Is Evangelism Only for Disciples?
Other — By Joe Carter on September 26, 2007 at 12:16 amAt what point in the Christian life are we called to take up the task of evangelism?
Though many evangelicals may think the question to obvious to be worth asking, I’ve been wrestling with it for the better part of a week. I too once thought the answer was clear: all believers are called to evangelize.
Now I’m not so sure.
What sparked my rethinking on the issue is my long held contention that the purpose of evangelism is not to make converts but to make, as Christ commanded, disciples. Somehow I missed the obvious logical implication that to make a disciple one first has to be a disciple.
When I searched the scriptures, the four primary texts related to evangelism appeared to support my thesis:
In Matthew 10:5-7, Jesus is sending out his twelve disciples:
These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus is speaking to his eleven remaining disciples:
And 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.”
And again in Acts 1:8, Jesus speaks to “the apostles”:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Paul also speaks of evangelistic efforts, though it is more difficult to determine who constitutes his intended audience. Take, for example, Romans 10:14-15:
How then will they 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!”
He refers to those who are “sent” to “preach.” Does that refer to preachers or all believers? Are all believers to be preachers?
In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul is a bit more clear when speaking to his protégé Timothy:
In and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
What is peculiar about this is that it adds three requirements: (1) The task of entrusting the message to the men is to be carried out in front of witnesses; (2) they must be “faithful men”; and (3) they must be able to be teachers. This sets a rather high barrier for evangelism, perhaps even higher than basic discipleship.
My initial investigation appears to support my intuition. But lay theologians like me can cause a big mess when we start trying to parse doctrine. I am particularly wary of trusting in my shamefully limited understanding of scripture. Instead, I’ll defer to the “wisdom of crowds”–the pastors, teachers, elders, theologians, and other disciples who have probably considered this question long before I ever thought to ask them: Should a believer be a disciple before they take up the task of evangelism?
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24 Comments
good post joe
All Christians are by nature Disciples. Let’s not confuse definition with practice. We like to split the two because it’s so convenient.
A calling to missions is not the same as general evangelism.
Preaching is persuasive speech, not simply an office. Philip preached to the Ethiopian.
The church in the US is spiritually weak. We’ve little concern, as a whole, for the spiritual well-being of people around us. Politics is so much more fun an less threatening — we can do it on a blog, not face to face.
Collin
http://evangelicalperspective.blogspot.com/
I believe all Christians are called to evangelize. Yes, the purpose of evangelism is to make disciples, but we still need to distinguish between discipleship and evangelism. Discipleship is helping a person to grow in their commitment and maturity as a Christian. Evangelism is simply sharing the good news about who Jesus is and what he has done.
Dr. James Kennedy used to emphasize Acts 8:4 in his Evangelism Explosion materials: “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” The word “preached” is the Greek verb “euaggelizo” which menas “to evangelize” or “to bring good news.” Kennedy makes the point that the apostles actually stayed in Jerusalem at this time, and so “those who had been scattered” and were evangelizing in this verse are the rest of the believers.
I think the demoniac in Mark 5 is another good example of this. I like what Jesus says to him in Mark 5:18: “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” This man had only just been delivered, and yet Jesus instructs him to go and witness to what Jesus had done in his life.
Good luck with that, Joe. I’d say the “wisdom of crowds” method works pretty well when dealing with matters of common sense. Not so well when dealing with determining the “correct” meaning of an ancient holy text.
Over time, the wisdom of crowds tends to coalesce around a common understanding when dealing in the realm of reality. Experience shows that theological understandings tend instead to diverge over time resulting in greater differences of opinion. This explains the incredible multiplicity of denominations, each claiming to have discovered the Truth. The best and easiest thing is to decide what you want the result to be, then find texts that support your conclusion.
I think you raise an interesting issue. A few clarifying questions:
Is it possible to be a believer and not be a disciple? Is there any difference between making a true convert and making a disciple? Was the responsibility to evangelize the world given to the disciples as individual believers or was it given to the church (to which all believers belong)?
Joe, perhaps you could wrestle with how best to share your faith with people like the “jena 6″ and all the other black people living amoungst the David Duke supporters down there in Louisanna?
ex-preacher:
“The best and easiest thing is to decide what you want the result to be, then find texts that support your conclusion.” Really? Easiest, yes. Best? Not if you care about truth.
But then, I don’t think that “the wisdom of crowds” gets you truth, either…
ex-preacher says:
“The best and easiest thing is to decide what you want the result to be, then find texts that support your conclusion.”
I think that’s what most of us do.
“I think that’s what most of us do.”
if by most of us you mean most christian appologists then yes,you are quite right thats what most of you do. most of the rest of us prefer to rely on objective evidence to determine the truth and we even actively engage in attempts to falsify our own positions to test their solidity…something you ll never see a religionist do.
Ludwig,
I am saying that’s what I do and other christians do. I don’t really think it’s the best thing to do.
For example, look at all the different ideas about the the Book of Daniel in the bible.
I can’t stand “MLM Christianity”, this concept that were all suppose to be Jesus salesmen cold-calling all the unbelievers, bringing up religion among workers and family in contexts where it unhelpful and uncomfortable, or otherwise we’re “not being true Christians”. I’m sorry if that’s “meology” (to coin the phrase of an especially odious body of work supporting this method), but every fiber calls that type of “evangelism” wrong.
It’s a bromide, but it holds true: Every Christian is called to spread the gospel in his own way. Just by the very fact that believe what you do, have the worldview you do, and interact with the world around you makes evangelism inevitable. If you’re a practicing Christian who takes God seriously, and live in the world, it will be soon and often that you’ll find yourself being the only grownup in the room of people advocating going in the completely wrong direction. Save you’re witnessing until then.
Yes, its possible to be a believer and not a disciple!
Even the demons believed that Jesus was the Son of God.
But they did not act on that knowledge and follow Christ and what he said for us to do (love you enemies, feed the poor, etc)
I’ve been contemplating this, too, for a long time. I think we should always be ready to discuss our faith, but as far as whether we should always go door-to-door or participate with the Church visitation program…
My church every week relentlessly “preaches” that if you’re not actively involved in church visitation then you are “not right with God”. Even to the point of twisting Bible passages that have nothing to do with the issue to support this position. And yet, having been involved with it a handful of times, I would estimate that less than 10% of the church has ever been to it.
Therefore I have to figure that either most of the church agrees with me that only some people are given the gift or the calling of “door-to-door evangelism” in defiance of what the church teaches, or they’re acting in contradiction to their own conscience, which can’t be spiritually healthy.
Good points, Joe.
Multi-Level marketing is a quick way to make a lot of sales, but also leaves much disillusionment in it’s path.
Churches that demand everyone evangelize are only concerned with increasing the number of attendees. These Churches don’t care about all of the lost souls who are less likely to believe the Gospel because of being approached by a yahoo.
Joe is right on, and I think did a good job of supporting his position with Scripture.
Few Christians would qualify as Bible scholars but we can all do what the demoniac Ray mentioned was told to do. Give our testimony about what God has done for us. You can give that testimony on day one and it’s likely that you’ll have the chance since some of those who know you will notice a change and want to know what caused it. People you meet will want to know why you are the way you are and you can tell them. You don’t have to knock on the doors of strangers, God will cause people to cross your path and give you an opening. You just have to be alert and notice such openings and be willing to share what God has done for you and give Him the glory. After all you’re not going to save anyone, it’s Gods job. He would like you to join Him in His work and you will be blessed for having done it.
Joe,
As Collin Brendemuehl already pointed out, we are all Disciples. Hope that answers your question.
A disciple = one who lives following Christ.
So with that much said: if we’re not living in humility and repentance and love, if we don’t pray for our enemies and love those who hate us, we probably had best keep our mouths shut. Why? Because we’re given very particular instructions. First is to make disciples, which we can’t do unless we’re disciples. Second is to wait for people to ask for the reason for the hope we have and be ready to answer them. For an example of that, think of Paul in jail having just got the tar beat out of him, singing hymns and celebrating.
Following Christ that wholeheartedly, fixing our eyes on him rather than our troubles, will make people ask us, “Why do you have hope?”
very true and great post. Good to come across your site.
I just came across a site that speaks of an interesting poll related to evangelism. His book looks intriguing too.
I just came across a site that speaks of an interesting poll related to evangelism. His book looks intriguing too.
http://daviddent.net/blog/2007/09/27/who-believes-in-global-warming/
vurcodamx wgphsz tikv awmsk mtoirpnzk grbocu muaoky
vurcodamx wgphsz tikv awmsk mtoirpnzk grbocu muaoky
vurcodamx wgphsz tikv awmsk mtoirpnzk grbocu muaoky
I’m a quiet believer too, with asking for the citizenship of the holty kingdom of God, The Lord in Heaven, And daily help of our saviour Jesus Christ the Messias, and wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit. May God, fullfill every need of every witness, talking or longing for God. and may every prayer be with my intent going to heaven too. (blindly as Jesus is my trust) and God is my Love. God is my symbolvalentine. accepting everyone in my love too, who God asks me too accept. (even when its hard, if it be)