Evangelism is the speaking and showing of the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to people who do not yet know Him. Evangelism is the natural overflow of a life lived in joy as a worshiper of God. Sadly, evangelism is often portrayed as something that Christians must do as a duty, rather than something that they get to do as a delight.
Personally, I see evangelism as a wonderful opportunity to give the gift of God to people. I spent the first nineteen years of my life not knowing Jesus. I can count on one hand the number of times I remember anyone ever seeking to explain the person and work of Jesus to me. Ever since God saved me in college, I remain continually astounded by the love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and new life that has been extended to me through Jesus. I shudder to think at the devastation sin would have caused in my life had it not been for Jesus both forgiving my sin and keeping me from much more sin.
Love Overflows into Evangelism
As Christians, our love for Jesus and people should cause us to delight in speaking and showing the transforming power of Jesus’ grace at every opportunity. Although there is much evangelism yet to be done, it is encouraging to note that roughly 40 percent of the people at Mars Hill were not attending any church before ours and a few thousand people have become Christians through the ministry of our church. Indeed, the words of Jesus in Acts 18:10 are being applied to Seattle, “I have many in this city who are my people.”
Jesus the Evangelist
Regarding evangelism, it is Jesus Himself who set an example for us as The Evangelist. In Luke 19:10, Jesus explained His earthly mission in evangelistic terms saying, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” In calling His first disciples, “He said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men!’” (Matthew 4:19). Among His final words after the resurrection and just prior to His heavenly ascension, we read in Matthew 28:18–20, “Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” Therefore, as we “go” to work, school, the grocery store, and elsewhere, we are to assume that Jesus is always with us, preparing people to hear the gospel because His work of evangelism has not ceased, but has expanded to include us.
Evangelism and Reformed Theology
Because of the Reformed theological convictions of Mars Hill Church, one of the common questions I receive is how we can believe that God predestines those He will save and that God does the work of causing people to become Christians, while at the same time concerning ourselves with doing personal evangelism. Essentially, the question assumes that since God will save whomever He desires, our evangelism is unnecessary. There are three things that must be clarified so that Reformed theology is not wrongly misunderstood as to pave the way for fatalistic passivity regarding evangelism.
Paul the Evangelist
First, we cannot merely read the words of Paul without placing them in the context of his life. Not only is Paul responsible for giving us clarity on such doctrines as predestination and election, he also demonstrated for us a life filled with evangelistic fervor. For example, even a cursory reading of Acts reveals that Paul was a very active evangelist who labored tirelessly from city to city until he was ultimately put to death for his evangelistic work. Furthermore, Paul repeatedly speaks of the importance of his personal evangelism in such places as 1 Corinthians 9:22–23 where he says “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel . . .”
Evangelism Fits With God’s Sovereignty
Second, perhaps the most thorough treatment of the doctrines of predestination and election are to be found in Romans 9–11. But in the middle of that breathtaking theological treatise that shows how salvation is fully the work of God, we also read Romans 10:14–15: “But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news [the gospel]!’”
Third, God is fully sovereign. In regards to evangelism, God’s sovereignty includes selecting when and where we would live, who would we meet, and granting us the opportunity to do evangelism so that the elect will be saved. This is because God is sovereign over both the means and ends of evangelism. God has not only determined who will be saved, but has also determined how He will save them—and this often includes using our evangelistic efforts, though God can also save people apart from us as He chooses. God often chooses to allow us to be involved in the process so that we might share in the joy of seeing people’s earthly and eternal lives forever transformed through Jesus.
Jesus Saves People
Practically, this means that by understanding that God is already at work on the elect, we are able up to do evangelism with the greatest amount of freedom and joy. We can share the gospel of Jesus in full confidence that God will use it to save some people because they are elect. On the other hand, if some people should not respond to the gospel in faith, we should not take that personally but rather pray that God would open their blind eyes to see His love and also humbly trust God’s will and timing in all things.
Lastly, the fact that Jesus remains to this day an active evangelist is of great encouragement to me personally. It means that children who are aborted in the womb, those mentally incapable of understanding the gospel, and those people who have lived in times and places that missionaries did not visit are not necessarily beyond the hope of salvation. Indeed, Jesus could visit and save anyone anywhere because He remains The Evangelist.
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Tue Dec 02, 2014
