Thursday, September 13, 2007

Evangelism Doesn't Work Anymore

The idea for this blog is not originial with me, but it expresses my heartfelt opinion about evangelism today especially among our own churches, pastors and leaders.

Some may not hear what I am going to say, but those that have ears to hear, will!

It is obvious that evangelism is not working among hundreds of our pastors and churches because there are few, if any souls, coming to Christ and even fewer are being baptized every year. The minute books of dozens of our local associations prove that to be true; it is written in black and white, and undeniable. Evangelism is not working!

It is very possible that one of the main reasons that evangelism is not working anymore is that evangelism isn't being worked. It makes no difference what you do, if you don't put evangelism to work it won't work. That's why evangelism isn't working!

One reason that evangelism doesn't work is that some would prefer to extol the values of just quietly living their faith in such a way that others will want to find out more about their faith. Well, it sure sounds good, but that's not evangelism and it doesn't work very effectively either. Maybe that's why evangelism doesn't work according to some.

Or maybe evangelism doens't work because very few have experienced the immense satisfaction of personally leading a lost soul to Christ. Therefore very few will have seen dramatic life-changes occur in someone's life which would have been solid evidence of evangelism working. But evangelism isn't working or we would be seeing more life-change in a lot of people. Right?

If evangelism doesn't work anymore it's because you and me are not working it. That's why evangelism doesn't work anymore.

David

2 comments:

Penny Bowhay said...

People matter!!!

Get this…everyone you see today, EVERYONE you and I come into contact with WILL spend eternity somewhere.

Heaven is real!

Hell is real!

And people REALLY do go to one or the other.

I remember reading once a quote by CS Lewis who said that we have NEVER seen a mere mortal…that if we saw people as they one day would be that we would either be tempted to worship them OR realize what horrors a person without Christ will become.

I am realizing that more and more.

Every single person I come into contact with today really matters to God.

He was serious when He said what He said in…

* Matthew 28:18-20
* Mark 16:15
* Luke 24:48
* John 20:21
* Acts 1:8

It is up to you and I to go and tell the world…to spread the good news…and when this happens that means…well…our churches will grow and be full of excitement because more and more people are meeting Jesus.

People matter to God–they should matter to us…everyone…even the person that pulled out in front of you today. They matter!!! Your boss…your co-worker…your parents…they matter! And if God cared enough about them to send His Son…then we owe it to Him and them.

I have NEVER forgotten what it was like to live without Christ…I was hopeless…miserable, heck, I even had thoughts of ending it all a time or two…but when Jesus saved me –– my life has never been the same. And I want EVERYONE to experience the same peace, joy and life that I have experienced.

From time to time people will accuse me of being focused on “the numbers.” And I always say, “YESSS! There are NUMBERS of people going to heaven and hell…and I want to do my part to make sure the NUMBERS going to heaven INCREASE…and the numbers going to hell cease!”

People matter to God–they should matter to us. I say we work and wring everything we can get out of Evangelism. Another excellent post Dave!

Anonymous said...

"Evangelism doesn't work anymore" because we focus and look at ourselves instead of focusing and looking at others.

Let me explain....
I am in the dental field and because that is what I know and do each day, I will immediately look at a person's smile when I am introduced to them. My focus turns to someone elses smile or lack of a smile.

We are Christ's ambassadors and spiritually our focus should be on others and their spiritual needs. As we look upon them in our daily walk of life what do we think or see? Our focus should be on the question of everyone we meet...do they know Christ as their Savior or are they lost and headed for Hell?

We need to get this ingrained into our very being. We are too busy showing other people our own "smiles" ...focusing on ourselves instead of needing to know the answer from others...Where are you spending your eternity?

Conclusion: Let us each focus in on others spiritual smiles and "Evangelism WILL Work"