Part Two: Two Approaches to Evangelism–But Which Is Best?
Years ago I met, in church, a woman whose husband was an atheist. He was also a very talented musician, and occasionally he was invited to play his guitar during special church functions. Understandably, this created a controversy within the body. Because of his unbelief, many people in the congregation resented his participation in church-related musicals. They thought it was an affront to God to allow an avowed atheist to participate in music designed to lead the congregation in worshipping Him. Others disagreed. They argued that allowing him to perform in church was a form of witnessing. He would develop relationships with believers and hear the gospel preached.
As the controversy intensified, the pastor and I visited the family and got to know the husband better. He was a likable guy, and as we were leaving, I invited him to have supper with me. I wanted some one-on-one time, hoping to discover the reason he was an atheist and to convince him otherwise.
This experience illustrates two approaches to evangelism. Together, they provide a witnessing format for every unbeliever you encounter—regardless of beliefs or reasons for rejecting Christianity.
The first approach is called lifestyle evangelism (see Matt. 5:16; John 13:35; Col. 4:5-6; 1 Pet. 2:12). It stresses building relationships with unbelievers in order provide witnessing opportunities. It’s a long-term commitment, one where unbelievers are able to witness Christians modeling the Christian lifestyle.
The idea is this. Because Christians can experience a profound sense of peace during life’s many crises, and because we have the power of God to deal with suffering and to resist sinful behaviors, habits, activities, and addictions, unbelievers can observe this and desire a similar relationship with Christ. Allowing the atheist to participate in church musicals so that he would have the opportunity to meet and develop friendships with Christians illustrates lifestyle evangelism.
The second approach to evangelism is referred to as proclamation. It entails verbally proclaiming gospel, law, or apologetics. In 2 Tim. 4:2 Paul exhorts believers to preach the Word. He also implicitly endorses the use of apologetics: “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (my emphasis).
The goal of proclamation is to present a clear statement of the essential Christian message to unbelievers, in particular the plan salvation. However, this goal may not be achieved on a first encounter. Often, unbelievers will raise objections that will have to be overcome before they will seriously consider a gospel presentation. This is when apologetics comes into play. The visit to the atheist at his home and my dinner invitation illustrate proclamation.
As I said in part one, however, whenever possible our evangelism should always begin with the gospel. If the unbeliever responds to the gospel, forget apologetics and pursue proclamation—continue to proclaim the “good news” of Christ. Sometimes, however, it’s not possible to start with the gospel. In many encounters with unbelievers, you’ll find yourself responding to challenges or answer questions concerning issues far removed from the gospel, and the plan of salvation will have to come later. “Why is there so much suffering if God is so good?” “Why do you Christians condemn to hell people who’ve never even heard of Jesus Christ?” (Of course this isn’t true.) “You don’t take Bible literally, do you?” And so on.
The job of apologetics is to pave the way for a presentation of the gospel. In this sense, apologetics is “pre-evangelism.” It identifies and removes intellectual obstacles that hinder someone from considering the gospel message.
Having stressed the value of apologetics in evangelism, however, there is more to engaging the closed minded than apologetics. We’ll see when and how to apply “law” in some evangelistic encounters, which, I believe, is becoming an increasingly necessary avenue of evangelism in today’s morally relativistic society.
In next week’s blog article, will explore in more detail the value and influence of lifestyle evangelism–something every Christian can engage in regardless of boldness, timidity, fear, or nervousness. In the remaining articles of this series, I’ll focus on when to use apologetics and why, when, and how to apply law. (c)