Does mass evangelism really work?

[JimB]

I read this on another thread and feel it fits here:



You have an incredible amount of experience in ministry - why not use it to build people up instead of tearing every ministry you disagree with down.

You know that I do not tear down ministries, B. That has never been my practice. But I do not blindly excuse every ministry, either.

BTW, if my PM inbox, total blessings and reps are any indication, there are a lot more supporters of my/our views in this forum than you think. Go figure!! How do you explain that if I am so out of step with the mood of this forum? Maybe someone else besides me is who is out of step?

~Jim

I am master of my unspoken words.​

 

[Always in His Presence]

Never mind

 

[JimB]

Never mind

Finally.

~Jim

​

I am master of my unspoken words.​

 

[Always in His Presence]

Finally.

Yep - it's not good to argue with someone who is completely convinced he is right.

And you are right -

at least in your own mind.

 

[Christina M]

You know that I do not tear down ministries, B. That has never been my practice.

Really?

Have you gone back read your posts of the last three years??????

You don't tear down ministries????

I know.... you're just pulling Balance's leg.

Wow.

 

[Always in His Presence]

Really?

Have you gone back read your posts of the last three years??????

You don't tear down ministries????

I know.... you're just pulling Balance's leg.

Wow.

Shhh - don't disturb the delusion.

 

[Tenebrae]

But if 100 are damaged or disillusioned in our effort to reach one soul, is that a good thing?

~Jim

People with nothing to hide hide nothing.​

Who cares about the damaged or disillusioned... Its obviously their fault for not being tough enough.

It wouldn't have anything to do with the actions of so called Christians. Its far easier to blame the disillusioned for not being able to hack it, than it is to take a long hard look at our own actions

BTW Jim, I'm scoffing at the sentiment expressed by your post, not you personally

 

[Tenebrae]

My church is doing something we call "Saved to Serve" The Saved to Serve folks gather on one saturday per month and cook a couple hundred hamburgers, and then go door to door and hand them out and ask people if we can pray with them over anything. We tell them where we are from and why we are doing it, but do not twist their arms for coming to our church or anything else. We have seen several people pray to receive Christ, a little boy be healed of leukemia, two women miraculously get jobs, a healing of ovarian cancer, repair of a mother\son relationship, a drug abusing pregnant teenager stopped using drugs, gave her life to Christ and gave birth to a healthy baby, and much more. We are handing out the burgers in a poor area that is in the neighborhood where our congregation gathers. Our mission is simply to serve with no agenda, and asking nothing in return. God is really using this.

 

[JimB]

Really?

Have you gone back read your posts of the last three years??????

You don't tear down ministries????

I know.... you're just pulling Balance's leg.

Wow.

Your tactics never change, do they, C? You are so predictable. When the debate gets tough make it personal and get the attention off the premise. This thread is not about me, it's about "Does mass evangelism really work?"

But for the record (and the newbies), since you want to drag me personally into the debate, I DO NOT TEAR DOWN PERSONALITIES. It’s the whole system of celebrity evangelism that I oppose with all my heart—i.e., mass evangelism, televangelism, slick book marketing and religious TV (note: I do not call it “Christian” TV because Christianity has to be more than just religious infomercials). Unlike you, C., what I refuse to do is blindly endorse every so-called “ministry” you encounter (so long as they happen to believe like you do). But I have never singled out an individual to criticize because I do not know their heart. If they are corrupt, I have no personal knowledge of it (except for one).

Unlike you, I have been an integral part of the whole disgusting televangelism system, first-hand and up-close. I served for a decade on the board of a now-wealthy televangelist until the whole thing disgusted me and made me feel dirty. In the process I met many of the men you defend to this day. I heard their heart and was appalled by their narcissism, love of money and lack of ethics. All you know of them is what you read in their press releases and the image they spoon-feed you on TV. With all due respect, C., IMO what you represent is just another one of their suckers; another lump of coal to fuel the fraud.

Is every ministry on TV a fraud? Of course not. Just the ones I know. But I will not, have not, named names. It’s the SYSTEM that turns my stomach. In a way, while TV preachers perpetuate the system they are also the victims of it. And it will never change, widows houses will continue to be devoured and we will have to endure one televangelist scandal after another as long as their people like you are around to enable it.

~Jim

I am master of my unspoken words.​

 

[JimB]

Yep - it's not good to argue with someone who is completely convinced he is right.

And you are right -

at least in your own mind.

Of course I am right in my own mind. If I wasn’t I might think like you do.

But let's put down our boxing gloves and stick to the topic, whatayasay.

~Jim

​

I am master of my unspoken words.​

 

[JeCrois]

This thread is not about me, it's about "Does mass evangelism really work?"

Okay. Back to the original question. Does mass evangelism really work?

The answer is YES, because even if only one person is saved due to mass evangelism than it has worked for someone. Just because it is not successful in our eyes (your eyes) does not mean it is not successful to God.

You can believe what you want. You can even think you are right...there is nothing wrong with that. But what does is matter if we're right or wrong? God doesn't care if you dislike mass evangelism or not...He is still going to use it to reach somebody.

The fact of the matter is that no matter how small the numbers of retention may be, there are still numbers to speak of. God is using these evangelists' lives, no matter how good, bad, or ugly they may be TO SAVE PEOPLE FROM HELL. Isn't that our mission?

As long as there is corruption in the world, it will leak over into the lives of those weak enough not to fight it. There is nothing you nor I can do to stop it, but there is something God can do. He can use the bad in any situation to bring light to Himself.

Stand idle and let God continue the work He has set forth.

 

[JimB]

But if, as is the case from my personal experience with a dozen or so mass “crusades”, one is benefited and five are disillusioned from wounded hopes by responding to an evangelist’s—not God’s—invitation, what good is that?

Organized mass crusades in themselves are not the problem; how we conduct them is. The whole “mass evangelism” technique is only a little over a century old and little has been done to tweak the follow-up process. It is abysmal, even at the Billy Graham Crusade level and souls are given the promises of a new life in Christ and left to founder on the rocks. Crusades teams usually leave follow-up to local ill-trained committees and churches who habitually fumble the ball. Those who have their hopes dashed by walking the aisle without subsequent guidance are, I think Jesus said (here), seven times worse off than they were before.

For that reason mass crusades, for all their superficial success, are counterproductive. Until we work on preserving the results of our efforts it would be better for the kingdom to just stop them altogether.

~Jim

I am master of my unspoken words.​

 

[pdudgeon]

if there were no absolutely follow-up from the crusades i might agree with you. But the problem is not so much the follow up as it is the personal follow thru of the one who was saved. Even in Jesus' day the crowds tapered off when the going got tough.
i wouldn't be quite so hard on those evangelists if i were you.

 

[JimB]

It’s not the evangelist, it’s the system.

A few years ago, a recovering alcoholic visited a church. He had “walked the aisle” before, even at a big (mass) evangelistic concert in which more than 100 “decisions for Christ” were tallied, he among them. The “counselor” who prayed for him took his name and address and promised to call him that week, then gave him a packet of materials. He waited for a call. It never came. He waited for material to come in the mail. It never came. He did not have the counselors phone or he would have called him, asking if he could go to church with him. He was willing to go wherever the counselor went but he was reluctant to go to church by himself because he had been told by one church that he was not welcome there (he smelled of alcohol and needed a shower).

Finally, he stumbled across a Vineyard church member who invited him to an event at the church (a film, I think) and, desperate for help, the man agreed and found an accepting fellowship who made him feel welcome. So, he came back, sat beside his friend, agreed to do some handyman work at the church, made friends, began to clean up his life, finding strength from the Body of Christ and his caring friend, and over time (even without a yes-I-see-that-hand invitation) came to faith in Christ. Today, he is remarried, holds a good job, works in the church and community, worships His Maker and is a vital member of a local community of believers.

This is the NT way of evangelism. Mass crusades (at least the way we do them) are not.

~Jim

I am master of my unspoken words.​

 

[JeCrois]

But if, as is the case from my personal experience with a dozen or so mass “crusades”, one is benefited and five are disillusioned from wounded hopes by responding to an evangelist’s—not God’s—invitation, what good is that?

Then that is not at the fault of the evangelist, but the fault of the person who rejects the Holy Spirit.

Organized mass crusades in themselves are not the problem; how we conduct them is. The whole “mass evangelism” technique is only a little over a century old and little has been done to tweak the follow-up process. It is abysmal, even at the Billy Graham Crusade level and souls are given the promises of a new life in Christ and left to founder on the rocks. Crusades teams usually leave follow-up to local ill-trained committees and churches who habitually fumble the ball. Those who have their hopes dashed by walking the aisle without subsequent guidance are, I think Jesus said (here), seven times worse off than they were before.

That passage does not suggest that anyone but the person himself allowed him to get in that state. It didn't really suggest that the fault should be placed on follow-up personnel.

For that reason mass crusades, for all their superficial success, are counterproductive. Until we work on preserving the results of our efforts it would be better for the kingdom to just stop them altogether.
~Jim

There is only so much that we can do without the Holy Spirit. There is nothing we can do when one rejects the Holy Spirit. We can do a lot, but it takes a lot more on the individual's part to change the condition of their heart.

 

[JimB]

Then that is not at the fault of the evangelist, but the fault of the person who rejects the Holy Spirit.
*****

I repeat. It’s not the evangelist; it’s the system.

Did you read my previous post?

~Jim

​

I am master of my unspoken words.​

 

[geetrue]

There is only so much that we can do without the Holy Spirit. There is nothing we can do when one rejects the Holy Spirit. We can do a lot, but it takes a lot more on the individual's part to change the condition of their heart.

Which reminds me of St James 2:26

"For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." ​

 

[JimB]

Then that is not at the fault of the evangelist, but the fault of the person who rejects the Holy Spirit.

*****

That's like saying it’s the person who drowns fault because the lifesaver was too busy trying to save the whole beach en masse?

~Jim

​

I am master of my unspoken words.​

 

[JeCrois]

That's like saying it’s the person who drowns fault because the lifesaver was too busy trying to save the whole beach en masse?

~Jim

I am master of my unspoken words.​

No it's like saying the lifesaver is throwing out many chains of salvation to everyone on the beach en masse, but it is not his fault if they don't catch it.

 

[Always in His Presence]

Here's a surprise - I completely disagree.

Mass evangelism does in fact work.

Here is why I say that:

• There is scriptural precedent for it, from Jesus own ministry, who we are to be imitators of to Acts 2, Acts 5:13-15, Acts 8:5:7, Acts 13:44-46, Acts 14:17-19.
• There is historical record of evangelist preaching to entire cities, The Wesley's in the late 1700's would draw crowds of 10,000+ is one example that comes directly to mind.
• In today's society there is obvious and prolific fruit from such ventures. As one individual I can personally name 16 or so people who accepted Christ at a crusade and credit that event for changing their lives.
• Churches that get involved in the crusades (at least from my experience), benefit greatly from them.
  

When we participated in the Billy Graham crusade, we took the instruction and the challenge seriously. We had almost a year to prepare, we went to the training sessions, prayed as a church for the lost, trained and got teams of two to reach those people whose names we were given. It set a fire in the church for the lost.

When we got the names, we went and personally visited every one of them. Some stayed out of church, some came to ours and some, we referred to other churches. Sort of like the parable of the seed.

I've never seen a positive grow from a negative - we don't build by tearing down, just like we don't encourage by being critical.

Does mass evangelism work - definitely yes. Does mass evangelism work 100% - definitely no. It takes every part of the Body of Christ working together to make it complete.

Does Sunday service as evangelism work - definitely yes. Does Sunday service as evangelism work 100% - definitely no. It takes every part of the Body of Christ working together to make it complete.

Does one on one evangelism work - definitely yes. Does one on one evangelism work 100% - definitely no. It takes every part of the Body of Christ working together to make it complete.

Does home group evangelism work - definitely yes. Does home group evangelism work 100% - definitely no. It takes every part of the Body of Christ working together to make it complete.

Does street evangelism work - definitely yes. Does street evangelism work 100% - definitely no. It takes every part of the Body of Christ working together to make it complete.

Remember this post from JeCrois that you said you agreed with?

I can go downtown in a large city and tell every person individually that stops to listen about Jesus until I'm blue in the face, but not all of them are going to take what i say to heart. I could spend months counseling with those who heard me and "converted" but nothing I do will change those who just don't have it in their heart to change. That is the Holy Spirit's job.

We can't bash one method for not yielding adequate numbers in our eyes when every other method used can have the same turn-outs.

Reaching the lost at a big crusade has nothing to do with lack of effort on our part. People can see Jesus in us if they look hard enough, but not everyone has eyes strong enough to see that. For some people it takes the means of a big event with the lights and doodads or whatever because that is all they open their eyes to see. We can show them all the Christianity love that we have to offer, but that is just not enough to spark a desire for that love in some people....different strokes for different folks.

The beauty of God is in the eye of the beholder. Some people come to see that beauty through the efforts of a private conversation with one person. Some people see the beauty in the midst of a crowd of 100,000 other people. There is no difference between the amount of good between the two.

To discredit the good that evangelism brings is wrong. To discredit the bad that it does is also wrong. To say that it is a waste when it only brings in small numbers of conversions is wrong. To say that all the people who were "disillusioned" don't matter in light of the "illusioned" is wrong. But to put it all at the fault of the evangelist who is doing what God called them to do is wrong. To call one method better than another method of reaching the lost when they both do the exact same thing is wrong.

The NT had ways of reaching people through big events. We don't know the true success of what they did in the larger scheme of things because there is no comparison between numbers. (i.e. 'This many' out of 'this many' got the real deal) So we can't say that the motive for today's big events are any different from the motives that Jesus himself had when He spoke to the multitudes or when He spoke to people one-on-one. We should step back and see that any means to see someone saved is a blessing and not a waste.
God calls all of us to spread the Truth in the best way we can. That may be on a one-on-one basis, that may be through leading worship, that may be through serving the community in different charities, or that may be through the intrinsic and careful work that evangelists put up with. God sees our strengths and talents (which He so kindly bestows us with) and calls us to use those things to glorify His name.