The Goal of Evangelism
I think everybody agrees that evangelism should be done in every church, but the difficulty often stems from that fact that many people have not seen evangelism done and so aren't really sure where to start. At Saint Paul's Lutheran Church in Laguna Beach, we begin with the idea that Sunday morning worship is the goal of evangelism, not the means. Entrance into the communion of saints through Holy Baptism is entrance into the marriage supper of the Lamb, or at least a foretaste of the feast to come. The means of evangelism is something very old and very simple, the gospel of Jesus Christ, his sacrificial death to save rebel sinners, all of us. How this gets accomplished is by realizing that each one of us has exactly what the apostles had: a knowledge of the gospel and what it is (for clarity, see 1 Cor. 15), the means for sharing this gospel (a mouth), and the means for spreading this gospel (two feet). We encourage all of our members to do something very radical in this regard. We encourage them to speak to unbelievers about the gospel (gasp!). We encourage them to invite people to church. At Saint Paul's we know that the organ of faith is the ear ("faith comes by hearing…" Rom. 10:17) and that when God speaks through his Word, faith is created in the heart. God's Word is powerful and does not come back void. We do not have fancy materials, nor do we have elaborate programs. What we have is what the first Christians had, a deep concern and love for those not yet of God's kingdom. Ours is a simple methodology, "Do what you can to share the gospel beginning with those closest to you." The power of evangelism rests in God's Word. To this end, the Word of God is all we have, and honestly, it's all we need.
Rev. Charlie Mallie, Saint Paul's Lutheran Church Laguna Beach, CA
Dedicated to Evangelism
Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia does not have a ministry of evangelism, per se. Rather, all of our ministries proclaim the work of God, and therefore we consider all of them to have an evangelistic aspect. Our worship is evangelistic: we preach the gospel in all of our public services, with the prayer that God will bring people to faith in Jesus Christ. Our Sunday school is evangelistic: as we teach the Bible to children and adults, we call them to trust in Christ for their salvation. Our missionary work is evangelistic: we send missionaries to places far and near with the purpose of sharing the gospel. Our church planting is evangelistic: as we plant new churches in and around Philadelphia, our goal is to bring new people into the church, and not simply to move Christians from one church to another. Our mercy ministry is evangelistic: as we show the love of Christ through feeding the homeless, visiting prisoners, tutoring city children, and caring for people who are separated or divorced, we always combine deeds of mercy with words of gospel truth. Possibly the only ministry in the church dedicated exclusively to evangelism is a small prayer group that meets in my study during lunchtime on Friday afternoons. The sole focus of our intercession is to pray by name for people who do not have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Often we find ourselves praying for people whom we have met through one of the ministries of the church.
Rev. Phillip G. Ryken, Tenth Presbyterian Church Philadelphia, PA
Equipped with Joy
At Bethlehem the chief aim in everything we do is summed up in our vision statement: "to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ." In a day when evangelism has seemingly become more about method than message we teach that evangelism is "commending whom we cherish." That is to say, before any technique is taught we seek to express to the church people that loving God and his gospel is ultimate in evangelism. From the pulpit to seminars on evangelism training, we teach about the beauty and glory of God so that God makes much of himself in the lives of his people and, out of that satisfaction, they communicate to the perishing the place where infinite joy is found (Psalm 16:11). We talk this way because sin is not simply a rejection of the law of God – though it cannot be less than that – but it is also seeking satisfaction in things that cannot ultimately satisfy (Jeremiah 2:12, 13). So our primary strategy in evangelism is equipping the church in pursuing hard after an ever-increasing knowledge and delight in God through Christ, in saturating their minds with the gospel and its implications, prepared to speak when prompted by God (Acts 17:16ff), and, in being able to contend for the faith (Jude 3; 1 Peter 3:15).
Rev. Sherard Burns, Bethlehem Baptist Church Minneapolis, Minnesota
