The Word of God is clear, God is “not willing that any should perish” (2 Pet. 3:9). The stakes are high: there is a Heaven to gain, and a Hell to shun. Christ came to earth to “seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). The believer is called to be a witness for Christ (Acts 1:8). The Bible declares the one who wins souls wise (Pro. 11:30). In what is called “The Great Commission,” the Lord told His disciples to go and make disciples (Matt. 28:19-20). Obviously, evangelism is a priority with God.
The early church is said to have “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6) in their day. Today, we have excellent roads, better transportation, books, computers, internet, and great wealth. With all the technology and opportunities we have today, how are we doing as far as accomplishing this God-given task? Unfortunately, not so well. On the one hand, modern evangelism is merely churches “swapping members.” On the other hand, we seem to gravitate to extremes. Either we allow the waters of the baptistry to stagnate through a lack of converts, or we fill our buildings through myriads making empty professions of faith.
Concerning “modern evangelism,” A. W. Pink has said,
It is generally recognized that spirituality is at a low ebb in Christendom and not a few perceive that sound doctrine is rapidly on the wane, yet many of the Lord’s people take comfort from supposing that the Gospel is still being widely preached and that large numbers are being saved thereby. Alas, their optimistic suppression is ill-founded and sandily grounded. If the “message” now being delivered in Mission Halls be examined, if the “tracts” which are scattered among the unchurched masses be scrutinized, if the “open-air” speakers be carefully listened to, if the “sermons” or “addresses” of a “Soul-winning campaign” be analysed; in short, if modern “Evangelism” be weighed in the balances of Holy Writ, it will be found wanting — lacking that which is vital to a genuine conversion, lacking what is essential if sinners are to be shown their need of a Saviour, lacking that which will produce the transfigured lives of new creatures in Christ Jesus.
W. F. Bell warns, “It seems we are religiously drunk today on a man-centered, watered-down gospel.” J. D. Greear points out the unfortunate practical and theological consequences of the contemporary gospel, stating,
A 2011 Barna study shows that nearly half of all adults in America have prayed such a prayer, and subsequently believe they are going to heaven, though many of them rarely, if ever, attend a church, read the Bible personally, or have lifestyles that differ in any significant way from those outside the church. If the groups described in Matthew 7 and Luke 8 are not referring to them, I don’t know to whom they could be referring. The Enemy— one of whose names in Scripture is ‘the Deceiver’— loves to keep truly saved believers unsure of their salvation because he knows that if he does they’ll never experience the freedom, joy, and confidence that God wants them to have. But he also loves to keep those on their way to hell deluded into thinking they are on their way to heaven, their consciences immunized from Jesus’ pleas to repent.
Greear cautions, “Praying the sinner’s prayer has become something like a Protestant ritual we have people go through to gain entry into heaven.” He then corrects that teaching, saying, “Salvation comes not because you prayed a prayer correctly, but because you have leaned the hopes of your soul on the finished work of Christ.”
Several years ago, I pastored on a small island, Grand Cayman. We had two independent Baptist churches, two Southern Baptist churches, and a host of churches that proclaim a “works righteousness” approach to salvation. Door knocking was limited to the two independent Baptist churches, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Not infrequently, you would see us going down one side of the street, and the J. W.’s coming up the other side. We generally confronted people who are either antagonistic towards Christ and the Bible or are already “saved.” Perhaps religious, or superstitious, would be better words to describe them. They were assured they were on their way to Heaven, but their lives bore no resemblance to Biblical Christianity. If they ever went to church, it was the Watch Night service (on New Year’s Eve), which supposedly brought God’s blessing in the coming year.
C. S. Lewis famously said, “We don’t come to Him as bad people trying to become good people; we come as rebels to lay down our arms.” One of the great needs for effective evangelism is a proper dealing with sin. As one individual said, “You must be lost, before you can be saved.”
Greear humorously states,
Many people relate to Jesus like I do the little British woman that lives in the dashboard of my car. I tell her where I’d like to go and she advises me on the best route. If I decide to ignore her counsel, she patiently says “recalculating” and adjusts herself to my new choices.
He concludes, “The biblical summation of a saving response toward Christ is ‘repentance’ and ‘belief’ in the gospel.” Tragically, much of modern evangelism is little more than what Jesus accused the Pharisees of, when He said, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves” (Matt. 23:15).
If we are to evangelize our generation, we must move beyond false professions, and help people come to a genuine salvation experience (Matt. 7:21-27).
REFERENCES
Bell, W. F. Modern Evangelism Unmasked. <http://www.eternallifeministries.org/wfb_evang.htm>
Greear, J.D. (2013-01-31). Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart: How to Know for Sure You Are Saved. Kindle Edition.
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity. New York: Harper Collins, 1952.
Pink, A.W. Studies on Saving Faith <http://www.reformed.org/books/pink/saving_faith/index.html>
