The Problem With Evangelism

[FineLinen]

What do you think?

The Confessions of a Recovering Evangelist

 

[HTacianas]

What do you think?

The Confessions of a Recovering Evangelist

I leave evangelism to the evangelists.

But the writer's advice would be good for just about anyone.

 

[Tigger45]

Good article. I've learned to soften my approach over the years which makes the whole conversation much more enjoyable for the both of us.

 

[Hazelelponi]

I think it's a very well written article. And, I agree with listening..

I was watching a show where two women were talking, and one of them shared that she felt her life was meaningless.

My immediate response would be to "fix" the issue, and I would have said "your wrong, your life has meaning every day."

In the show, the listener said nothing in response, which I felt was weird. That feeling stayed with me and I wondered whether we are supposed to just let people walk away after something like that while we stay silent. Is that the definition of listening? I wondered.

In the end, the woman of course figured it out on her own - but it was a television show.

In my own relationships I always have an overwhelming need to fix everything for everyone around me. It comes I'm sure from being a single parent and trying to fill two roles, that of both father and mother. In the end I became a fixer, instead of a comforter.

Perhaps, this is a fault of evangelists. We see the problem, and we have experienced the fix, so we set out fixing instead of comforting. Perhaps my husband was a good evangelist in this respect because he allowed me to do the concluding and he would simply answer questions judiciously, allowing me to be the one to come to the conclusion...

Maybe we should all be more like that in one degree or another... let others come to conclusions, and not try so hard to fix what's broken, because in the end, it's God who fixes us.

 

[royal priest]

What do you think?

The Confessions of a Recovering Evangelist

This is a Biblical approach. The best example being Jesus' witness to the Samaritan woman in John 4.

 

[topher694]

He makes excellent points. I can think of some folks here could stand to learn from it. Actually we all could to some degree.

 

[Gordon Wright]

The trouble with listening is most people don't know how.

In infancy we learn to talk. We just sort of figure it out. Shortly thereafter we're told to shut up while big people lecture at us. Gradually it dawns on us that much of what the big people say makes no sense at all. And we notice that much of what the big people do doesn't match what they say, and that when it does match, it doesn't work.

And thus we learn not to listen.

 

[Tigger45]

I was blessed to have a father who taught me how to have a conversation with others that we might not have agreement with without getting aggravated with them.

 

[nolidad]

What do you think?

The Confessions of a Recovering Evangelist

This is not a problem with evangelism, but more so with an individual evangelist!

Evangelism is very biblical and mandated for all believers. We are all required to share the good news of Salvation in Christ! Everything this writer said is personality problems of typically immature believers and sadly of more older believers who have not yet grown up.

 

[JAL]

What do you think?

The Confessions of a Recovering Evangelist

The article offers good practical advice for human relationships but has nothing to do with biblical evangelism in the strictest sense.

What most Christians don't realize is that Scripture defines evangelism as prophetic utterance, as I've demonstrated elsewhere (see post 179 on another thread, and post 180). That's just one of the (several) reasons that Paul considered the pursuit of prophecy to be virtually chief among our priorities (1Cor 14:1).

 

[Saint Steven]

What do you think?

The Confessions of a Recovering Evangelist

Wow. What a great topic. Thanks.

I use a 50/50 rule of thumb in all my relationships.
1) Only half of the conversation time is mine. Let the other person talk.
2) I should also use half of my time to confirm, by restating what they have said, to make sure I understand them. This leaves me with about a quarter of the whole conversation time to say something that is very informed and appropriate.
3) A personal rule: I always want the other person to be smiling as we part. (whenever possible)

Does that work?

 

[Saint Steven]

The article offers good practical advice for human relationships but has nothing to do with biblical evangelism in the strictest sense.

What most Christians don't realize is that Scripture defines evangelism as prophetic utterance, as I've demonstrated elsewhere (see post 179 on another thread, and post 180). That's just one of the (several) reasons that Paul considered the pursuit of prophecy to be virtually chief among our priorities (1Cor 14:1).

I hope prophetic utterance includes prophetic listening.

 

[nolidad]

I leave evangelism to the evangelists.

But the writer's advice would be good for just about anyone.

Well as long as you know that though you may not have the gift of being an evangelist, you are commanded to evangelize.

 

[JAL]

You are commanded to evangelize.

Incorrect. See my post #10. The Great Commission was actually the Great Omission. Neither Christ nor the epistles commanded the churches to preach the gospel to the world. Rather:
(1) Christ issued this command to His appointed prophets (the Twelve).
(2) Paul issued this command to a prophet named Timothy.

So what was Paul's command to the churches? Naturally he told them to seek prophethood above all other gifts (1Cor 14:1).

Ordinary "evangelism" is many orders of magnitude less effective than real evangelism (prophecy). This is how Paul spread the gospel halfway around the planet in one short lifetime. Two thousand years later, we still can't seem to finish the job !!!!

 

[topher694]

Incorrect. See my post #10. The Great Commission was actually the Great Omission. Neither Christ nor the epistles commanded the churches to preach the gospel to the world. Rather:
(1) Christ issued this command to His appointed prophets (the Twelve).
(2) Paul issued this command to a prophet named Timothy.

So what was Paul's command to the churches? Naturally he told them to seek prophethood above all other gifts (1Cor 14:1).

Ordinary "evangelism" is many orders of magnitude less effective than real evangelism (prophecy). This is how Paul spread the gospel halfway around the planet in one short lifetime. Two thousand years later, we still can't seem to finish the job !!!!

Incorrect. It's not one or the other, it is both. Godly principles are not adversarial, they are complementary.

 

[JAL]

Incorrect. It's not one or the other, it is both. Godly principles are not adversarial, they are complementary.

No sir. You'd need to refute my claim in post 10 that evangelism is prophecy. I don't see where you've provided any scripture or reasoning to that effect.

 

[topher694]

No sir. You'd need to refute my claim in post 10 that evangelism is prophecy. I don't see where you've provided any scripture or reasoning to that effect.

No. I agree. Effective evangelism should be informed by the prophetic. But since every born-again believer is (can be) prophetic and we are all called to be disciples, I also agree with idea that the great commission applies to all of us. Both are good.

 

[Saint Steven]

Ordinary "evangelism" is many orders of magnitude less effective than real evangelism (prophecy). This is how Paul spread the gospel halfway around the planet in one short lifetime. Two thousand years later, we still can't seem to finish the job !!!!

That's interesting. Could you explain the practical how-to aspects of this prophetic evangelism. I think I know what you mean, but I'm not sure. Thanks.

 

[Saint Steven]

...you are commanded to evangelize.

Has anyone asked you for the scripture on that yet? If not, please do provided it. Thanks.

 

[JAL]

That's interesting. Could you explain the practical how-to aspects of this prophetic evangelism. I think I know what you mean, but I'm not sure. Thanks.

As immature believers, we all receive low-clarity revelation, marked by:
(1) A lack of specificity.
(2) A degree of uncertainty, i.e. less than 100% certainty.
With 100 billion souls at stake, it would be callously unprofessional of God to run evangelism on such low-quality revelation.

You ask, what is the practical how-to? That's the thing - high-quality revelation conveys those specifics.

Or maybe I can answer this way. What the church should be doing is waiting upon God - in prayer and praise - for revival and for clear revelations of His will in all church matters including evangelism.

A prophet knew (with 100% certainty) what to say, where to say it, and when to say it. That's the perfect formula for evangelism.

But more than that. The nature of the prophetic gift is to ALSO convince ("convict") the audience at 100% certainty. This means the prophet is the most effective evangelist possible.

Finally, this paradigm follows the OT military paradigm. When Israel marched into battle at less than 100% certainty - i.e. without a clear sign from heaven - she stood to lose. Waiting upon the Lord for a preconfirmation of success was known as "Inquiring of the Lord". This is PRECISELY the strategy dictating the evangelistic campaigns in Acts. Examples:
(1) The disciples waited in prayer until Pentecost, whence they saw tongues of Fire.
(2) Acts 4:30-31 we see them waiting in prayer - until an earthquake erupted!
(3) Acts 16:25-31 records a similar earthquake.
(4) Peter saw a vision in Acts 10, directing him to preach to the Gentiles.
(5) Acts 16:6-10 shows how Paul's evangelism was directed by visions and revelations from heaven.