Evangelism for Non-Evangelists

Sharing the Gospel Authentically

Mark R. Teasdale

• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9780830882243
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

Evangelism. The very word makes palms sweat and images spin: buttonholing in a city park, knocking on neighborhood doors, being conscripted into evangelistic campaigns, to say nothing of that annoying religious neighbor or coworker. We have met the evangelists—and they are not us. If evangelism is the welcome door to faith, why does it grate open on rusting hinges?Mark Teasdale has met these challenges and more. They come in the shape of students in his evangelism class. In Evangelism for Non-Evangelists he sympathizes with the perceptions and discomfort we bring to evangelism. But he also opens up a nonthreatening space for us to weigh what we believe the evangel of evangelism—the good news!—to be. And he helps us navigate our way toward expressing the gospel in a manner true to what we believe, authentic to who we are, and attractive and even compelling to others. For pastors, seminarians, church leaders, and lay people, here is a refreshing, practical, and companionable look at evangelism. It might even chart a course toward your own authentic evangelism.

Chapter One

Evangelists Are
Taught, Not Born

A teenage boy stood in an open, trash-littered lot by a rundown liquor store. It was twilight, and the waning sun made it hard to see, though it was clear that the liquor store was doing a brisk business. Most of the patrons held their purchases in brown paper bags that they quickly inverted into their mouths as they exited the store.

The boy was not alone. He was part of a group of about twenty other teenagers who had arrived in the lot late in the afternoon. Equipped with small pamphlets explaining the gospel message through various cartoons and illustrations, the boy prayed with his colaborers, listened to the musical group that had been appointed to attract people’s attention, then awaited an opportunity to share the great salvation available through Jesus Christ.

He was not idle long. Several people came to listen to the music and turned to engage in conversation with the teenagers, including one man who struck up a conversation with the boy. This was exciting for everyone in the group—it was exactly what they had hoped would take place.

Then, something unexpected happened. This boy, who had been raised in the church, who in first grade had prayed to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, who had even preached the Sunday morning service at fifteen years old and who was admired as a paragon of teenage faith within the group, froze. He was petrified with fear. He did not know what to say or how to proceed as he faced the amiable person who had begun speaking with him.

The level of shame the boy felt was immense. It was heightened when one of the younger members of the group who was known for his immaturity recognized the boy’s distress and came to pick up the conversation where the boy had faltered. Crushed, the boy hid in the back of the group for the rest of the evening. When the group gathered for a final prayer that night, he broke down in tears as he confessed before God and his peers his failure as an evangelist.

Almost twenty-five years later, this same boy sat down to write the book you are now reading, believing with all his heart that evangelists are made, not born.

OVERCOMING STEREOTYPES

As we begin navigating evangelism we need to jettison unhelpful or dangerous ideas that threaten to bring us to a halt or sink us entirely before we even have a chance to talk to another person about our faith. The best way to do this is by expanding our view of evangelism beyond the associations we have with it.

We all have a tendency to reduce people, ideas and situations to the easiest set of concepts available to us. This allows us to avoid nuance and the uncomfortable realization that people, things and events are rarely as simple as we would like to believe. Often this reductionism is negative, reducing whatever is within our sight to its most unflattering depiction.

There is a reason we slip into reductionism. It makes life easier. We can quickly categorize whatever we encounter as good, bad or indifferent. We can assess how much of our time and energy we believe it is worth and then move on to the next thing, having convinced ourselves that we have dealt with it fully and appropriately.

But the speed and assurance of reductionism comes at a cost. In exchange for the convenience of easy categorization, we reduce people to two-dimensional figures, nuanced ideas into sound bites and complex situations into zero-sum competitions in which a winner must emerge.

Evangelism, perhaps more than most ideas, suffers from reductionism. Sadly, much of this reductionism is negative and comes as a direct result of our personal experiences. Moving beyond the stereotypes that come from this reductionism is essential if we are to move ahead in our navigation. Two of the most common stereotypes are of the kind of person who does evangelism—the evangelist—and the theology we associate with evangelism—evangelicalism.

EVANGELISTS

Evangelists are people we usually see as unswervingly committed to their faith and persistent in sharing it. We also may see them as flawed or even sinister. Sinclair Lewis, an early twentieth-century American author, summed up this stereotype in his description of the title character of his novel Elmer Gantry, who becomes an evangelist of national renown:

A huge young man, Elmer Gantry; six foot one, thick, broad, big handed; a large face, handsome as a Great Dane is handsome, and a swirl of black hair, worn rather long. His eyes were friendly, his smile was friendly—oh, he was always friendly enough; he was merely astonished when he found that you did not understand his importance and did not want to hand over anything he might desire. He was a baritone solo turned into portly flesh; he was a gladiator laughing at the comic distortion of his wounded opponent.1

As this description hints at, there is a tendency for us to imagine evangelists as larger than life. The term conjures images of famous Christian preachers and apostles such as Billy Graham, D. L. Moody, Charles Finney, John Wesley and even St. Paul. These individuals all seem peculiarly gifted for evangelism. They were not regular people who happened into great evangelistic work but great evangelists who lived into their natural greatness. Even the evangelists we believe have done harm still often seem like giants in their own way.

Regardless of whether we perceive a specific evangelist as coercive, duplicitous, gentle or loving, we often reduce that evangelist to the epitome of the preconceptions we have in mind. The evangelist has either performed superhuman acts of good in sharing the gospel or engaged in monstrous evil by deceiving others.

The Bible lends credence to the perception that evangelists are set aside from regular humanity. In Ephesians 4:11, evangelists are listed alongside apostles, prophets, pastors and teachers as those who have received a special gift from God to help strengthen the body of Christ. The only person specifically told to do “the work of an evangelist” is Paul’s protégé Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:5. This would seem to be rarefied company indeed.

Yet while the Bible acknowledges that God calls some people to be evangelists, it is also clear that God commands and equips all followers of Jesus Christ to undertake evangelistic work. This is evident in the Great Commission, Jesus’ farewell speech to his followers given as he completed his earthly ministry following his resurrection. While Jesus addressed these words, recorded at the end of Matthew 28, to his apostles, the Gospel writer indicates that he was including those still doubtful about the resurrection. In doing this Jesus made it clear that all who followed him were called and equipped to do the work of evangelism, not just those with unshakable faith. This holds true for the apostles who first heard Jesus and for those of us who read the Great Commission today.

Jesus’ command in the Great Commission to go into all the world and make disciples reinforces the universality of the call to evangelism. There are no requirements to meet before we go, there is just the imperative that we do go. Lest we feel out of our depth in this endeavor, Jesus accompanies this command with the promise of God’s provision. After describing himself as the one who holds all authority in heaven and on earth, he states that he will be with us always, even to the end of the age. Here is the power of God to make disciples given to all God’s followers.

LEARNING ACTIVITY

The New Testament records five commissioning passages between Jesus and the disciples, not just one. These are Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:9-20, Luke 24:36-53, John 20:19-31 and Acts 1:1-11. Break into five groups, with each group looking at one of these passages. Answer three questions in reference to each passage: (1) What commands does Jesus give? (2) What promises does Jesus make? (3) What is the hoped-for outcome of following Jesus’ commands? In doing this, we often find that evangelism is much more multifaceted than we first imagined.

What is remarkable about this promise is not that it grants Christians superpowers by allowing them to tap into the cosmic authority of Christ. It’s better than that! It explains the nature of the world in which Christians will share their faith. When Christians engage in evangelism, they do so with “home field advantage,” knowing Jesus’ presence and power are already at work ministering God’s good news to those with whom they interact. This makes possible Jesus’ command to “go into all the world” to make disciples, since the entire world and its inhabitants are already touched by the resurrection.

When we look at it from this perspective, our concerns about evangelists being a “different breed” evaporate. While there will always be gifted evangelists who seem larger than life, the work of evangelism is not meant solely for these select few. According to Jesus in the Great Commission, an evangelist is a common person who seeks to live into the promise that the risen Christ is with all people.

EVANGELISM ≠ EVANGELICALISM

Along with their stereotypical view of evangelists, many people reduce evangelism by equating it with evangelicalism. I have run across numerous people (even other theology professors!) who use these terms interchangeably. They are not the same thing. Evangelism is the practice of sharing the good news. Evangelicalism is a specific tradition within the Christian faith. Since the late twentieth century, the term “evangelical” has also been linked to conservative political ideas. These political connotations are not traditionally part of evangelicalism, nor do all self-described evangelicals accept them.

There is historical precedent for conflating evangelicalism and evangelism. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a variety of revival movements swept through Europe and North America encouraging people to go deeper in their faith. In doing this, they demonstrated the four attributes that have come to be associated with classical evangelicalism: (1) biblicism, (2) crucicentrism, (3) conversionism and (4) activism.2 Biblicism refers to the high level of authority that evangelicals grant to the Bible, receiving the written text as at least sufficient to teach the way of salvation. Crucicentrism points to the evangelical focus on the death and atonement of Christ as of central importance in Christian theology. Conversionism and activism point to the evangelical insistence on enacting faith, the former by inviting people to become Christians, the latter by demonstrating the gospel through efforts to improve people’s lives both individually and corporately.

Evangelicals are also known for their pietism.3 This means they value a heart-based religion in which people feel the assurance of God’s acceptance and love. When pietism is combined with the four attributes of classical evangelicalism, it is easy to see why evangelicals hold evangelism closely. Evangelicalism as a theological tradition values heartfelt responses to the message of Jesus Christ as related to the Bible. It is also a tradition that calls people to undergo a decisive conversion so they can live according to the will of God.

Evangelicals have engaged in powerful evangelism throughout history. Examples of this are the Wesleyan Revival in Great Britain, the Great Awakenings in the United States and the expansive missionary movements launched from Europe and the United States during the nineteenth century. Within these nation-spanning movements, specific practices were developed that became synonymous with evangelism. These included preaching, praying and singing hymns that invited people to confess their sins, accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and feel the assurance of God’s forgiveness.4

Even though the cultures in the United States shifted away from supporting evangelicalism during the twentieth century, evangelical evangelism has continued unabated.5 Drawing together large crowds for the purpose of sharing the gospel and calling people to conversion remains an accepted practice. Adapting to new ways of gathering, these crowds can be gathered via radio, television, the Internet, mobile app or whatever the current technology allows.

Evangelical evangelism is perhaps most visible in how it continues to influence the practice of evangelism today. Imagine this scenario: It’s a warm night, but you and several of your friends are huddled close to a large bonfire. You have just finished singing several songs that both excite and lull your senses. You are tired and happy at the end of a long week. A camp counselor stands in the midst of the group and invites you to give your life to Christ so you can share in this kind of fellowship eternally. Now, shift the image. You are sitting in a large auditorium. A band consisting of people playing guitars, keyboards and drums, along with several vocalists, has finished playing thirty minutes of high-energy songs interspersed with prayers that God would meet people in the midst of the music. The preacher walks onto the stage and reminds you that God can forgive your sins if you will accept Christ.

Even more theologically liberal congregations tend to assume that these evangelical practices are the only way to engage in evangelism. This assumption leads to a theological disconnect between the people practicing evangelism and the practices they use. The discomfort that comes from trying to force a progressive theologian into an evangelical mold is a primary reason that Christians in mainline denominations often choose to hide the practice of evangelism under their ecclesiastical beds. They believe that to take evangelism seriously means to become evangelical, and this is something they do not want to do.

LEARNING ACTIVITY

When studying evangelism, it is important that we expand our knowledge of different theological traditions. Often we hold stereotyped views of each tradition (e.g., liberationists care only about politics, fundamentalists care only about saving souls). Gaining a clearer picture of the variety of theological traditions allows us to appreciate the nuances of each tradition and articulate our own beliefs.

If those of us studying evangelism are to be effective in moving past this reduction of evangelism to evangelicalism, it is critical for us to recognize that evangelism is available for anyone who is a Christian. Regardless of where we stand theologically, we can just as fully articulate our view of the Christian faith and just as authentically practice evangelism as any other Christian. The good news of Jesus Christ is not known and articulated only through t...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1 Evangelists Are Taught, Not Born
• 2 Finding a Better Starting Point
• 3 Looking Inward to Look Outward
• 4 Putting the Good News in Context
• 5 Fashioning New Wineskins for the Old, Old Story
• 6 Evangelizing Yourself, Evangelizing the World
• Appendix: What I Wish I Knew When I Started Seminary
• Postscript: How to Use This Book
• Index
• Notes
• Praise for Evangelism for Non-Evangelists
• About the Author
• More Titles from InterVarsity Press
• Copyright Page