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6
Gospel
What Do We Mean by "Evangelism"?
by
David Chronic
Implications for Life and Ministry
This brief analysis of evangelism as proclamation, presence, persuasion and the Spirit’s prevenience has many implications for our lives and ministries. We learn that evangelism is holistic, not fragmented. Holistic ministry is an approach to mission that considers the whole of humanity without compartmentalizing it, the whole of society without atomizing it, and the whole of the cosmos without categorizing it. Each day the WMF community welcomes hundreds of children in our lives and homes around the world. This welcoming includes shelter, advocacy, education, the sharing of meals and discipleship. We minister to the whole child—mind, soul and body. We also minister to the families of these children. We do not isolate them from their society or from their world but try to bring transformation within it.
In his book Good News and Good Works, Ron Sider attempts to work out an understanding of doing evangelism and doing social action without confusing the two tasks. Sider defines evangelism as leading a person to become a personal disciple of Christ while arguing for social action as transforming social and political structures. He tries to preserve the integrity of evangelism by not confusing it with social action and vice-versa. Although Sider does affirm that the separate activities are inseparable, Vinay Samuel criticizes him for being dualistic. Samuel argues that we cannot be "dualistic evangelicals who think it is possible to come to Christ and not be engaged in social justice" (Chris Sugden, Seeking the Asian Face of Jesus). Because the evangelism is holistic, we cannot divide its parts. When Jesus brings the child, the outcast and the weak into the center of society, justice is done and the Good News is proclaimed. When, in the name of Jesus, street children learn to read and write, eat healthy meals and are protected from police brutality, the Good News is proclaimed.
Evangelism is transformational. Christ’s announcement of the coming Kingdom of God included community building, confrontation and intentional conflict, liberation, hope, repentance and the forgiveness of sins, persecution, healing, miracles and discipleship. Biblically, we are not called merely to supply a different interpretation of the world, of history and of human nature, but to transform them in expectation of a divine transformation (Jürgan Moltmann, A Theology of Hope).
Evangelism, for Christ, was transformation. This transformation influenced the whole of society and the whole of humanity. It demanded a response, either total acceptance or total rejection.
Biblical evangelism finds its basis in a proper Kingdom-of-God understanding. This Kingdom understanding requires total submission to the all-encompassing nature of this Kingdom. Such submission touches on every aspect of living, being and doing.
Evangelism is an announcement. The New Testament theologian N.T. Wright searches biblical history to learn what evangelism meant for Jesus and the apostles. He states, "The gospel is for Paul, at its very heart, an announcement about the true God as opposed to false gods" (What Saint Paul Really Said). Whether it is to the god of money, the god of sex, or the god of power, the gospel of the Kingdom announces the end to false gods, and their reordering and consummation into a new Kingdom. Wright likens evangelism to Caesar’s herald, who proclaims the royal announcement. The herald would not say, "If you would like to try to have an experience of living under an emperor, you might care to try Nero." Rather, the herald’s proclamation is an "authoritative summons to obedience—the obedience of faith." The Gospel of God is not an alternative to other gods, but it is the heralding of the Kingdom by which all others will be judged. The Apostle Paul writes, "The gospel is the power of God for salvation" (Rom. 1:16). Wright comments, "The gospel is not just about God’s power saving people. It is God’s power at work to save people." Evangelism, therefore, is the announcement that the crucified and risen Jesus is Lord.
This New Testament understanding of evangelism has deep implications on our practical ministry. We can no longer understand evangelism as mere words. We can no longer hold evangelism in one hand and social justice in the other while claiming that we are faithful to biblical evangelism. We can no longer democratize evangelism by submitting it to public opinion for its acceptance. Instead, we must acknowledge the totality of biblical evangelism: Jesus is Master of all, will be all in all, and is turning the kingdoms of this world on their heads.
Correspondingly, evangelism is a denouncement. When we announce the totality of Jesus’ lordship, we simultaneously denounce any opposition to His reign. Gustavo Gutierrez says that the church must make the prophetic denunciation of every dehumanizing situation, which is contrary to fellowship, justice and liberty. The truth of the gospel, it has been said, is a truth which must be done" (A Theology of Liberation).
Walter Wink says that "evangelism is always a form of social action. It is an indispensable component of any new ‘world’" (Naming the Powers). That is to say that the Good News engages and challenges persons, societies, structures and the cosmos. We fully realize that only persons can repent and receive Christ, but persons are social beings within social structures, and the gospel announces the lordship of Christ over the whole cosmos, including its society, structures and systems. Wink goes further to affirm that "social action is always evangelism, if carried out in full awareness of Christ’s sovereignty over the Powers." Although there needs to be more than a simple awareness of Christ’s lordship for this statement to be true, it certainly shows our need for a paradigmatic change in our understanding of evangelism. "Jesus did not just forgive sinners, He gave them a new world" (Wink). If this is true, then we rule out the idea that evangelism and social action are two separate segments or components of mission.
David Bosch explains that evangelism is mission, but mission is not merely evangelism. Thus, these terms should not be equated. Bosch, in a very detailed examination of evangelization and mission, shows that evangelism must be placed in the context of mission. Each context demands that the gospel addresses its particular predicaments: injustice, corruption, abortion, murder, greed, gluttony, drug abuse, etc.
Evangelism that separates people from their context views the world not as a challenge but as a hindrance, devalues history, and has eyes only for the "nonmaterial aspects of life" … What criterion decides that racism and structural injustice are social issues but pornography and abortion personal? Why is politics shunned and declared to fall outside of the competence of the evangelist, except when it favors the position of the privileged society? (Bosch, Transforming Mission).
Could it be that we have re-defined evangelism to suit our own lifestyles and forfeited biblical evangelism because it is too radical? Biblical evangelism is Jesus’ Good News to the poor, imprisoned, crippled, deaf and blind; biblical evangelism is Jesus’ invitation to follow Him and to become His disciples; biblical evangelism is Jesus’ call to service in the reign of God; biblical evangelism is a call to mission.
Paul exhorts us in 2 Timothy 4:5 "to do the work of the evangelist, fulfill your ministry." From the aspects discussed in this article, it is easy to see how our ministry will reflect our understanding of the meaning of evangelism. We must unlock the shackles of our contemporary definitions and seek to know God’s intention for evangelism. He is calling us to announce the Good News through proclamation, presence, persuasion and the promised prevenience of the Spirit. This means we must denounce anything that opposes the gospel; we must be holistic and transformational in our evangelism; and we must do evangelism in the context of mission.
Our hope is that we lay our ideas and misconceptions before Jesus, where they can be transformed and radicalized. Jesus is the Gospel made flesh. He is the embodiment of the Good News. He is the point where the evangel and the evangelist are one. Our prayer is that by His Spirit, we may be Christ’s heralds, announcing the coming of the new heaven and the new earth, and that the Good News of the Father would truly be Good News to the world.
-----
This essay originally appeared in
The Cry
, a publication from
Word Made Flesh
.
The image used above was found
here
.
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Comments
Martyn
If this article is right, then it seems that as Christians we would have to find some way to be involved in "social action." For most of us that means we would have to put another thing in our already busy schedule. How in the world can we fit another thing in?
Sue
Hi Martyn, if we read our bibles how can we imagine leaving social justice out?
Ron
Martyn,
I believe you sense a problem. The thing to do is pinpoint it.
I am new to Q, and so far I am impressed with the attempts made to explain a Christian worldview from various perspectives, and I do find myself confronted with some new and useful thoughts, ideas that challenge, and sometimes, encouragement.
What concerns I have begin with what I see to be a postmodern (which is nothing new--"there is nothing new under the sun") approach to doing theology.
First of all, this "new" way of doing theology appears to hold that anything traditional or conventional is automatically bad. The burden of proving it bad is fulfilled by offering what one perceives the traditional definition of a thing to be.
In the case at hand, evangelism is "mere words."
"We can no longer understand evangelism as mere words."
Who ever understood evangelism as "mere words"? No examples are given.
So, what we have is a red herring.
Second, there is an obvious confusion in the authors quoted (why Christians are so easily sucked in to N.T. Wright's confusion has always baffled me).
And, the confusion of these authors is to mistake the Gospel of justification by an imputed righteousness with the fruit of believing that Good News, which is sanctification.
Romans 1:16 is quoted in part.
Interesting, because in that section Paul makes no mention at all of social justice. Actually, he speaks of God's justice and the revelation of His wrath against unrighteousness, and how the gospel is a revealing of the righteousness of God (this is a biblical definition).
This brings me to a third observation: the red herring allows the author to get to his agenda, which you caught on to, the social ramifications--consequences of--the gospel.
The proof for this is found throughout the article, but rears itself for the first time in the second paragraph. Assertions, sweeping ones, are made about a deficient ("truncated" was the word used) understanding the Church suffers from, based on a definition nobody cited (we are not referred to anybody) holds.
I want to hear when the gospel is believed, and I want to hear how that belief transforms the lives of people--what I do not need is a confusion of biblical terms and concepts.
The peace of God be upon you all.
Sarah
Ron,
I think part of what Mr Chronic is sharing is that some conceptions of the work of evangelism aren't as "traditional" as we might think. Dating back to the apostles we see them, for example, healing people in the power of the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus, as an inextricable part of sharing the Gospel.
howard lawrence
Ron,
You say "there is obvious confusion in the authors quoted (why Christians are so easily sucked in to N.T .Wright's confusion has always baffled me)".
If you sense confusion on the part of N.T. Wright you are probably reading some of the more simplistic works on the matter by popular writers such as of John Piper. Wright graciously addresses Pipers confusion in his book "Justification",which is clear and will go a long way toward addressing your confusion.
Azhoni
Ron and Martyn,
I am surprised to see that you and I could read the article very differently. I would rate this article as among the best I read in recent times. It is a good wake up call to reasses our understanding of evangel.
Comments are now closed
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