Outreach

 

 

 

Evangelism.

Evangelism announces that salvation has come. The verb “evangelize” literally means to bear good news. In the noun form, it translates “gospel” or “evangel.” The angels’ proclamation of Christ’s birth is typical of the more than 130 times the term in its various forms occurs in the New Testament: “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10–11).

The Hebrew term translated in the Septuagint by the same word appears in the writings of Isaiah: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good news …” (Isa. 52:7). Again, speaking of the ministry of the coming Messiah, the prophet writes, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings …” (Isa. 61:1, 2).

Jesus interpreted his mission as fulfillment of this promise (Luke 4:18, 19). He saw himself as an evangelist, announcing the coming of the Kingdom of God. This message was to be proclaimed in the context of demonstrated compassion for the bruised and forgotten people of the world.

At this point, there is often confusion among Christians today. Some contend that evangelism involves only the gospel declaration, while others identify it essentially with establishing a caring presence in society or seeking to rectify injustice.

It should be clear that both are necessary. One without the other leaves a distorted impression of the good news. If Jesus had not borne the sorrows of people and performed deeds of mercy among them, we might question his concern. On the other hand, if he had not articulated the gospel, we would not have known why he came, nor how we could be saved. To bind up the wounds of the dying, while withholding the message that could bring deliverance to their souls, would leave them still in bondage. Mere social concern does not address the ultimate need of a lost world.

 

A Revelation of God.

What makes the announcement so compelling is its divine source. Contrary to the opinion of popular humanism, evangelism does not originate in the valiant groping of persons seeking a higher life. Rather, it comes as a revelation of God who is ever seeking to make a people to display his glory.

The deposit of this divine quest is the canon of inspired Scripture. As the Word of God, “without error in all that it affirms” (The Lausanne Covenant, Section 2) the Bible is the objective authority for the gospel. To be sure, it does not pretend to answer every curious question of humankind, but what is written does show God’s way of salvation to an honest heart. Not surprisingly, then, theological systems that compromise Scriptural verities do not produce evangelism.

The revelation makes us see how we have all turned to our own way. Such arrogance cannot be ignored by a just God, since it is an affront to his holiness. Inevitably, then, the sinner must be separated from God. Furthermore, his wrath upon iniquity cannot be annulled as long as the cause of evil remains. Since life is unending, all the spiritual consequences of sin continue on forever in Hell.

Knowing, therefore, what is at stake, evangelism strikes at the heart of Sin. Though the disclosure of human rebellion and its result may be bad news, still the gospel shines through it all, for God judges so that he might save.

 

Incarnate in Christ.

The redeeming work of the Trinity focuses in the person of the Son. In Jesus Christ evangelism becomes incarnate. Jesus is not God apart from the human, nor the human apart from God; he is God and mankind united in one Personality. In this perfect union of eternal consciousness, Christ becomes the reconciling center of the gospel. All that took place in salvation before his coming was in anticipation of him. All that has taken place since his coming is accomplished in his Name—the only “Name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

The apostolic gospel does not minimize the exclusive claims of Christ. He alone is Lord, and with “all authority” (Matt. 28:18), he stands among us, and says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

His mission reaches its climax on the hill of Calvary. There in the fullness of time Jesus bore our sins in his own body on the cross, suffering in our stead, “the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

Christ’s bodily resurrection and subsequent ascension into heaven bring the cross forcibly to our attention. For when one dies who has the power to rise from the grave, in all honesty we must ask why he died in the first place. To this penetrating question the gospel unequivocally answers, “Jesus … was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our purification” (Rom. 4:24, 25).

 

Experiencing Grace.

In confronting the reality of the cross, we are made supremely aware of God’s love. It is “not that we loved God, but that he loved us,” and “gave himself” for us (1 John 4:10; Gal. 2:20). Perhaps we could understand one giving his life for a righteous person, or for a friend, but “God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

Heaven is the wonder of the gospel. Nothing deserved! Nothing earned! In our complete helplessness, bankrupt of all natural goodness, God moved in and did for us what we could not do for ourselves. It is all of Grace—unmerited love. From beginning to end, salvation is the “gift of God” (Eph. 2:8).

The invitation is to all. “Whosoever will may come” (Rev. 22:17). Though the enabling power to believe is entirely of grace, the responsibility to respond to God’s word rests upon the sinner. We must receive the gift in true repentance and faith. It means that we choose to turn from the pretense of self-righteousness, and with a broken and contrite spirit, trust ourselves unto the loving arms of Jesus. Until there is such a Conversion, no one can enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 18:3).

Through this commitment, the believer is introduced to a life of forgiveness, love and true freedom. “Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). There is an actual partaking of the divine nature, so that a regenerated person begins to live in the Savior. It is this inward dynamic of sanctification that makes Christianity a saving force for holiness in the world. Out of it flows compassionate deeds of mercy and bold evangelistic outreach.

 

A Ministering Church.

Faithful witness of the gospel calls forth the church. All who heed the call and live by faith in the Son of God—past, present, and future—become part of this communion of the saints.

As the church is created by evangelism, so it becomes the agent of God in dispensing the gospel to others. Unfortunately, our mission to the whole world may be forgotten, and we accept the same delusion as did the self-serving religious community of Jesus’ day. Their attitude was seen in bold relief at the cross when they said in derision, “He saved others; himself he cannot save” (Mark 15:31). What they failed to realize was that Jesus had not come to save himself; he came to save us; “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:4); he came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

Those who take up his cross, as we are bidden, enter into this mission. In this service, whatever our gifts, every person in the church is “sent” from God, even as we are called into Christ’s ministry (John 17:18; 20:21).

Underscoring this mission, before returning to the Father in heaven, Jesus commanded his church to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:18). The Great Commission is not some special assignment for a few clerical workers; it is a way of life; it is the way Jesus directed his life with a few disciples while he was among us, and now the way he expects his church to follow.

Wrapped up in this lifestyle is his plan to evangelize the world. For disciples—learners of Christ—will follow him, and as they learn more of him, they will grow in his likeness, while also becoming involved in his ministry. So they, too, will begin to make disciples, teaching them in turn to do the same, until, through the process of multiplication, the whole world will hear the gospel.

Bringing people to Christ is not the only expression of the church’s ministry, of course. But it is the most crucial, for it makes possible every other church activity. Without evangelism the church would soon become extinct.

 

The Way of the Spirit.

Let it be understood, however, that this work is not contrived by human ingenuity. God the Holy Spirit is the enabler. What God administers as the Father and reveals as the Son, he accomplishes as the Third Member of the Trinity. So the mission of Christ through the church becomes the acts of the Spirit. He lifts up the Word, and as Jesus is glorified, convicted men and women cry out to be saved. Evangelism is finally God’s work, not ours. We are merely the channel through which the Spirit of Christ makes disciples.

That is why even to begin the Christian life one must be “born again” (John 3:3). “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing” (John 6:63). Likewise, it is the Spirit who sustains and nourishes the developing relationship. He calls the church to ministry. He leads us in prayer. He dispenses gifts for service. Through the Spirit’s strength faith comes alive in obedience and by his impartation of grace, we are being conformed to the image of our Lord.

Everything, then, depends upon the Spirit’s possession of the sent ones, the church. Just as those first disciples were told to tarry until they received the promised power, so must we (Luke 24:49; Acts 2:4). The spiritual inducement at Pentecost, by whatever name is called, must be a reality in our lives, not as a distant memory, but as a present experience of the reigning Christ. Hindrances that obstruct his dominion must be confessed, and our hearts cleansed so that the Spirit of holiness can fill us with the love of God. Though we can never contain all of him, he wants all of us—to love and adore him with all that we are and all that we hope to be. Any evangelistic effort that circumvents this provision will be as lifeless as it is barren. The secret of New Testament evangelism is to let the Holy Spirit have his way in our lives.

 

The Glorious Consummation.

Whatever may be our method of presenting the gospel, and wherever God may place us in his service, we labor in the confidence that his world mission will be finished. Evangelism, as the heartbeat of Christian ministry, simply directs our energy to that goal toward which history is moving, when the completed church will be presented “faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24).

Indeed, in Christ the Kingdom of God is already present in the hearts of those that worship him, and the day is hastening when his kingdom will come to fruition in the new Jerusalem. The church militant, like an ever-advancing army, will at last shatter the principalities of Satan and storm the gates of hell. In the councils of eternity the celebration has already begun (Rev. 7:9, 10: 11:15). Anything we do which does not contribute to that destiny is an exercise in futility.

Our work now on earth may seem slow, and sometimes discouraging, but we may be sure that God’s program will not suffer defeat. Someday the trumpet will sound, and the Son of Man, with his legions, shall descend from heaven in trailing clouds of glory, and he will reign over his people gathered from every tongue, every tribe, every nation. This is the reality which always rings through evangelism.

The King is coming! While it does not yet appear what we shall be, “we know that, when he is revealed, we shall be like him” (1 John 3:2). And before him every knee shall bow and “every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:11).

 

Bibliography. R. E. Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism; J. I. Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God; E. L. Towns, Evangelism and Church Growth: A Practical Encyclopedia; Equipping for Evangelism.

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