The Work of the Church - Evangelism

These comments supplement chapter 8 of Batsell Barrett Baxter's book, The Family of God.  Chapter 8 is the first of three chapters on the work of the church, this one covering evangelism.

What is evangelism?  One definition says it is the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs.  The Koine Greek root word meant something like "I bring a good message," or "the good bringing of a message."  In Greek and Latin New Testaments this root word is used for our word, "gospel."  In the church today, we can say it means carrying the gospel message to others or seeking to win souls to Christ.

What motivates Christians to practice evangelism?  We have shown in our class discussion that Christ left His followers with this same mission and instructed them to teach others not only to become followers but also to become teachers.  He said, "...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you," and He had just commanded them to go into all the world and preach the gospel.  So begins the unending chain of self-perpetuation in the church.

The heroic efforts of the early church to evangelize the entire known world were neither accidental nor incidental.  The early Christians acted with purpose in obedience to a concerted set of directives from the Lord Jesus Himself.  It is important to see that their actions were not undertaken once and for all, like Christ's sacrifice on the cross, but over and over for every individual or group who would hear their teaching.

If we are looking for an example to follow in the story of the early church, study reveals to us that the Christians were entirely convinced that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Because of that, they adopted the lifelong pursuit of reaching the lost.  Forgiveness of their own sins, rather than being the final conclusion of faith, was the beginning of true and happy service to the cause of Christ.

It is useful to acknowledge that not every group claiming to follow Christ today adopts the view that evangelism is important.  Such a view gives outreach a different rational and takes away much of its biblical substance.  In recognizing that unfortunate fact, we can face the task of evangelism and accept it as our task, the work of the church.  Having that decision made is one of the first signs of true understanding of Christ's message and the mark of developing maturity in a Christian.

Baxter calls attention to 1 Timothy 3:14-15, in which Paul refers to the church as the pillar and ground or support and foundation of the truth.  Here again not every one knows what we mean by "the truth," but let us just say it is the message from God to humanity, as given by Jesus and personified in Him as well.  The church holds it up and holds it out to the world.  This image of pillar and ground should make a deep impression on us all as followers of Jesus.  What have we done, what can we do, what will we do to hold out the truth of God for others to receive?  We know this from the New Testament:  It involves activity, not just a state of mind.

Mid McKnight helped a lot of Christians learn how to teach the gospel to others in his lifetime.  In his book, Journey to Eternity, he says that over the years the church has become to church-building-centered.  He says, "When we rediscover personal evangelism, we will have uncovered the life-giving element of the church in the first century."  Those of us who have been in the church for some time can think of many examples to show how much more joy there is in bringing others to the Lord, helping to save them, building up the body of Christ, and making good use of all we know about our Creator.

There is a list of examples of organized evangelistic efforts at the end of this chapter in Baxter's book, ranging from nationwide broadcasts to summer camps to bus ministries.  It will be good for us to look at them all, maybe add some of our own ideas.  We can talk about which ones we might want to work on, and which ones our congregation can most advantageously use.  Any discussion of evangelism should be permeated with thoughts of what a great privilege it is to be the people who are entrusted with this magnificent task.