Evangelistic Purity

..... As discussed in an earlier posting, God is the senior partner in evangelism and we are by far the junior partners, so let’s explore a further dimension of this partnership. In addition to the need for focus in our gospel presentation, there is a need for purity in the message itself. Jesus said that anyone who is not with Him is against Him, and those who are not gathering with Him are scattering abroad (Matthew 12:30). And this has a particular application in presenting the gospel message:

.... "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect."

(1 Corinthians 1:17)

.... In modern times it has become customary to mix a gospel presentation with logic, philosophy, psychology, scientific or archeological evidence, or other forms of worldly wisdom, though Paul expressly warned us not to do this. In such cases, we might expect God to honor the preaching anyway for the sake of the gospel that was included, but in fact the opposite is true. Because of the worldly wisdom we have mixed in, the preaching of the cross will be no effect instead. In other words, no one will be saved through hearing a message of this sort (Romans 1:16). It’s not that those other forms of wisdom are more powerful than the gospel; but rather, it's that the power of the gospel is in it’s purity.

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.... As an example of a message that is mixed with worldly wisdom, you may have heard a mathematical approach to evangelism called ‘Pascal’s Wager’. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) examined all the possible responses to the gospel and their consequences. Basically, he stated that if God really exists and you believe in Him, you win everything; but if He didn’t exist and you believed, you lose nothing. Therefore, running the odds as a Las Vegas style bet, the safest response was to believe in Him.

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.... As one may readily see, ‘hedging our bets’ is anything but a faith response to the gospel, and the gospel is the power of God to salvation for the one who believes (Romans 1:16). In this example, the gospel has been mixed with worldly wisdom so it will be ineffective for the listener’s salvation. Even if they ‘bet on God’ they will remain unsaved:

.... "Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame."'

(1 Peter 2:6)

.... Or perhaps you’ve heard similar logic through a popular catch-phrase: "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Clever sayings like these seem to offer the listener an intellectual appeal for believeing the gospel:

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.... "You should believe the gospel because it’s the ‘wise’ thing to do. Your friends won’t laugh at you that way. They’ll think you're really smart." But an intellectual response is not a faith response either, so a person responding intellectually will remain unsaved as well (1 Corinthians 1:18-25). And arguments based on ‘scientific support’ fall into a similar category.

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.... Or perhaps an evangelist may preach the gospel, but at the same time he'll introduce the listener to Christian psychological counselling in order to address their personal problems. In so doing he may explain that "Sometimes these things take a while." But this whole approach betrays his lack of confidence that the gospel itself is able to address their woes:

.... "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

(2 Corinthians 5:17)

.... Either we believe that God transforms us through receiving Jesus Christ, or we don’t; either we believe Him or we’re calling Him a liar (1 John 5:10). Has God’s arm been shortened? Has He spoken, and He is not able to bring it to pass? Why then would we not trust Him to fulfill His word? Because faith is the response He requires, and this means we must believe with all of our heart (Hebrews 11:6; Romans 10:9).

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.... In each of those examples, an evangelist’s own doubt is being revealed. They are hedging their bets every bit as much as Paschal, but in the opposite direction. And in truth, deep inside, most of them are probably ashamed of the gospel. They are afraid that people will laugh at them for believing; they are ignorant of the true power that the gospel of Jesus Christ contains (1 Corinthians 1:18). Yet a true evangelist would answer them by saying:

.... "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek."

(Romans 1:16)

We will continue this discussion in our next lesson. To proceed to the next lesson, click here

Daily Bible Reading: Mark 12