Invitation to Evangelism

Sharing the Gospel with Compassion and Conviction

Timothy Beougher

• Publisher: Kregel Academic
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9780825470059
• Topic: Teología y religión
• Subtopic: Ministerio cristiano

Essential guidance for a lifestyle of sharing God's good news with a lost world. What exactly does it mean to "evangelize" in a Christian sense? And how is such "evangelizing" supposed to be done? Longtime pastor, evangelist, and professor of evangelism Timothy K. Beougher answers these questions and more from theological, historical, and practical perspectives. Beougher demonstrates God's goodness in evangelism through relatable anecdotes, Bible teaching, and encouraging instruction. Invitation to Evangelism welcomes believers into the experience of stepping out in faith of behalf of people God loves.Most Christians know that they should be sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with nonbelievers, and most also know they aren't witnessing very well, or even at all. They need help internalizing the content of gospel proclamation and identifying the best way to go about making evangelism a natural part of their lives. Introduction to Evangelism guides readers through the essential issues of the gospel message, evangelism methods, and witnessing models so they are ready and excited to move out in faith as everyday evangelists.Beougher's biblical, theological, historical, and practical teaching revolves around following essential aspects of being an evangelist:
•Having compassion as the motivation for evangelism
•Understanding the good news of Jesus Christ
•Seeing lost people as persons God loves
•Relying on the power of the Holy Spirit
•Paving the way for new believers to share their faith eagerly with others

PART 1

PREPARING FOR EVANGELISM

CHAPTER 1

WHAT IS EVANGELISM?

EVANGELISM PRESENTS AN OFFENSIVE PICTURE to people both inside and outside the church. When some hear the word evangelism, they equate it with hardline psychological pressure, yelling through a bullhorn, or proselytizing people against their will. Yet those negative connotations express poor stereotypes of an activity that by its very nature means the communication of “good news.” And indeed, if you have good news, life-saving news—even eternal life-saving news—how can you not desire to share that message with others?

In this opening chapter we first will examine biblical terminology employed for the practice of evangelism and then observe various definitions of evangelism. I trust this overview will remind believers not only of the great responsibility of evangelism, but also of the unbelievable privilege that is ours of testifying to the good news of what God has done for us in Christ.

BIBLICAL TERMINOLOGY

Our word evangelism is taken from the Greek word euangelion, translated “the gospel.” Within the word evangelism we see the word evangel, meaning “good news.” The evangel which lies at the heart of the Christian faith is the good news about who God is and how he has provided reconciliation for sinful humanity.

So evangelism is to announce the euangelion, the good news. The noun form appears over seventy times in the New Testament, while the verb form euangelizō appears over thirty times. We find both the noun and the verb forms in Romans 1:15, “So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”

The term kerygma, meaning “to proclaim,” highlights the proclamation of the gospel. The verb form appears more than sixty times in the New Testament, and while not always referencing the proclamation of the gospel, it is often used in that context—for example, in 1 Corinthians 1:21: “God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached [kerygma] to save those who believe.” In Romans 10:14–15, the terms kērussō and euangelizomai are used synonymously.

Another biblical term that relates to evangelism is martyreō, meaning “bearing witness.” A witness is someone who brings firsthand testimony of what he or she has seen or heard or experienced. This term is used in Jesus’s declaration to the disciples found in Acts 1:8, “You shall be my witnesses.”¹

DEFINING EVANGELISM

Humpty Dumpty’s assertion in the fictional work Through the Looking Glass highlights the problem we face when it comes to definitions: “When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”² You could place one hundred people in a room, ask them to define evangelism, and probably come up with two hundred different definitions.³

Sometimes the best way to define a term is first to define what it is not. Many things that fly under the banner of evangelism do not constitute true evangelism when viewed from a biblical perspective. While numerous examples could be listed of what evangelism is not, I have found that two particular misconceptions about evangelism often confuse people.

EVANGELISM: WHAT IT IS NOT

First, evangelism is not “mere presence.” We hear that perspective expressed often today. Some people declare, “I’m just going to witness with my life. I’m going to let my life do the talking.” Some even misquote St. Francis of Assisi (1181/1182–1226), claiming he opined, “Preach the gospel at all times; use words if necessary.” Scholars of St. Francis assert he never said those words, but I maintain even if he had said them, they still would be wrong! This is like saying, “Feed the hungry at all times; use food if necessary.”

Your life is not the gospel. The good news of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ must be shared verbally. Evangelism is more than mere presence. If you live a committed Christian life in front of people but never share the reason for the hope within you, they are going to assume one of two things about you.

First, they might assume you are a good person. And by human standards you might fall into the overall category of “good” instead of “bad.” But your life is not the gospel. Do good works save? No—they emphatically do not. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ, not because of our works.

Second, others might assume you are a religious person. After all, they see you going to church each Sunday, and sometimes other times as well. Does religion save? No—religion does not save; only a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ saves.

I heard Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru), tell of a Christian businessman who worked for years in the same office and had never opened his mouth to testify about Christ. He sought to live a life of integrity and model compassion among his fellow workers. Finally, after several years, a man came to his office and asked if he had a few minutes to answer a personal question. This Christian businessman said “sure,” confident he was about to be asked the reason for the hope within him. The coworker began by noting he had witnessed a difference between this man and the other workers in the office, filling the Christian man’s heart with excitement for the inevitable question about Christianity. But instead, the coworker asked him, “Are you a Buddhist?” Bright noted the Christian businessman had convinced this coworker he was different, but apart from any verbal sharing of the gospel, the coworker mistakenly assumed he was a follower of a different religion.

LeRoy Eims shares a similar story:

A Christian businessman in Seattle confessed how he had unknowingly discouraged a business associate from coming to Christ for years. One day the friend told the Christian businessman he had met the Lord the night before at a Billy Graham meeting. The longtime Christian was elated and said so, but the new Christian replied, “Friend, you’re the reason I have resisted becoming a Christian all these years. I figured if a person could live a good life as you do and not be a Christian, there was no need to become one!⁴

As Eims points out, this Christian businessman had sought to live an exemplary life, but he had not communicated his source of strength for doing so.

How will people know where our hope is found if we do not tell them? We may think that our life is bearing testimony, but without an accompanying verbal witness, the gospel has not been communicated. Evangelism is not “mere presence.” We might recast the mistakenly attributed quote of St. Francis of Assisi in this way: “Share the gospel at all times, and use words, because they are necessary.”

A second thing that evangelism is not is “spiritual mugging.” Some people seem to think that unless you are browbeating someone with the truth, you are not truly witnessing. One of my college friends was accosted by well-meaning but overly zealous “witnesses” in the laundry room of his dormitory. As he was folding his clothes, four fellow students backed him into a corner and told him he needed to pray the sinner’s prayer. He told them he wasn’t interested, but they weren’t taking “no” for an answer. They kept insisting that he “pray the prayer,” and he realized they were not going to leave until he did, so he went through the motions. These four men left rejoicing over their new convert, but he was as lost after the encounter as he was before.

Evangelism is not spiritual mugging. Jesus was willing to let people walk away (see the account of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16–30). Only God can change hearts. You cannot browbeat someone into the kingdom of God. You can browbeat them into praying a prayer or doing some other type of religious activity, but you cannot “mug” them into genuine conversion. We must avoid the ditches of “mere presence” and “spiritual mugging” in our evangelism. If those two approaches show us what evangelism is not, then what is evangelism? The following section will seek to clarify what evangelism is through the use of various definitions.

WHAT EVANGELISM IS: VARIOUS DEFINITIONS

1918 Anglican Definition

A special committee was appointed in 1918 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple, to bring clarity to the task of evangelism. The appointed group of Anglican bishops produced this definition: “To evangelise is so to present Christ Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, that men shall come to put their trust in God through him, to accept him as their Saviour, and serve him as their King in the fellowship of his church.”⁵ This definition has numerous strengths. It reminds us that evangelism is good news about Jesus Christ. It reinforces the reality that evangelism depends completely on its effectiveness from the power of the Holy Spirit. It highlights that while people come to faith individually, faithful evangelism leads to incorporation into the church. It points out that true evangelism calls for a response to the message. The gospel is a message that demands a response, a “yes” or “no” to Christ’s offer of forgiveness. The definition also reminds us that evangelism should result in discipleship. A disciple is a learner or follower of Christ. Response to the gospel involves a change from going my own way to following Christ’s way.

Yet in spite of these strengths, J. I. Packer, himself an Anglican, offers a critique of the definition, particularly of the phrase “that men shall come to put their trust in God through Him.” Packer believes that phrase defines evangelism in terms of its results and comments, “This is to define evangelism in terms of an effect achieved in the lives of others; which amounts to saying that the essence of evangelizing is producing converts.”⁶ Regarding this same clause in the definition, John R. W. Stott asserts, “Evangelism must not be defined in terms of its results…. To ‘evangelize’ in the biblical usage does not mean to win converts (as it usually does when we use the word) but simply to share the good news, irrespective of the results.”⁷ This point rings true. Evangelism must be defined in terms of the message proclaimed, not the results achieved.

D. T. Niles

D. T. Niles, a theologian from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), offered this memorable definition: “Evangelism is witness. It is one beggar telling another beggar where to get food.”⁸ Reminiscent of the four starving men in 2 Kings 7:1–9 who stumbled upon an abundance of food, this definition reminds us that we have come to faith due to God’s mercy and grace. The difference between the two classes of beggars in Niles’s definition is that one has discovered the bread of life, and the other needs to know that truth.

This definition reminds us of the importance of humility in our witness. If our salvation were something we could earn by our own efforts or good works, then we would have grounds for boasting. But the Scriptures constantly remind us that salvation is a gift from God that is completely undeserved on our part (Eph. 2:8–9). The ground is indeed level at the foot of the cross. This humility is crucial in our witness because a major reason unbelievers are turned off by Christianity is they perceive Christians as somehow claiming they are better than everyone else. If we understand grace, we will be humble. Christians should be the most humble people in the world. We can share the gospel with deep conviction but also with genuine humility. We truly are “one beggar telling other beggars where to find food.”

Bill Bright (Campus Crusade for Christ)

Bill Bright shared his perspective on evangelism with this statement: “Success in witnessing is simply taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, and leaving the results to God.”⁹ This definition reminds us that real “success” in evangelism is based on our sharing the good news, not on the person’s response. It also highlights the necessity of the work of the Holy Spirit in the gospel conversation.

1974 Lausanne Covenant

In 1974, Christian leaders from all over the world met at the Interna...