Recovering our Evangelical Zeal
By Pastor Bill Crabtree | Silverdale Luthern Church
Many have written on evangelism. I wonder how many folks reading just the title of this blog have already bailed.
There certainly is much confusion about what evangelism is. In short, evangelism is proclaiming the Good News of the event and significance of Jesus the Christ. Whether we recognize it or not, we “do” evangelism every Sunday. We believe we all need to be “evangelized” all the time, but certainly on Sunday morning. Hearing and receiving the evangelion—the Good News—is not a once-and-done event, but a constant need.
Nevertheless, evangelism does encompass sharing the Good News with those who haven’t received it or don’t believe it. Given the marked decline of Christianity in the US, we need to ask why we have lost our motivation to evangelize. Although there are many reasons for the rapid decline of Christianity and my own denomination, a lack of interest in evangelism must be one of them.
Why has speaking of evangelism become so unpopular and our motivation to share our faith waned? In this short blog, I propose four reasons and one possible way forward.
Four Reasons Evangelism Has Fallen on Hard Times
1. We Have Made a Mess of It
The first reason is that many Christians have made a big mess of how they share the faith. The “bullhorn” people still harangue the public at large events, while others try to scare and intimidate people into “conversion.” I suppose fear of “burning in hell” might cause someone to look to Jesus, but I would hope “fire insurance” is not our primary motivation for sharing the Gospel. This approach has given evangelism a bad name and sent many Christians running from it.
2. The Legacy of Cultural Imperialism
Another ding against evangelism is historical: In many instances, the Christian faith was spread alongside a specific dominant culture. To become Christian, people were often expected to give up their own heritage.
In other words, missionaries did not just preach the core Gospel—what I call “the goods”—but wrapped it in a particular culture that ultimately decimated indigenous traditions.
Of course, the core Gospel will naturally change aspects of any society it enters. However, failing to distinguish the Gospel from human culture has prevented indigenous communities from applying Christ’s message directly to their own lives. Instead, their original cultures were simply replaced or belittled. Because of this, many people today want nothing to do with evangelism because they see it as synonymous with colonization.
3. The Legacy of the “Decision”
The third reason is the legacy of what is sometimes called the Great Awakening. Statistically, this era brought a huge increase in people becoming Christians and attending worship in the US. Revival preachers convicted people and called them to “take Jesus as one’s personal savior.”
The goal of this kind of evangelism was to get someone to surrender to Jesus—to make a decision. From a Lutheran perspective, we are nervous about equating saving faith with a human decision. Regardless of theology, when the goal of evangelism becomes “converting” someone, it quickly starts to look like manipulation. This, too, has sent many running.
4. The Challenge of Pluralism
The final, and perhaps biggest, reason evangelism has fallen on hard times is the core assumption that goes along with the venture: that people need Jesus for life and salvation. In our modern, pluralistic world, this presupposition is offensive to many.
You mean Jesus is the only way? You mean my children, spouse, or friends who are not Christian will “perish” if they do not know Christ? What about all the other religions? Isn’t it arrogant and insensitive to think all those people are lost?
Our pluralistic views, whether well-intentioned or not, have certainly lessened our felt need to engage in evangelism. The motivation to share the Goodnews dwindles when we adopt the belief that there are “many ways to God.” Bottom line: if there are numerous ways to God, the need to share the Good News is greatly diminished.
A Matter of Direction: A Way Forward
There are many other reasons our motivation for evangelism has been reduced to a trickle. Nevertheless, is there a way forward? Many have tried to respond, and here is my best go.
My answer has to do with a matter of direction.
Almost always, the focus and direction of religion is from humans to God. However one conceives of the divine, the direction is almost always from us. The focus is on our move, either upward, inward, or outward. We do stuff to get God to do something or we work to ascend into the divine realm and move God or the gods for a favorable outcome.
Under this model and direction, a person needs to accept or decide for Jesus so that God will allow them into heaven. The focus is entirely on our doing so God will do something for us. Yet, what if true Christianity is a complete change of direction? What if the direction and focus of evangelism could be reversed?
Handing Over the Goods
What if our focus in evangelism was simply giving people a promise of God’s forgiveness, mercy, and love in Christ, rather than trying to get them to do something so God will do something for them? What if evangelism was understood to be what it actually means: just handing over the promise of the Good News of Jesus? What if the focus of evangelism is giving a gift to each person rather than worrying about what God will do?
When it comes to what God will do with a person’s reception of that Word and Goodnews, shouldn’t we leave that up to God? Don’t we want people to live every day with a promise of God’s enduring, all-encompassing mercy and goodness? This “living with a promise” is my motivation for telling others what God did and does in Jesus Christ.
For example, I’m bold to say:
- I think a Muslim needs Jesus’ promise and assurance of forgiveness because living under the law and pressure to surrender to Allah with no certainty of one’s salvation is a crushing load.
- I think those practicing Eastern religions need the promise of Jesus because trying to navigate endless cycles of rebirth, striving for enlightenment, or overcoming bad karma by your own strength is an exhausting burden.
- I think those practicing ancestral worship need the promise of Jesus because the constant pressure to appease spirits, fear of generational curses, or performing endless rituals to secure the favor of ancestors is a oppressive weight.
- I believe an agnostic needs Jesus because living with no confidence of who we are, God’s love, care, and intimate involvement in one’s life is lonely and hopeless.
- I want to share the goods with those who have been crushed by the “shoulds” and “musts” of the law (whether from inside or outside the church—whether Biblical expectations or societal) so they can live free from the law’s accusation.
- Yes, I want to share the good news of the Gospel, so everyone will have a promise to hold onto during tragedy and the brokenness of the world.
- I want to share the Gospel with those who are trying to figure out life by reason alone and from what one observes around them in the world because this quest is a futile enterprise. I want to share the Gospel because people need the proclaimed revelation of God in Christ to break into our searching and struggle. What a joy it is to live life under the promise of God’s goodness in Christ.
Am I saying people are fine now and in the afterlife without Jesus? No. I’m saying I am going to leave that to God. Yes, there is condemnation and judgment in our scriptures at times for those who reject Jesus. But again, our focus should be on sharing the Good News.
God Will Be God
The direction of evangelism, and the Gospel itself, is from God to us. God will be God. Our focus should simply be telling people that God has come to us with a promise in Jesus. It is a promise that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us; He died for our sins and was raised to make us right. (Romans 4)
Giving these “goods” to people is where our passion needs to be. It enables people to live with hope in the here and now, resting on the promise that “even though we die, yet shall we live.”
Maybe this is the way forward. It recovers the vital need for proclamation while taking our pluralistic world seriously, and it stops short of putting ourselves in the judgment seat.
To say it one more time: “evangelism” is good news from God to us. It is, after all, why we show up to worship each week to receive the Word and Sacrament. This handing over of the goods in Word and Sacrament is what keeps us believing, serving, and living with hope. All evangelism really is, is sharing what we receive daily and on Sundays with others.
Bottom line: I want people to have and live with the same promise I’ve received in Christ Jesus. This promise gives a meaning and richness to life that can be found nowhere else.
