Evangelism, it really is the “buzz word” in Christian circles today. Question the concept or the methodology and you are in big trouble. Yet methinks that there has probably never been another time when the Church new so little of the true nature and essence of evangelism.
When viewing modern evangelistic programmes and listening to people apply these various philosophies, there is one aspect that I find striking. Most Christians seem to be attempting to engender hope in the lost. It seems that there is a lot of hugging, back patting, and arms around shoulders, with the accompanying words, “It will be alright!” We have “friendship” evangelism. We have “hospitality” evangelism. We have “Creative” evangelism; not to be confused with “Creation” evangelism. We have tele-evangelists, radio evangelist, internet evangelist – how long before tele-marketing-evangelists – ‘Hello sir, I am calling you tonight from “Inspired Creations”. No, we are not selling anything, I just have a question…!”
My criticism at this point is that the Christian is putting faith in his ability to woo, coax, cajole, and educate the dead sinner into the Kingdom. It is like watching “Slick Willy Inc” run a marketing seminar with all the latest and proven techniques to ‘get your foot in the door’ and ‘close out the sale’. In short, this type of methodology is nothing short of a rank Humanism that has been given a spritz of holy water and then gang-pressed into church service.
Any hope derived from man and for man, is simply no hope. As stated, its correct title is Humanism.
The truth of Biblical evangelism lies not in (false) hope, but in (true) despair. If the rebellious sinner believes that there is something that he can do, no matter how slight, then he has hope in and of himself. This is a false hope. It is a fool’s hope. It is so because it denies the truth of God’s revelation.
What must be declared to the rebellious sinner is that he has no hope. We must bring to the sinner the sense of absolute despair. I speak here of a palpable, gut-wrenching, and loathsome despair that truly makes one fearful. I speak of a fear and a terror that brings absolute dread. The picture is of a man who, faced with a truth or an object, has turned ashen, his legs will not hold his weight, his body trembles involuntarily, and he, so weak that he cannot move, can but whimper. At this point, man is robbed of all his devices.
Now, true evangelism can occur. At this point, God alone is Man’s saviour. At this point, Jesus Christ is magnified as a Man’s only possibility for salvation. Now, there is true hope. It is a lasting hope. It is not the fleeting hope of the ephemeral, but the certain hope of promise founded in the Eternal. It is the truth that God saves sinners. It is the truth that from eternity God has set His love upon His people and that He is reconciling these He loves to Himself in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is hope. This is evangelism.
(References: Acts 2:37; Acts 16:29-30; Daniel 5:6; Isaiah 13:6-7.)