoted, programmed, feared, and unpracticed in our churches. Since reading Mark Dever’s book, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, I’ve thought about why we in the church have such conflicted feelings and behaviors regarding evangelism.

One reason we have conflicted feelings and behaviors regarding evangelism is that we believe we are responsible for the results. Of course we pay lip service to the fact that God is ultimately the one who saves and converts people. But in our minds we actually think that if we do it right, people will be saved and if we do it wrong, people won’t be saved. In other words, we think a person being saved depends on our skill or technique or abilities of persuasion. With that thought lurking beneath the surface of our thinking, it’s natural that we are absolutely terrified of evangelizing. We are afraid of trying because we see the possibility of success being very unlikely. We think that we can never gain the knowledge, ability, or confidence to practice evangelism. So we leave it to the professionals. But we keep the guilt for not doing it.

Another reason we have conflicted feelings and behaviors regarding evangelism is that we are confused about what evangelism is. We confuse the activities and methods that surround evangelism with evangelism itself. Perhaps we think that inviting someone to church is evangelism. It’s not. Inviting them to church is something that we should do! It may lead to evangelism and salvation. But by itself, it’s not evangelism. It’s a good method we use to expose them to the good news, the gospel. Perhaps we think that helping the poor, the sick, and the less fortunate is evangelism. It’s not. We should do good and help relieve the poor, the sick, and victims of tragedies! These may present opportunities for us to evangelize and even provide us the credibility to evangelize with those we help. But it’s not evangelism. Perhaps we think that telling what Jesus did for us is evangelism. It’s not. It is a testimony of praise to God! It’s a real life example to those we hope to evangelize. But if we give our witness, our testimony, and do not give the Gospel, we have not evangelized.

Evangelism is giving the evangel. The evangel is the Gospel. Any presentation of the Gospel, in order to be complete and adequate, must include the parts that follow. God created us, but we rebelled against His authority. That’s sin. Sin earned us God’s wrath. But God loved us with a perfect love, so much so that He became a man, Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross, shedding His blood as our substitute in payment for our sin. And God has said that if we repent and turn to Christ in faith, He will forgive us and give us eternal life.

Anyone who knows and believes the Gospel can share the good news. Do you believe it? Will you share it with someone this week?