EM324 Section 2: EVANGELISTIC MODELS - Lesson Four STRATEGIES FOR EVANGELISM

Having looked at the Gospel, let's turn our attention to strategies for evangelism. God has chosen an unlikely way of declaring his message of salvation to the world. No angels or blaring trumpets or tablets of stone on mountaintops. He has deigned to use the church, made up of redeemed sinners, to fulfill his will and yet for many people the church has been the very thing that has clouded their understanding of the gospel. Rather than the means of proclaiming the gospel, it can be an impediment to some. In the 1950's, American theologian H. Richard Neibuhr suggested four models of how the church interacts with the world around it.

RICHARD NIEBUHR - FOUR MODELS

Read the four brief descriptions below and respond personally to each one.

1 Jesus VERSUS the world - This approach to evangelism means getting people to give up the secular in order to be involved in the sacred. It limits God's operation to the sacred realms. An example of this was fundamentalism where people were encouraged leave things like movies, dancing, cards, to go to revival meetings. "Come out of the world and be separate from them". Most evangelism is about "getting the lost to come to our evangelistic rallies". Have you seen this kind of model in operation? What's your reaction to it ? 6

2 Jesus OF the world - In this model, God is revealed in the culture. God is part of our culture. No need for evangelism: as long as one is a good citizen of the society they are Christian. Closest examples might be the southern USA, where being a good American citizen means calling yourself a Christian, or Muslim countries. "Evangelism" then becomes encouraging people to be good Australian citizens and working to make Australian society embrace Christian values. What's your reaction to this model?

3 Jesus ABOVE the world - Jesus is outside our realm. He is high and above our culture and we have to pray him into our world in various situations. Christ and culture intermingle but one is better than the other. Trying to drag down the sacredness of God into our ordinary life. This model supposes that places like the school, the sportsfield, the workplace, the university, the home are profane places that God doesn't ordinarily enter into. Evangelism involves trying to pray God into certain circumstances. Evangelism still involves getting unbelievers into sacred spaces where God can operate on them. Not too different to the first mode. Your reaction?

4 Christ THE TRANSFORMER OF the world - This is Niebuhr's preferred model. It recognises that God is still involved in the work of creation. He is continuing to create his purposes in this world. The Incarnation of Christ (God in human form) gives a framework for the ways God operates in the world. He ENTERS fully into our human experience and transforms culture to be more in line with his character. We need to enter into the world of those unbelievers we want to reach, just as God dared to in Christ. We transform culture by entering it and recognising Christ's prior work. Preaching the gospel (evangelism) then becomes helping unbelievers to connect with the God who has been with them all their lives.

It is easier to simply run evangelistic events in sacred spaces (church halls) and invite unbelievers to leave their world and enter ours. But biblical evangelism involves us leaving our world and entering the unbelievers' world. God is already there. We don't bring him. He is already there.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR EVANGELISM TODAY?

If evangelism is less about getting our friends to come to our so-called religious world and more about us going as Christ into our fallen world, what does this mean for evangelistic ministry today?

It will be helpful to look at a biblical model of how Christians can enter incarnationally into our unbelieving friends' worlds.

These are some biblical ways to be transformers of our world:

Godly Living Matt 5:14-16; Titus 2:1-10. Live so that the word of God will not be discredited but let your light shine. Our good works contribute to the greater effectiveness of evangelism, not just as an end in itself.

• Prayer We are invited to pray evangelistically in three ways: Matt 9:36-3 8 for more proclaimers; Eph 6:19 for the success of these proclaimers; 1 Tim 2:1-6 for the salvation of our non-Christian neighbours and leaders.
• Socialising with Unbelievers 1 Cor 10:27-1 1:1; 1 Cor 5:9-10. At the heart of Paul’s concern about eating meat offered to idols is his desire that the believers continue to eat with unbelievers. Socialising with unbelievers is an evangelistic ministry.
• Providing resources 1 Cor 9:13-14 for those committed to evangelism. The church and individual Christians must be committed to financially resourcing evangelists & missionaries
• Answering Col 4:2-6; 1 Pet 3:15. This is where the NT is most explicit about ordinary believers proclaiming the gospel. Those gifted as evangelists will proclaim in season and out, but those with different gifts are nonetheless called to arouse an interest and answer questions when raised by intrigued unbelievers.

We need to see that our whole life should be focused on living for the sake of the Gospel. This is a better approach than making people feeling guilty for not getting the words out and being evangelists as such. This was once called "Friendship Evangelism" or "Relational Evangelism". When coupled with a clear and ever-present desire to proclaim Christ or to introduce our friends to those we know with the gift of evangelism, it will have profound impact.

Sometimes Christians feel compelled to choose friendship evangelism OR proclamation. This is a mistake.

MOTIVATION FOR EVANGELISM

What will motivate us to embrace this radical lifestyle of evangelism? We looked at the potency of the Gospel last week. What is the biblical motivation for a lifestyle of evangelism?

OTHER REASONS FOR MOTIVATION

Michael Green in Evangelism Through the Local Church lists eight motivations:

• The love of God
• The command of Jesus
• The gift of the Spirit
• The responsibility of the church
• The need of humanity
• The climax of history
• The privilege of Christians
• The joy of mission