christianyouth
Puritan Board Senior
What does Reformed Evangelism look like and how does it differ from the evangelism of the Non-Reformed Christian community?
Reformed Evangelism
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larryjf
Puritan Board Senior
In a nut shell..
Reformed Evangelism
We are sinners and we are justified only by God's grace through faith in Christ and His work (Rom 3:23-16).
Therefore, we must "repent and believe in the gospel" (Mk 1:15)
Non-Reformed Evangelism
Say this prayer after me...
My Lord and my God, have mercy upon my soul, a sinner.
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God and that He died on the cross and shed His blood for the forgiveness of my sins.
I believe Jesus rose again from the dead by the power of the Holy Ghost and sits on the right hand of God.
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus, and wash all my sins away with Your blood.
I invite you into my heart as my personal Savior, and will follow you the rest of my life.
Thank you, Jesus, for saving my soul. Amen.
when one is unsure of their salvation...
Reformed response: "examine yourself by the Scriptures and see if you are in the faith" (from 2 Cor 13:5)
Other response: "did you say the sinners prayer?"
I think this article by AW Pink really gets to the heart of it.
"Present Day Evangelism" by Arthur W. Pink
"Present Day Evangelism" by Arthur W. Pink
Sorry brothers.......
But one "mark" of Reformed evangelism, sadly is that most of the effort that is put into it is telling about how others do it all wrong....
...and not enough effort is put into "just doin' it".
"What is Reformed Evangelism"...hmmmmmm, I don't know - but I sure know it isn't this, this and this.....
There is a place for critique, but test this hypothesis: Google or look up "Reformed" and "Evangelism" together and 80% of what you will get is a bunch of bookish calvinists critcizing well-meant-but-substandard Arminian efforts.
Reformed evangelism is:
Energetic: Look at the efforts of the Puritans,
Wellgrounded in truth: Puritan theology
Bold: That Scottish Reformation guy (Knox) standing up to the Queen
It in INNOVATIVE: Carey called for voluntary associations (gasp..the first promoter of the parachurch) and Judson dressed and taught in the manner of a Buddhist monk,
It tracks people and numbers and quantifies: Mc"Cheyne had a map of everyone in his village and he charted who was open, closed indifferent to the Gospel and he prayed systematically for every person in his village yearly,
It is "ecumenical": Jonathan Edwards preached in many pulpits and called for a regular season of fasting and praying for Christians of all stripes.
But one "mark" of Reformed evangelism, sadly is that most of the effort that is put into it is telling about how others do it all wrong....
...and not enough effort is put into "just doin' it".
"What is Reformed Evangelism"...hmmmmmm, I don't know - but I sure know it isn't this, this and this.....
There is a place for critique, but test this hypothesis: Google or look up "Reformed" and "Evangelism" together and 80% of what you will get is a bunch of bookish calvinists critcizing well-meant-but-substandard Arminian efforts.
Reformed evangelism is:
Energetic: Look at the efforts of the Puritans,
Wellgrounded in truth: Puritan theology
Bold: That Scottish Reformation guy (Knox) standing up to the Queen
It in INNOVATIVE: Carey called for voluntary associations (gasp..the first promoter of the parachurch) and Judson dressed and taught in the manner of a Buddhist monk,
It tracks people and numbers and quantifies: Mc"Cheyne had a map of everyone in his village and he charted who was open, closed indifferent to the Gospel and he prayed systematically for every person in his village yearly,
It is "ecumenical": Jonathan Edwards preached in many pulpits and called for a regular season of fasting and praying for Christians of all stripes.
A5pointer
Puritan Board Sophomore
so glad you wouldn't fall into the same trap of telling what is wrong with the way one side does it
heartoflesh
Puritan Board Junior
A5pointer
Puritan Board Sophomore
Ha, touche!
Everyone's a critic....including me!
So glad you took that right, no harm intended
heartoflesh
Puritan Board Junior
Let me ask this...
How would you witness to an unbeliever knowing you only had a limited amount of time and then you would never see them again? Let's say it's on an airplane.
I've been pondering this, mostly how I would avoid popular catch phrases like "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life" or "Jesus died for your sins". What would the Reformed presentation look like?
How would you witness to an unbeliever knowing you only had a limited amount of time and then you would never see them again? Let's say it's on an airplane.
I've been pondering this, mostly how I would avoid popular catch phrases like "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life" or "Jesus died for your sins". What would the Reformed presentation look like?
Aaaarrgh..I feel sorry for those poor pagans on air planes all over the country!
No one shows much care for them at all spiritually at any other time...and then they sit down unable to move for 4 hours and some strangers starts blabbing about the 4 spiritual laws....
ANd I also feel sorry for those poor waiters trying to make ends meet who get a Chick tract when they would have much rather had a a little extra in the tip - especially since the customers were extra picky and grouchy after their Sunday morning church fix....
I am extremely evangelistic, but airplane and waitress evangelism is not the way to go.....
.... A cultivated and intentional friendship/aquaintance with unbeleivers
The ideal is NOT to have a one-shot-deal or a limited number of time in which you feel you must think of something extra ear-catching to say. The ideal is to intentionally and regularly engage unbeleivers in a sustained fashion. Then they can really see fruit instead of cheap talk.
No one shows much care for them at all spiritually at any other time...and then they sit down unable to move for 4 hours and some strangers starts blabbing about the 4 spiritual laws....
ANd I also feel sorry for those poor waiters trying to make ends meet who get a Chick tract when they would have much rather had a a little extra in the tip - especially since the customers were extra picky and grouchy after their Sunday morning church fix....
I am extremely evangelistic, but airplane and waitress evangelism is not the way to go.....
.... A cultivated and intentional friendship/aquaintance with unbeleivers
The ideal is NOT to have a one-shot-deal or a limited number of time in which you feel you must think of something extra ear-catching to say. The ideal is to intentionally and regularly engage unbeleivers in a sustained fashion. Then they can really see fruit instead of cheap talk.
elnwood
Puritan Board Junior
Does that make Ray Comfort a Reformed evangelist? He's having a huge influence in how people evangelize, Arminian or Calvinist.
heartoflesh
Puritan Board Junior
Sorry for using the airplane example. I agree with you of course about regularly engageing people in a sustained fashion as being ideal. What if this is not possible? Is there anyway to evangelize in a limited amount of time, or do only Arminians have a corner on this?
Jerusalem Blade
Puritan Board Professor
I like what Pergamum said above. It has essentially to do with the content of what is preached -- and that content is the Lord Himself and what He has done for sinners. Yes, it is also declaring the terrible state of the lost (there being different ways to present this, postmodern souls being different than modern or pre-modern, and lost "religious" than lost irreligious) and our unfitness to stand in the Judgment. Then holding up the Lord Jesus as the present Savior ready to receive all who will come to Him.
Before we planted a Reformed church here what was being preached in these parts was what we had to do to be acceptable to God, and what He required of us -- salvation was all on us, and our performance determined whether God was pleased with us or not. What was being instilled in folks was the great distance between the holy God and ourselves and the effort of self necessary to draw near to Him.
I love preaching Ephesians as the first three chapters opens the spiritual riches bestowed upon God's people -- whoever will come to Him -- and then the last three how we should conduct ourselves seeing we have been granted such a glorious status, being made part of the royal family, and brought into intimate fellowship with Him.
We are preparing to evangelize using a big net rather than a few fishing poles, giving a public and advertised lecture (the Da Vinci Code vs. the Greeks' Byzantine New Testament and the Christian faith -- still a topic of interest in this part of the world). I want to draw the interest of the Greek Cypriots because they are unevangelized, and I desire to impact the culture and not just the English-speaking foreign nationals.
I would call myself a "high Calvinist" [per a poll taken here at PB a while back] with a heart for the perishing; as the Lord filled Peter's net with fish, so will He bring into ours whomever He will, be it few or many.
The content of the Reformed gospel is dynamite -- and if we have the Holy Spirit quickening our hearts and the hearts of the hearers -- the Lord will add to the church such as should be saved. Of course the devil will not be happy, but that comes with the territory.
Before we planted a Reformed church here what was being preached in these parts was what we had to do to be acceptable to God, and what He required of us -- salvation was all on us, and our performance determined whether God was pleased with us or not. What was being instilled in folks was the great distance between the holy God and ourselves and the effort of self necessary to draw near to Him.
I love preaching Ephesians as the first three chapters opens the spiritual riches bestowed upon God's people -- whoever will come to Him -- and then the last three how we should conduct ourselves seeing we have been granted such a glorious status, being made part of the royal family, and brought into intimate fellowship with Him.
We are preparing to evangelize using a big net rather than a few fishing poles, giving a public and advertised lecture (the Da Vinci Code vs. the Greeks' Byzantine New Testament and the Christian faith -- still a topic of interest in this part of the world). I want to draw the interest of the Greek Cypriots because they are unevangelized, and I desire to impact the culture and not just the English-speaking foreign nationals.
I would call myself a "high Calvinist" [per a poll taken here at PB a while back] with a heart for the perishing; as the Lord filled Peter's net with fish, so will He bring into ours whomever He will, be it few or many.
The content of the Reformed gospel is dynamite -- and if we have the Holy Spirit quickening our hearts and the hearts of the hearers -- the Lord will add to the church such as should be saved. Of course the devil will not be happy, but that comes with the territory.
Dr. Gerstner's five s's of evangelism (following the Puritan methodology)
1) SILENCE (this is the liberal approach, they have no Gospel)
2) SACRAMENTALISM (it may be argued that most people identifying themselves as Christians are working under this approach)
3) SURRENDER (the typical modern day evangelical approach. Persuade the sinner to give up his sinful ways and (in and of his own strength) to come to Christ)
4 SHRUG (A person approaches a Calvinistic minister and says, "what must I do to be saved?". The minister replies:
"'Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved'". The man replies, 'Pastor, I've been sitting under your preaching for 20 years. And if I understand the Bible through what you are teaching, unless God opens my heart I never will believe. Now, Pastor, please, I ask you, what do I do?"................The Pastor Shrugs)
5) SEEKING (Exhort the person to seek God. That is, he should place hismself in an environment where the Gospel is set forth (Church, Christian friends, etc). He should not claim a faith he does not have. He should observe the outward observance/duties of what God commands. This way, if he does end up going to hell, he'll make the number of his sins one less. If every word comes into the judgment, the less sins the better). In all probability, God will be merciful. But not necessarily. Esau is set forth as a solemn example of a man who sought repentance with ters, but could not find it
1) SILENCE (this is the liberal approach, they have no Gospel)
2) SACRAMENTALISM (it may be argued that most people identifying themselves as Christians are working under this approach)
3) SURRENDER (the typical modern day evangelical approach. Persuade the sinner to give up his sinful ways and (in and of his own strength) to come to Christ)
4 SHRUG (A person approaches a Calvinistic minister and says, "what must I do to be saved?". The minister replies:
"'Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved'". The man replies, 'Pastor, I've been sitting under your preaching for 20 years. And if I understand the Bible through what you are teaching, unless God opens my heart I never will believe. Now, Pastor, please, I ask you, what do I do?"................The Pastor Shrugs)
5) SEEKING (Exhort the person to seek God. That is, he should place hismself in an environment where the Gospel is set forth (Church, Christian friends, etc). He should not claim a faith he does not have. He should observe the outward observance/duties of what God commands. This way, if he does end up going to hell, he'll make the number of his sins one less. If every word comes into the judgment, the less sins the better). In all probability, God will be merciful. But not necessarily. Esau is set forth as a solemn example of a man who sought repentance with ters, but could not find it
shackleton
Puritan Board Junior
Reformed evangelism...isn't that an oxymoron
J.I Packer wrote a good book called, "Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God" that is really good.
J.I Packer wrote a good book called, "Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God" that is really good.
You could ask questions like, "Do have a religious background?", "If you were to die today, would you go to heaven?", or "Do you want to learn more about God or Jesus?".
Iconoclast
Puritan Board Junior
Rick, Get into your conversation and establish that you are a bible -believer,and that a biblical view is the only viewthat gets to truth. Pick out a main event from redemptive history,ie, The flood, the exodus, Lot leaving Sodom,etc
Explain a Holy God must punish sin. In Adam all die. When God judges sin in these cases, he provides a place of safety,or a covering from the wrath,to those who obey the warning of certain judgment. [ the ark, the blood over the door, going through the Red Sea fleeing out of Sodom etc.
Show how the only place of safety is now IN Christ. Do not cover all of these examples,but focus on a couple of them. Go to clear verses that you can use to explain the gospel with. Pray for opportunities to use verses that you can explain in very plain terms.Jesus did this with Nicodemus in Jn 3,using the account in Numbers 21, the serpent being lifted up/look and live.
If your time is short,tell them about sermonaudio. If they have been reading a bible,ask how they have been searching it out. Tell them how God changed your life, by His word,and Spirit,enabling you to see divine truth.
The law leads men to Christ Gal 3:24, showing our guilt before His Holy standard.
Before you get into a long winded explanation,listen carefully to what the person offers in the way of personal history, { catholic, agnostic, cult backround} have they read a bible at all?
Like snowflakes each one is different. Ask the Lord for wisdom,and a clarity in your declaration of the Work of the Lord on the Cross.
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christianyouth
Puritan Board Senior
#3 is right on. That is the essence of repentance, a forsaking of sin and idolatry and turning to worship and serve the God who was once ignored. This is the way I evangelize, and I speak in sincerity when I tell people that if they repent and believe, they will be saved from sin and hell and be adopted into God's family.
Great responses.
Dieter Schneider
Puritan Board Sophomore
Dieter et al:
My posts above were proven correct by your link.
Of all the resources you linked, the majority are but reactionary diatribes against "modern evangelism,", i.e. negative reactions and criticisms of the efforts of others.
Few focus on positive advice about evanglism.
We are a reactionary bunch and our articles on evangelism usually merely consist of "This is what evangleism is not...it is not this..it isnot this..."
Well...what IS it
My posts above were proven correct by your link.
Of all the resources you linked, the majority are but reactionary diatribes against "modern evangelism,", i.e. negative reactions and criticisms of the efforts of others.
Few focus on positive advice about evanglism.
We are a reactionary bunch and our articles on evangelism usually merely consist of "This is what evangleism is not...it is not this..it isnot this..."
Well...what IS it
Rick - that's a great question because it gets at the heart of the evangelism discussion. There are some Reformed believers who would never "witness" - share their faith in Christ - in that context. They hold to the view that the only valid evangelism is the proclamation of the word of God by an ordained minister of the gospel. Since that usually happens from the pulpit, evangelism becomes pulpit driven. To get around this view the same people will validate the evangelism efforts of missionaries because they are ordained and sent by local churches.
Amazing Grace
Puritan Board Junior
This is becasue many suffer from what I call "Decision Phobia". Anytime a person is renewed and covnerted and says something like, "I decided to follow Christ.." Many reformed will cut them off at mid sentence. Trying to teach them theology when all they know is "I was blind and now I see"...Which is acceptable to Christ.
We should all learn a lesson from JTB(John The Baptist):
Jhn 1:15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
Jhn 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
Jhn 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, [but] grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
We are called to give witness to Him.... All that He accomplished for sinners. That is what I do...
Dieter Schneider
Puritan Board Sophomore
Well - if you want to know more you ought to study the men that God has used in the past. Are you seriously suggesting that Luther, Calvin, the Puritans, G Whitefield, J Edwards, C H Spurgeon, Lloyd-Jones can teach us nothing about evangelism? Let's go back to the Scriptures, and then see how these men were used by God. We read nothing about altar calls, decision cards, crusades, etc.
I am disappointed at the tone of your comments. What's wrong with diatribe, or being negative? The other side rejects the sovereignty of God, advocates free will and men like ... ( I shall refrain naming the most well-known 'evangelists') are semi-Pelagians, not to be confused with the Arminianism of John Wesley whose zeal would put anyone to shame!
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