EVANGELISM DEFINED. Acts 1:8

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1 EVANGELISM DEFINED Acts 1:8 Recently, Debra and I had some trouble with the garbage pick-up at home. We've been with the same nation-wide company for as long as we've lived in our current residence - 23 years. But customer service issues motivated us to seek another provider. Debra remembered that a neighbor up the street had switched their service a while back - because it was considerably less expensive, just as frequent (once-a-week) and reliable. So we're all set up for new service starting tomorrow. They delivered the new container the other day and it looks just as functional as our old one. I'm excited about it! But when our neighbor first shared that information, Debra wasn't interested. We didn't realize the potential savings. We weren't at a point of need. We didn't want to go through the hassle of stopping and starting services. So while she shared good news in a non-pushy, neighborly way, we didn't make a change. But I'll tell you this - if I'm pleased with the service, I'll share the money-saving good news with everyone on my street. I'll become an evangelist for Palmetto Waste Services! "Hey Jim, be careful how you use that term evangelist!" As we said last week, the Greek term for "gospel" or "good news" was εὐαγγέλιον - from which we derive evangel, evangelist, evangelism. That word wasn't unique to the New Testament. Ancient writers like Plutarch, Homer, Josephus employed it on occasion. But the most celebrated pre-christian use of the term εὐαγγέλιον is in a letter from the Proconsul Paulus Fabius Maximus engraved in stone in Priene, a city in modern-day Turkey. Gushing effusively about Caesar Augustus, he wrote: "...and since he, Caesar, by his appearance. surpassing all previous benefactors, and not even leaving to posterity any hope of surpassing what he has done, and since the birthday of the god Augustus was the beginning of the good tidings [εὐαγγέλιον] for the world that came by reason of him As far as language goes, you can share "good news" about anything - garbage pickup service, a great new restaurant, a best-selling book - whatever! In fact, if you were to go to SimplyHired.com, a vertical search engine for jobs, and look for openings containing the keyword evangelist you'll find more than 600 matches and none will be for churches. Thanks to Guy Kawasaki - the first lead evangelist at Apple products, evangelist is now a secular, mainstream job title.

2 But while Jesus, the Apostles, and the biographers of Jesus used a term already common in their culture, they repurposed it - investing it with new meaning and placing an unprecedented emphasis on it. They used εὐαγγέλιον in reference to the greatest news ever told the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus and the implications for forgiveness from sin, reconciliation with God, and a foretaste of the coming kingdom. We showed last week that it's every believer's privilege to communicate, propagate, and celebrate this good news. When we do, we become εὐαγγελιστάς (evangelists) and what we're doing is "evangelism." Among Jesus last words on earth to his followers was the simple directive: "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. (Acts 1:8) Some people tremble at that. They protest: But I'm not an extrovert or I don't want to be lumped in with some weird stereotypes" or "I'm not good with words" or "I don't want to look stupid" or "I'm afraid they'll ask me a question and I'll not know the answer!" Maybe that's why, according to a Barna study, only 55% of Christians believe it's their responsibility to evangelize and according to Campus Crusade for Christ, only 2% of professing Christians share their faith regularly. But the call to bear witness for Christ is extremely egalitarian across the board - regardless of age, race, or gender. It doesn't matter your station in life, your profession, your Meyers-Briggs personality evaluation, your love language, or your favorite color. All are called to share the good news. So, let's explore a simple definition of evangelism. Author and church planter J. Mack Stiles suggests: "Evangelism is teaching the gospel with the aim to persuade." There's no evangelism without words, and the most important use of words in evangelism is teaching. Seeing the crowds as sheep without a shepherd, Jesus' first act of compassion was teaching. Absolutely essential, it reflects the pattern of the Bible itself. God uses the words of the Bible to reveal salvation to us. "If you do not know how to teach the gospel, you may not truly understand it. And if you do not understand it, you may not be a true Christian." (Stiles, p. 30) "Preach the gospel. And when necessary use words." That quote is often attributed to Francis of Assisi. There are only two things wrong with it. First of all,

3 Francis never said it. None of his disciples, none of his early or late biographers have these words coming from his mouth. It doesn't show up in any of his writings. The closest comes from his Rule of 1221, Chapter XII on how the Franciscans should practice what they preached. Their deeds should match their words. And secondly, he didn't practice it. Francis spent a great deal of time using his words when he preached, sometimes preaching in up to five villages a day, often outdoors. In the country, Francis often spoke from a bale of straw or a granary doorway. In town, he would climb on a box or up steps in a public building. He preached to... any who gathered to hear the strange but fiery little preacher from Assisi. He was sometimes so animated and passionate in his delivery that his feet moved as if he were dancing." (Mark Galli, Francis of Assisi and His World) Duane Liftin, president emeritus of Wheaton College, recently addressed the trouble with this preach/practice dichotomy in an important article. Of preaching the Gospel indeed, he explains, "It's simply impossible to preach the Gospel without words. The Gospel is inherently verbal, and preaching the Gospel is inherently verbal behavior." And the deed proclamation of the Gospel is not biblical either. Paul asks the Church at Rome (Romans 10:14): "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?" Evangelism is teaching the gospel. The gospel message answers 4 big questions: Who is God? Creator, loving, infinite wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, truth Why are we in such a mess? Image bearers; willful, rebellious sinners; Adam fell What did Christ do? Son of God/man; perfect life, sacrificial death, resurrection How can we get back to God? Recognize Jesus as God; repent; receive; resolve While we tell the story, we have an aim - realizing that everyone to whom we witness has one of two destinies. When we talk, we need to remember that people need more than data transfer - they need us to be compassionate, understanding, and loving. Remember, we are aiming at a target. We want to see people translated from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of Light, from bondage to freedom. Keeping that in mind helps us know which battles to pick and

4 which fights to avoid. We don't want to just win an argument and lose the confidence of the person with whom we're talking. We want them to feel safe talking serious stuff with us. The next word is persuade. The Apostle Paul wrote: "Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others" (2 Cor. 5:11). But persuading is not manipulating. In the business world, sales people sometimes employ manipulative tactics like the assumptive close. That's where you act like the prospect has already decided. Here are three examples: "When should we get started on implementation?" "What delivery date would you like?" "Which package are you going with?" But this often comes across as pushy or self-serving. I've observed over the years that we Reformed types err on the opposite side of the spectrum when we engage in personal evangelism - realizing the sovereignty of God in salvation. We are so "not pushy" that we're often reluctant to even try to "close the deal." We seem to have a hard time saying something like: "Knowing what I've shared with you about this Good News, and the genuine invitation to all who will believe, is there anything that prevents you from taking that step of faith right now?" It seems we're good at sowing the seed, but we often leave it up to others to reap the harvest. You might be surprised after you've presented the gospel at how ready some people actually are. Our neighbor is a wonderful person, but she wasn't a great evangelist for her garbage pick-up service. Why? Because she really didn't try to persuade Debra to act or even think further about it. She just related her own experience. Sure, that planted a seed, but it didn't reap a harvest. Without being pushy or manipulative, we should try to persuade, and not just hope that someone else will "close the deal." We should start feeling comfortable with the phrase: "What prevents you from taking this step of faith right now?" But persuading is not manipulating. We can't convert anyone. That's the work of the Holy Spirit alone. Remember, no one is born a Christian, but all believers are converts. Conversion is not a function of your parent's religion, the church you attend, or your country of origin. It is the work of God in a person that is

5 evidenced by a conscious, genuine faith in Jesus. Faith is a gift that only God gives. So the evangelist should pray that God would grant the gift of saving faith to those whom we engage with the gospel. Guy Kawasaki actually attended the Billy Graham School of Evangelism before writing his book "Selling the Dream." His job at Apple was to get software developers to design programs to be compatible with Apple products. He wasn't just a salesman, but an evangelist. Look at this contrast between an evangelist and a corporate evangelist. You can see how Kawasaki took New Testament concepts about sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and applied them to selling a dream. Retailers love for their clients to become evangelists for their products. Here's the progression they'd like to see - customers climbing the loyalty ladder: This is what the church needs - people putting their reputation on the line to tells others about Jesus Christ; people persuading others; people feeling responsible for the continued growth of the church. Ignoring evangelism will undermine the vitality of this church - or any church. Failing to witness about the saving, life-changing power of Jesus Christ is a method of "assisted suicide" for any congregation. It makes sense to conduct this great enterprise in the context of a supportive local congregation where there is accountability, encouragement, equipping, mutual celebration, and tight-knit community achieved through shared experiences in intense situations.

6 I want to pump up your confidence in the gospel - not in personalities, entertainment, or gimmicks. I want to see a gospel camaraderie grow among members of this congregation, so that we'll pull together as one, in the same direction, for the glory of God, bearing witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm reminded of a brief conversation the celebrated evangelist D. L. Moody allegedly had with a lady who challenged his style of outreach. Mr. Moody, I don t like the way you do evangelism! Well, ma am, let me ask you, how do you do it? Moody asked. She replied, I don t! Moody responded, Well, I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it! May God help us to have more enthusiasm for evangelism and the gospel than for the latest, greatest restaurant in town, our favorite college football team, opening day of hunting season, or our pet political perspective. Jesus said: "You will be my witnesses!"