Ancient Evangelism. Part I.

by | Aug 29, 2011 | Church Planting

Discipleship and evangelism can be confusing subjects these days.  The short and sweet is that a disciple is someone who is transformed by Jesus and follows after him. While discipleship is really a long process, it always begins with some form of evangelism.  In essence, evangelism at its root is simply the ‘good news’ of what Christ did for all of us on the cross.  One big dog theologian, Michael Green, noted that this conveyance of the good news is really a “sacred duty of every Christian.”  Evangelism is a hot topic in Church Planting and in most Christian circles in general.  There are unlimited strategies on the subject.  They range from secretive social gospel thinking on one hand to the huge public mass meetings on the other.  The results of each vary. But even the apparent success of any of them may end in failure unless there is real transformation.  In addition, even successful strategies for reaching out in the past may honestly just not work today.  One such example may be the success of the great Sunday School movements of the 20th century which are for the most part being replaced today by small groups. (more…)