An evangelist is essentially a messenger of good news. But is the telling all there is to it? I was still in my teens when I felt God's call on my life as an evangelist. Apart from the biblical accounts my examples at that time were the various missionaries whose biographies had been given to me with each successive Sunday School anniversary, the evangelists I encountered through monthly events called Hastings and District for Christ, George Verwer (founder of Operation Mobilisation) and, of course, Billy Graham. What they all seemed to have in common was not just telling the story but encouraging people to make a positive response by receiving Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.
When Jesus told Peter and Andrew that by following him they would become "fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19) he was talking to men who knew what fishing is about. Fishing was not about merely influencing fish; it was about catching them. More recently I have noticed that some who might have soft-pedalled the issue of encouraging a response have now started using the term "intentional evangelism". This is a term I have used commonly and made clear in my analysis of evangelism into three stages. My earliest experiences as a teenage evangelist were in tract distribution among seaside tourists, engaging in conversation with other teenagers in coffee bars and speaking at youth events. While I was always ready to listen and have a respectful conversation I remember making clear that the listeners would inevitably make a response. It would be either to welcome Christ or to reject him.
From 1964 to 1988 I was part of an evangelistic team and had a number of responsibilities as we conducted many evangelistic missions each year, mostly in rural settings. One of my tasks was to encourage a response after the main evangelist had spoken. I saw this as "drawing in the net"; it was the Holy Spirit who put the fish there. So I sought, and still seek, to avoid emotional manipulation of any kind, but always to make it easy for someone to take that important step of faith.
In 1974 when there was a lot of fresh thinking about evangelism I remember an older and more experienced man at a conference for evangelists state that he felt that the 'Gift of an Evangelist' was seen in his ability to draw in the net. He was implying that almost any Christian should be able to tell the story, but the ability to bring about a response was most effectively done by those whose gifting within the body of Christ was that of an evangelist.
The biblical record of such net drawing is quite limited. On the day of Pentecost the crowd asked what they should do (Acts 2: 38-41), to which Peter called them to repent and be baptised. A similar request came from the Philippian Jailer who wanted to know what he had to do to be saved (Acts 16: 30) to which Paul responded "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ..."
The language of response to the gospel has been expressed with various words such as repent, believe, commit, trust, receive, accept, etc. On most occasions where I give such a call it will include the opportunity to say a brief silent prayer following phrase by phrase what I have prayed. Typically evangelists in the past have then invited people to indicate that they prayed that prayer by raising their hands while others are bowed in prayer, or speaking to the evangelist or a counsellor afterwards, or picking up a response card, or inviting people to come forward publicly. This last example was one we rarely used in village evangelism where the cultural context militated against a public show.
The Bible does not offer a template for response to the gospel or model wording. We need to be careful that we don not develop an evangelistic culture which we anticipate is the right or even the only way for God to work to bring men and women to himself. Personally I struggle a little with the word "believe" in this context.
The earliest evangelistic activity was targeted at Jews where the heart of the message involved a mental consent that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah or Christ. On his missionary journeys Paul always started by proclaiming Jesus as Messiah in the synagogues, but he also employed the concept of believing when speaking to gentiles (for example the Philippian Jailer). But within the Greek culture of the day the word we have translated as "believe" implies trusting in and committing to.
My problem in the UK today is that when we use the word believe, the dominant concept is one of mental or intellectual assent. Now I know that faith is fundamental and I also do not want to suggest that a response to the gospel should be 'mindless'. But sometimes I wonder if using the expression "believe in Jesus" we are actually using jargon that might mean one thing to those of us who know him and have a biblical knowledge, but another thing for those whom we long to know him.
I suspect that 'trust' and 'commitment' carry a better understanding of an appropriate response in our culture. So we might urge someone to trust that Jesus has taken their guilt and punishment by his death on the cross, and urge them to commit to following Jesus, making him Saviour and Lord of their lives. Is there a danger in allowing people instead to infer that to become true Christians they have to be able to intellectually accept things that they might at that moment find unbelievable in the intellectual sense?
Those three stages of evangelism to which I referred earlier are (a) engaging with people, (b) telling the story, and (c) encouraging a response. To do (a) and (b) but neglect to do (c) is, I suggest, like someone going fishing with a rod and line and bait but no hook. But to an experienced fisherman what kind of bait and hook he or she uses will always depend on what kind of fish they are after.
It has been confidently asserted that one Christian in ten has the gift of an evangelist. If we are not seeing evidence of a harvest in our churches what does this imply? We urgently need to discover, develop and deploy such people. Evangelism can be carried out in many different ways in many different contexts, but all with the same aim, because that is what God intends. Potential and embryonic evangelists in rural areas are likely to be both isolated and challenged by the social context of village life. During 2014 I hope to offer more support advice and training in this area. If I can be helpful to you or your church please let me know. Whether or not you need such a service I hope that you will give me your support especially though prayer.
IMPORTANT: Did you receive last weekend's Praise & Prayer News on "Not settling for Normal"? We missed the usual response we get from these emails. If you did see it through an email please would you let me know at barry@ruralmissions.org.uk. Thanks.
From the Diary:
Sunday 19th - Yelvertoft Congregational Church. The morning meeting will be followed by lunch and an envisioning Church Meeting exploring where we believe God is leading us.
Monday 20th - Research into rural evangelism
Tuesday 21st - Gartree Prison Ministry
Wednesday 22nd - Teaching at the Salvation Army Training College, London, on Safeguarding and appropriate pastoral response to victims of abuse.
Thursday and Friday mostly writing and administration related to rural evangelism.
Special Note: You may have read or heard on the news about the man from Market Harborough who died after saving his sons from drowning in the sea off Australia. He and his family attended a local church and his parents are neighbours of one of our village church members. Please pray for the Priestley family as we offer pastoral support at this tragic time.
Thank you.
Barry
You can find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ruralbarry
Main website: www.ruralmissionsolutions.org.uk
When Jesus told Peter and Andrew that by following him they would become "fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19) he was talking to men who knew what fishing is about. Fishing was not about merely influencing fish; it was about catching them. More recently I have noticed that some who might have soft-pedalled the issue of encouraging a response have now started using the term "intentional evangelism". This is a term I have used commonly and made clear in my analysis of evangelism into three stages. My earliest experiences as a teenage evangelist were in tract distribution among seaside tourists, engaging in conversation with other teenagers in coffee bars and speaking at youth events. While I was always ready to listen and have a respectful conversation I remember making clear that the listeners would inevitably make a response. It would be either to welcome Christ or to reject him.
From 1964 to 1988 I was part of an evangelistic team and had a number of responsibilities as we conducted many evangelistic missions each year, mostly in rural settings. One of my tasks was to encourage a response after the main evangelist had spoken. I saw this as "drawing in the net"; it was the Holy Spirit who put the fish there. So I sought, and still seek, to avoid emotional manipulation of any kind, but always to make it easy for someone to take that important step of faith.
In 1974 when there was a lot of fresh thinking about evangelism I remember an older and more experienced man at a conference for evangelists state that he felt that the 'Gift of an Evangelist' was seen in his ability to draw in the net. He was implying that almost any Christian should be able to tell the story, but the ability to bring about a response was most effectively done by those whose gifting within the body of Christ was that of an evangelist.
The biblical record of such net drawing is quite limited. On the day of Pentecost the crowd asked what they should do (Acts 2: 38-41), to which Peter called them to repent and be baptised. A similar request came from the Philippian Jailer who wanted to know what he had to do to be saved (Acts 16: 30) to which Paul responded "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ..."
The language of response to the gospel has been expressed with various words such as repent, believe, commit, trust, receive, accept, etc. On most occasions where I give such a call it will include the opportunity to say a brief silent prayer following phrase by phrase what I have prayed. Typically evangelists in the past have then invited people to indicate that they prayed that prayer by raising their hands while others are bowed in prayer, or speaking to the evangelist or a counsellor afterwards, or picking up a response card, or inviting people to come forward publicly. This last example was one we rarely used in village evangelism where the cultural context militated against a public show.
The Bible does not offer a template for response to the gospel or model wording. We need to be careful that we don not develop an evangelistic culture which we anticipate is the right or even the only way for God to work to bring men and women to himself. Personally I struggle a little with the word "believe" in this context.
The earliest evangelistic activity was targeted at Jews where the heart of the message involved a mental consent that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah or Christ. On his missionary journeys Paul always started by proclaiming Jesus as Messiah in the synagogues, but he also employed the concept of believing when speaking to gentiles (for example the Philippian Jailer). But within the Greek culture of the day the word we have translated as "believe" implies trusting in and committing to.
My problem in the UK today is that when we use the word believe, the dominant concept is one of mental or intellectual assent. Now I know that faith is fundamental and I also do not want to suggest that a response to the gospel should be 'mindless'. But sometimes I wonder if using the expression "believe in Jesus" we are actually using jargon that might mean one thing to those of us who know him and have a biblical knowledge, but another thing for those whom we long to know him.
I suspect that 'trust' and 'commitment' carry a better understanding of an appropriate response in our culture. So we might urge someone to trust that Jesus has taken their guilt and punishment by his death on the cross, and urge them to commit to following Jesus, making him Saviour and Lord of their lives. Is there a danger in allowing people instead to infer that to become true Christians they have to be able to intellectually accept things that they might at that moment find unbelievable in the intellectual sense?
Those three stages of evangelism to which I referred earlier are (a) engaging with people, (b) telling the story, and (c) encouraging a response. To do (a) and (b) but neglect to do (c) is, I suggest, like someone going fishing with a rod and line and bait but no hook. But to an experienced fisherman what kind of bait and hook he or she uses will always depend on what kind of fish they are after.
It has been confidently asserted that one Christian in ten has the gift of an evangelist. If we are not seeing evidence of a harvest in our churches what does this imply? We urgently need to discover, develop and deploy such people. Evangelism can be carried out in many different ways in many different contexts, but all with the same aim, because that is what God intends. Potential and embryonic evangelists in rural areas are likely to be both isolated and challenged by the social context of village life. During 2014 I hope to offer more support advice and training in this area. If I can be helpful to you or your church please let me know. Whether or not you need such a service I hope that you will give me your support especially though prayer.
IMPORTANT: Did you receive last weekend's Praise & Prayer News on "Not settling for Normal"? We missed the usual response we get from these emails. If you did see it through an email please would you let me know at barry@ruralmissions.org.uk. Thanks.
From the Diary:
Sunday 19th - Yelvertoft Congregational Church. The morning meeting will be followed by lunch and an envisioning Church Meeting exploring where we believe God is leading us.
Monday 20th - Research into rural evangelism
Tuesday 21st - Gartree Prison Ministry
Wednesday 22nd - Teaching at the Salvation Army Training College, London, on Safeguarding and appropriate pastoral response to victims of abuse.
Thursday and Friday mostly writing and administration related to rural evangelism.
Special Note: You may have read or heard on the news about the man from Market Harborough who died after saving his sons from drowning in the sea off Australia. He and his family attended a local church and his parents are neighbours of one of our village church members. Please pray for the Priestley family as we offer pastoral support at this tragic time.
Thank you.
Barry
You can find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ruralbarry
Main website: www.ruralmissionsolutions.org.uk
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