Why Evangelism?
By Rev. Brent La Prince Edwards
Copyright 2014 Brent La Prince Edwards. All Rights Reserved
Evangelism is of utter importance to the Church of Jesus Christ. Without evangelism the Church will have no future succession leadership when we who serve as clergy and lay persons of our congregations are no longer on the scene. Foremost, souls will continue to be lost and the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ will not make the impact he intended for a lost, dying world full of pain.
Without evangelism who will be the future bishops, presiding elders, pastors, clergy, laity, officers and members of our congregations when we are no longer around? Who will carry on the work of ministry when we are gone? Without evangelism how will we positively impact our world in arenas of social justice, politics, economics, education, health care, psychology and life itself? To deny or neglect evangelism is to forsake wisdom!
Evangelism is the life-blood and the chief reproductive catalyst of the Church of Jesus Christ. It is the first assignment given to the First Century Christian believers and to all forthcoming generations by Christ to save souls and make disciples. (Matthew 28: 18-20) A New Testament passage found in James 5:20 shares with us the deep importance and impact of evangelism.
"You should know that whoever brings back (converts) a sinner from wandering will save the sinner's soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins." James 5:20 -The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha
In light of this passage, it's interesting to know that death is often limited as being defined as physical only. But saving a soul from death not only implies eternal separation from God but can also be applied to death in other aspects of our being such as living circumstances, quality of life, psychology, mental health, economic health, self esteem, and other ways people can perish before the demise of the physical body. The Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a liberating message and has the power to bring hope into dark and obscure places causing the very lives of people to be elevated to a better way of living and life! As the passage in James tells us, the Gospel can save souls from death and not only this but also cover a multitude of sins!
As a former health care clinician in the departments of mental health and social services, I was responsible for caring for persons who were substance abusers with diverse mental illnesses and also for adolescents who were considered BEH youth. (Behaviorally Emotionally Handicapped) While many of the cases I dealt with had their ties to some chemical imbalance of sorts, I also noticed from a spiritual point of view there were countless of clients I dealt with who were suffering from years of unresolved guilt. Such was the guilt of things gone wrong in the past due to some trespass, violation or sin. Such guilt has paralyzed many and have kept them from moving forward with their lives.
Being government facilities, on the job we were not allowed to discuss spiritual issues. Thus, in addition to providing professional care, I couldn't bring in the spiritual component unless they somehow came to one of our worship services. Let it be known that I believe, teach, respect and honor obedience to professional boundaries. Although I've had professional training in different areas of my specialty, I still believe and teach the importance and power of doing professional referrals when we aren't qualified or have the credentials to address certain situations. However, for insight purposes, in my years of ministry to hundreds perhaps thousands of persons whom many may consider a nuisance to society, I've noticed that whenever persons were set free from the guilt of the past they were liberated to move forward with their lives. Burdens lifted! This indeed is the power of the Gospel! It covers, washes away and annihilates a multitude of sins bringing the recipient new life!
Nevertheless, the passage in the New Testament book of James tells us the powerful impact of the Good News of the Gospel and motivates us to evangelize. GOD LOVES PEOPLE and Jesus Christ has commanded us to not only win souls for him but also teach and train them how to have a better quality of life by following him as disciples. Thus, we are not only called to become disciples but also to become disciple makers! Wow!
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and , Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.- Matthew 28:18-20 KJV
In obedience to the Great Commission of Christ, one of the chief assignments given to all AME Churches within the Mission, Vision, Purposes and Objectives of the Church via The Doctrine and Discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, 2012, is to “Seek out and save the lost” through continuing programs to:
However, as wonderful and needful as these programs are THEY CAN NOT BE IMPLEMENTED WITHOUT PEOPLE! It takes people to do ministry and thus, we must evangelize! If the Church fails to evangelize there will be no persons available to carry out the vision.
Evangelism must now become a priority in our churches because faith and trust in Christianity and organized religion has decreased at least by 60% since the 1970's up until now. With the growing trends of pop culture, the New Age movement, philosophies, new spiritualities, the diminishing trust in church leaders, the drastic change and evolution of morals and values now paramount in our day, the Christian church has so much more to compete with than decades gone by. In our own backyard, many of our AME pews are thinning out with a large percentage of persons between the ages of 18-40 missing and leaving to other denominations, faiths and some not attending anyone's church at all. Therefore, how do we successfully take an Ancient Message to a modern generation? In spite of all our modern technology, PEOPLE ARE STILL SPIRITUALLY HUNGRY and often find themselves seeking answers from strange fountains of water.
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in the later times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.” - I Timothy 4:1, The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha
Nevertheless, in spite of all that's going on around us we can still rejoice as a very familiar anonymous quote recites, "It ain't over till it's over!" We rejoice all hope is not lost because the Scripture promises us before the end of time the Gospel of Jesus Christ will cover the earth! I believe in the midst of our struggles there yet remains a great revival that will break forth in the Church of Jesus Christ!
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." - Matthew 24:14 KJV
However, in spite of this precious promise by Christ, still we must first go back to making evangelism a priority. Historically, through the evangelistic teaching, methods and efforts of John and Charles Wesley, through the early Methodist circuit riders, as well the evangelistic efforts of Bishops Richard Allen, Morris Brown and so many others, the Methodist movement and the AME Church were once the fastest growing evangelistic efforts on the planet! With all the modern technology we have they didn't have, simply imagine what we through evangelism could accomplish today? It's time for the Church to get back to evangelism!
Many congregations place evangelism on the back burner because paying bills and church assessments take top priority. However, always remember it takes people to pay bills. Want to see church bills paid? Bring in the people! An anonymous cartoonist said it this way,
"God calls us to evangelism.......... and the bank that holds our mortgage has mentioned it too!"
Ha! I found this so amusing but yet so insightful. It takes people to pay bills. Another sub reason to evangelize although money is not the chief aim but rather the saving of lives. Yet let us remember in the words of a great AME preacher, "God will not let His work be a spiritual success and yet a financial failure." Wherever there is a move of God He always provides!
"Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles; feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need." - Acts 4: 34-35. KJV
Bottom line: when we obey the Great Commission of Christ to evangelize God will take care of His own. Always remember, it takes people to pay bills!
Finally, if we intend to make evangelism a priority in our congregations, there are three things we must have for such to work. Dr. Billy Hanks, Jr., president of Operation Multiplication which is an organization that trains churches how to grow through discipleship and disciple making has great insight on this. Like a baby grand piano with three legs there are three elements a church must have to remain healthy, grow and function. These are preaching (proclamation), teaching, (information), and training. (application). If any one of these elements are missing from a congregation that congregation will suffer loss. Many of our churches get lots of preaching and teaching. Now we must capitalize on training. As members of the Second Episcopal District Evangelism team, along with preaching and teaching we are now ready to provide the evangelism training we need so vision can become reality. With God's help and our continued support of each other, never again will pastors have to report zero conversions or zero accessions during any annual conference reports.
Therefore, why evangelize? The answer is simple. It's Heaven's priority and our lifeblood. Be encouraged to pursue evangelism today. Let the training begin!
_______________________________
Copyright 2014 Brent La Prince Edwards. All Rights Reserved
Evangelism is of utter importance to the Church of Jesus Christ. Without evangelism the Church will have no future succession leadership when we who serve as clergy and lay persons of our congregations are no longer on the scene. Foremost, souls will continue to be lost and the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ will not make the impact he intended for a lost, dying world full of pain.
Without evangelism who will be the future bishops, presiding elders, pastors, clergy, laity, officers and members of our congregations when we are no longer around? Who will carry on the work of ministry when we are gone? Without evangelism how will we positively impact our world in arenas of social justice, politics, economics, education, health care, psychology and life itself? To deny or neglect evangelism is to forsake wisdom!
Evangelism is the life-blood and the chief reproductive catalyst of the Church of Jesus Christ. It is the first assignment given to the First Century Christian believers and to all forthcoming generations by Christ to save souls and make disciples. (Matthew 28: 18-20) A New Testament passage found in James 5:20 shares with us the deep importance and impact of evangelism.
"You should know that whoever brings back (converts) a sinner from wandering will save the sinner's soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins." James 5:20 -The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha
In light of this passage, it's interesting to know that death is often limited as being defined as physical only. But saving a soul from death not only implies eternal separation from God but can also be applied to death in other aspects of our being such as living circumstances, quality of life, psychology, mental health, economic health, self esteem, and other ways people can perish before the demise of the physical body. The Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a liberating message and has the power to bring hope into dark and obscure places causing the very lives of people to be elevated to a better way of living and life! As the passage in James tells us, the Gospel can save souls from death and not only this but also cover a multitude of sins!
As a former health care clinician in the departments of mental health and social services, I was responsible for caring for persons who were substance abusers with diverse mental illnesses and also for adolescents who were considered BEH youth. (Behaviorally Emotionally Handicapped) While many of the cases I dealt with had their ties to some chemical imbalance of sorts, I also noticed from a spiritual point of view there were countless of clients I dealt with who were suffering from years of unresolved guilt. Such was the guilt of things gone wrong in the past due to some trespass, violation or sin. Such guilt has paralyzed many and have kept them from moving forward with their lives.
Being government facilities, on the job we were not allowed to discuss spiritual issues. Thus, in addition to providing professional care, I couldn't bring in the spiritual component unless they somehow came to one of our worship services. Let it be known that I believe, teach, respect and honor obedience to professional boundaries. Although I've had professional training in different areas of my specialty, I still believe and teach the importance and power of doing professional referrals when we aren't qualified or have the credentials to address certain situations. However, for insight purposes, in my years of ministry to hundreds perhaps thousands of persons whom many may consider a nuisance to society, I've noticed that whenever persons were set free from the guilt of the past they were liberated to move forward with their lives. Burdens lifted! This indeed is the power of the Gospel! It covers, washes away and annihilates a multitude of sins bringing the recipient new life!
Nevertheless, the passage in the New Testament book of James tells us the powerful impact of the Good News of the Gospel and motivates us to evangelize. GOD LOVES PEOPLE and Jesus Christ has commanded us to not only win souls for him but also teach and train them how to have a better quality of life by following him as disciples. Thus, we are not only called to become disciples but also to become disciple makers! Wow!
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and , Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.- Matthew 28:18-20 KJV
In obedience to the Great Commission of Christ, one of the chief assignments given to all AME Churches within the Mission, Vision, Purposes and Objectives of the Church via The Doctrine and Discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, 2012, is to “Seek out and save the lost” through continuing programs to:
- Minister to the spiritual, social and physical development of all people
- Serve the needy
- Encourage all members to become involved in all aspects of church training
- Make available God's biblical principles
- Spread Christ's liberating Gospel
- Provide continuing programs to enhance the entire social development of all people
- Train in christian discipleship, leadership, current teaching, methods and materials, the history and significance of the AME Church
- To teach God's biblical principles
- To Encourage social development to which all should apply to daily living (1)
However, as wonderful and needful as these programs are THEY CAN NOT BE IMPLEMENTED WITHOUT PEOPLE! It takes people to do ministry and thus, we must evangelize! If the Church fails to evangelize there will be no persons available to carry out the vision.
Evangelism must now become a priority in our churches because faith and trust in Christianity and organized religion has decreased at least by 60% since the 1970's up until now. With the growing trends of pop culture, the New Age movement, philosophies, new spiritualities, the diminishing trust in church leaders, the drastic change and evolution of morals and values now paramount in our day, the Christian church has so much more to compete with than decades gone by. In our own backyard, many of our AME pews are thinning out with a large percentage of persons between the ages of 18-40 missing and leaving to other denominations, faiths and some not attending anyone's church at all. Therefore, how do we successfully take an Ancient Message to a modern generation? In spite of all our modern technology, PEOPLE ARE STILL SPIRITUALLY HUNGRY and often find themselves seeking answers from strange fountains of water.
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in the later times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.” - I Timothy 4:1, The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha
Nevertheless, in spite of all that's going on around us we can still rejoice as a very familiar anonymous quote recites, "It ain't over till it's over!" We rejoice all hope is not lost because the Scripture promises us before the end of time the Gospel of Jesus Christ will cover the earth! I believe in the midst of our struggles there yet remains a great revival that will break forth in the Church of Jesus Christ!
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." - Matthew 24:14 KJV
However, in spite of this precious promise by Christ, still we must first go back to making evangelism a priority. Historically, through the evangelistic teaching, methods and efforts of John and Charles Wesley, through the early Methodist circuit riders, as well the evangelistic efforts of Bishops Richard Allen, Morris Brown and so many others, the Methodist movement and the AME Church were once the fastest growing evangelistic efforts on the planet! With all the modern technology we have they didn't have, simply imagine what we through evangelism could accomplish today? It's time for the Church to get back to evangelism!
Many congregations place evangelism on the back burner because paying bills and church assessments take top priority. However, always remember it takes people to pay bills. Want to see church bills paid? Bring in the people! An anonymous cartoonist said it this way,
"God calls us to evangelism.......... and the bank that holds our mortgage has mentioned it too!"
Ha! I found this so amusing but yet so insightful. It takes people to pay bills. Another sub reason to evangelize although money is not the chief aim but rather the saving of lives. Yet let us remember in the words of a great AME preacher, "God will not let His work be a spiritual success and yet a financial failure." Wherever there is a move of God He always provides!
"Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles; feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need." - Acts 4: 34-35. KJV
Bottom line: when we obey the Great Commission of Christ to evangelize God will take care of His own. Always remember, it takes people to pay bills!
Finally, if we intend to make evangelism a priority in our congregations, there are three things we must have for such to work. Dr. Billy Hanks, Jr., president of Operation Multiplication which is an organization that trains churches how to grow through discipleship and disciple making has great insight on this. Like a baby grand piano with three legs there are three elements a church must have to remain healthy, grow and function. These are preaching (proclamation), teaching, (information), and training. (application). If any one of these elements are missing from a congregation that congregation will suffer loss. Many of our churches get lots of preaching and teaching. Now we must capitalize on training. As members of the Second Episcopal District Evangelism team, along with preaching and teaching we are now ready to provide the evangelism training we need so vision can become reality. With God's help and our continued support of each other, never again will pastors have to report zero conversions or zero accessions during any annual conference reports.
Therefore, why evangelize? The answer is simple. It's Heaven's priority and our lifeblood. Be encouraged to pursue evangelism today. Let the training begin!
_______________________________
- The Doctrine and Discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Church 2012,The Mission, Vision, Purposes and Objectives of the Church, Ed Compilation Committee, Rev. Johnny Barbour, Jr., Publisher, AMEC Sunday School Union, Nashville, Tenn, 2014,13.