That can be good as well. There's not just one way we should be.
Agreed. Even friendship evangelism has its place. But sadly, many churches make this their main form of evangelism. They put it as first when really, it is only a means to an end. The overall goal is to say the Gospel.
I know an example of a church that has friendship evangelism as its main form of outreach. This church does a light party and hundreds of people go to it. It is the biggest party in town. But the Gospel is not said to one person. They class the light party as a place to make friends and if we were to tell people the Gospel, it will scare them away. Especially if we are to tell people that they have sinned and fallen short of Gods standards and so therefore they need a saviour. This church measures its success by the amount of people that come and have fun. But in reality, they could have 10,000 people come, and if no one hears the Gospel, how successful were they?
And consider if you tried street evangelism in the work place you could be fired very quickly. One should just have some normal sense as to what one's approach should be in different situation.
Yip. I use that as an example in the first post. Use wisdom.
So you're using something like the Romans Road, take them step by step into discussing their state. I think though at times just talking to them that they know they're not perfect and that they've sinned most can agree with that. I'm not opposed to what you're saying but I don't always see this approach in the ministry of Jesus.
Not sure what the Roman road is. But yes, you can simply talk to people and show them that they are not perfect. But I do believe that if we take them through some of the Ten Commandments, they will see that they are not just imperfect, but that they have sinned against a Holy and Righteous God who is also just and will repay one day. If they see this, then they will see their need for a saviour.
I don't see where he took the 10 Commandments and made them all acknowledge certain things. It seems he acted that it was self evident that men are sinner's and most would know that.
The main one is the rich young ruler. He took him through some of the 10 commandments in Matthew 19:19-20. But he also showed many other people their sin.
He was the greatest example of doing this. He said to the Samaritan woman, “Go and get your husband,” when she had many husbands and the one she was with now, was not her husband. She was an adulteress. Or, when the rich young ruler said, “I'll follow you”, Jesus replies, “Sell everything you have”. Wow, how hard would that be for someone who loved their money? Jesus shows the sin again. Or the self-righteous pharisees said, “We're children of Abraham”, and Jesus says, actually you're children of Satan because you can't stop sinning. Jesus pointed out people's sins.
Infact, He even said that the world hates Him because He tells them of their evil deeds. And if we follow Jesus' example, the world will hate us too. The world will not love us. But sadly, the church wants the world to love them.
I think there's some truth to people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. If they see you're a loving person their heart might be more open to what you say.
I do agree that we are to show love to all people. The more they see we care the better. It is a witness. So, within our everyday lives, we are to be caring. That is just naturally who we are. But there is an urgency to the Gospel. We often leave it too long before we warn the other person.
If you see someone's house on fire and they are in the house, they could die any moment, it would be unloving to not tell them straight away. Likewise, we do not know when others are going to die, and so it should be of the utmost importance to tell them. By warning them, they will see that you love them. Some may scoff at you but deep down they know that you are saying the Gospel because you do not want them to go to hell. Saying the Gospel shows a person love while not saying the Gospel is not showing any love at all.
Friendship evangelism is like seeing someone in a house that is on fire and because you love them so much you want to mow their lawn to bless them first. And then, once they can see that you are a nice person, you can warn them of the fire.
Stop putting into people's minds they have a hidden agenda. If what they're doing is to help a person into salvation it is love and mercy they're showing. You're making it seem that they really don't care about the person. Not a fair assessment to make.
Jesus was straight up. He did not beat around the bush. Just like with the rich young ruler, the Samaritan woman at the well and the pharisees. He pushed the hot button by showing people's sin. And He said people would hate him for it.
Overall, there are plenty of examples where Jesus showed other their sin so that they would see their need to honour God. But there is not one biblical president where Jesus did friendship evangelism. That is, to get alongside someone and wait until they feel comfortable, and then tell them the good news.
So, if needed, such as a job interview, use relational evangelism or friendship evangelism. But try not to delay sharing the Gospel in its entirety. This is of the utmost importance. We must not delay as peoples lives are at stake.
It all has to do with the individual Evangelist. A some people can do more harm than good.
It has to do with the approach. Churches should be teaching more how to approach others and share the Gospel in a correct manner. But sadly, they miss teaching how to share the Gospel and they concentrate on teaching how to be friends with others. This bugs me because I learnt how to be friends with others when I was 5 years old.
This is an interesting thing to note. Jesus spent only a very little time with the disciples. He only spent 3 and a half years with them. Teaching them so that they would be able to share the Gospel and weather the persecution up until death. But churches these days spend a lifetime teaching others to be friends so that they will not have to face persecution when witnessing.
Jesus is our foundation. So how are we building on that foundation? Are we building on it with perishable goods or imperishable. Many build their churches with friendship. Friendships come and go. If you are lucky, it may last a lifetime. But then it perishes. So, build on the foundation with the everlasting Gospel.
Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, their work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work. If anyone’s work remains, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only as one who has escaped through fire. 1 Cor 3:12-15
Why has someone come to the church? Have they come to church for friendship, or because they have been to the foot of the cross? We can fill the churches with people who want friendship. Sadly, many churches are like this. This would be OK, if only the church would then preach the Gospel with the bad news. So, the Gospel in its fullness. But sadly, friendship evangelism churches do not want to scare away the unbeliever and so they will not point out people's sin (if they do, they skim it).
