Incomplete Evangelism
June 8, 2010 – 10:52 amA friend recently sent me a link to the 1040 Christianity in the New Asia website, a site promoting a documentary with the same title. It explains the incredible potential that Asian Christians have to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the unreached regions of the world.
After perusing the site I found this video on “Prophetic Evangelism” by one of the main leaders of this movement, Jaeson Ma: “Prophetic Evangelism with Van Ness Wu 吴建豪, Jaeson Ma, Ed Huang 黃立全.” I was saddened, not by their whimsical/spontaneous evangelism, but by their reliance on the Holy Spirit as a divine “8 ball” or “fortune teller” and their incomplete evangelism. I could write much about about my disagreement with their doctrine of the Holy Spirit, but the purpose of this post is to evaluate their form of evangelism.
After viewing their approach to evangelism - praying that the Holy Spirit will give them “words of knowledge” and “clues” to lead them to people - two thoughts came to mind: 1) Their hasty “do you want to accept Jesus now?” type of gospel presentation characterizes the practice of a lot of churches and individuals that reject the charismatic/3rd wave theology regarding the Holy Spirit; and 2) it has been a while since I have walked up to a complete stranger and initiated a direct, evangelistic conversation (airplane flights being the exception, because I don’t really have a choice who sits next to me).
We ought to be bold and biblical in our evangelism, allowing our view of God, sin, Jesus’ redemption, the need for repentance, etc. to shape the content and manner of our evangelism. We ought to pray that God leads us to people with whom we can share the gospel. But we need not wait for “signs” or “clues” from the Holy Spirit. Rather, we ought to share the gospel, as God gives us opportunity, wherever we are and with whomever he leads us to. The balancing side of the process is that we also ought to be strategic in our use of time and resources. The command given in Matt 28:19-20 is to “make disciples”; this takes time, effort, and diligence in following up and answering questions. This does not negate confronting strangers with the gospel, but we need to think through the implications of our form of evangelism. Are we after “professors” (those who say a prayer on the spot) or “disciples”?
Another crucial aspect that relates to the first point is the question what is the gospel? Is it simply a statement that “God loves you” followed by the question “Do you want to receive Jesus in your heart”? We must explain the full gospel as revealed in God’s Word. And that takes time and patience. Granted, we will not be able to conduct an in-depth Bible study with everyone we meet on the street. But we must not give false hope because of a prayer based on limited knowledge of God. [For an excellent resource that explains what the gospel is and how it ought to transform our lives, read Milton Vincent's A Gospel Primer.]
May we reflect the attitude of the apostle Paul: “that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people…that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life.” He concludes that “God our Savior…desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time” (1 Tim 2:1-6).
Let us hold up the God-man Jesus, pointing our neighbors, co-workers, and even strangers to His worth and their need to repent and turn to Him. And let us present the full gospel, leading them to the Savior as He is presented in the entirety of Scripture.
