I am kissing relational evangelism goodbye.
Here are three reasons.
I am kissing relational evangelism goodbye.
Here are three reasons:
The Bible primarily presents proclamation that creates relationships.
When Jesus was raised from the grave–He expected the logical and biblical next step would be preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.
Luke 24:46–48
Jesus commissioned the disciples to be witnesses in Acts 1. The Apostles told their persecutors and accusers they could not be silent (Acts 4:19–20).
Paul regarded a Christian who was silent about the Gospel to be ashamed of the Gospel (Romans 1:16).
The command of Jesus, the example of the Apostles, and the expectation of Scripture is proactive verbal witness to the life, death, resurrection, and return of Jesus, God’s Chosen King.
The proclamation of the Gospel creates relationships. Jesus proclaimed, and people gathered. The Apostles proclaimed, and the church was formed. The Spirit of God uses the message of the Gospel to identify and gather Christ’s people.
Are there relationships that promote proclamation? Most definitely! Think of the Philippine Jailer who hears the Gospel and then proceeds to lead his household to faith in Christ (Acts 16:16–40).
However, the term relational evangelism has begun to promote passivity rather than proclamation.
Believers are waiting for the perfect opportunity in the deepest relationship to avoid any misunderstanding or resistance.
We need to be wise in the way we act toward outsiders (Colossians 4:5), but I think we may be sliding to what Ecclesiastes might call “over-wise” (Ecclesiastes 7:16).
The language of relational evangelism has lost its saltiness.
We needed to talk about relational evangelism in the past.
At one point, relational evangelism was a (much-needed) call to get everyday believers to share the Gospel in their daily lives. Relational evangelism is a challenge against revivalism.
Christians who still rely on a scheduled date and a special speaker to do the evangelism for them are in disobedience to the Lord Jesus.
In as much as “relational evangelism” is a call to repentance for the comfortably silent Christian, I’m still a fan.
In our local church and most of the circles I encounter (admittedly small), revivalism and pack-the-pew Sundays are a distant memory.
The call to relational evangelism had its day in the sun. Relationships are still profoundly important to Gospel witness, but the rallying cry of the moment needs to be revised.
The urgency of Gospel witness is being hindered by hyper-relational patience.
The Lord is patient in bringing wrath so that believers can be urgent in sharing the Gospel.
Relational evangelism was originally a call to increase Gospel witness by going to the people God has brought you into contact with! This is still vital!
Being a witness requires intentionality in seeing and engaging the people God has already put within reach. You don’t have to be a superhero missionary to be a witness. Every Christian can (and MUST) witness in their daily life.
Being a witness does not mean you quit your job and start street preaching. But relational evangelism was never intended to fuel passivity in our relationships.
We cannot “wait till it comes up” with the Gospel.
Life without Christ is a more serious condition than any addiction, medical emergency, or financial crisis.
The Scripture calls us to a posture more in line with the vigilance of “If you see something, say something.” If we see any opening for the Gospel, we should be compelled to speak of Christ!
Does this mean we only and always talk about the Gospel? That is an unrealistic expectation.
But every Christian should be looking for a way to testify about Christ in every conversation with an unbeliever.
By God’s grace, may we never miss an open door!
This might clarify why I’m leaving relational evangelism language behind.
It seems that relational evangelism now encourages believers to wait for an open door to smack them in the face rather than looking for the slightest opening to walk through.
We still need to hear relational evangelism’s call to see the lost in our daily lives. We still need to build trust with the lost. We still need to prioritize conversations where people are listening.
We need all the best pieces of relational evangelism, and we need to reclaim urgent boldness in our witness.
19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Ephesians 6:19–20