Evangelism is the proclaiming of the gospel to the unsaved world. The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ, the perfect God-Man, came to the world to redeem sinners through His propitiatory death and resurrection. People who recognize their sinful state before God, repent of their sins and trust in the completed work of Jesus Christ are made new creations in the Lord. They become born again Christians who are commanded to share this glorious gospel message with other sinners so that they might find salvation in Christ as well.
When it comes to obeying the Great Commission, not all Christians are in agreement on how one should proceed. Some believe that you should ease your way into the issue, being careful not to offend unbelievers. Others make the case that the message in itself is offensive, so the direct approach is necessary to confront sin hardened hearts. In truth, while the latter argument may rub us the wrong way culturally, it is the most biblical approach.
Romans 10: 14-17 tells us, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Paul makes it clear that the gospel message is one that is spoken so that it may be heard.
While it is certain that we should not go out of our way to purposely offend those with whom we share the gospel, we should expect that the message that they have sinned against a holy God and that His wrath abides on them will not sit well with the unsaved. Those who stand in opposition to God with sinful hearts will never seek Him of their own accord. As such, to hear that God will judge them for sins they continue to commit will almost certainly cause them to respond with animosity towards us. While we should never seek to add to the offense by speaking of sin with a haughtiness or arrogance, as though we are without sin, we should not shy away from the hard truths of scripture because we know it will not be well received.
Unfortunately, those who seek attract unbelievers to themselves without preaching the gospel do so, perhaps with good intentions, in an unbiblical manner. One of the more common methods of this style of evangelism is the concept of letting people see Jesus in the life of the believer. The stated intent is that Christians must live their lives in such a Christ honoring manner that unbelievers will be compelled to ask why they live as they do. The belief is that the gospel message would never be received by an unbeliever when it is simply shared with them. Given that the unbeliever would likely be offended by the message alone, a Christian can entice him or her into starting a conversation when the person sees a life lived in commitment to Christ. However, Christians are cautioned not to start conversing about the things of God with until the unbeliever asks them to do so. The believer is told that it would be presumptuous and even rude, risking that he will scare the unbeliever off and lose the opportunity to eventually share the gospel.
As stated above, this is an unbiblical belief, the reasons for which will be explained shortly. However, those who hold to it often cite Matthew 5:16 as a proof text. The passage states, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” This passage is cited as demonstrating that a Christian’s good works can be seen by unbelievers who will be attracted to Him and eventually trust in Christ for their salvation. Thus, the argument is made that it is the Christian’s good conduct and godly living that is the draw card for the unsaved to enter into a gospel conversation with the Christian.
Admittedly, this sounds like a very kind gesture on the part of the Christian. By demonstrating our love and charity to unbelievers, we example the attitude of Christ toward those who persecuted Him. However, one must consider whether the unbeliever will be able to discern whether the motivation for the Christian behavior is simply that of kindness or if it because the believer is changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, thus moved to do good works out of a sincere love for the Savior. Quite simply put, the unregenerate sinner, without prior notification from the Christian, cannot discern the good works of a Christian as being different from a Buddhist, a Muslim, or an Atheist.
Unbelievers are spiritually dead in their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2: 1-3) and, by nature, do not seek after God (Romans 3: 10-11). Thus, they cannot understand spiritual things because they have not yet been born again of the Spirit. Without the regenerating work of God, they cannot understand that which is spiritual (1 Corinthians 2:14). Therefore, the unsaved sinner does not have the capacity to discern of their own accord that the motivation of the charitable and loving Christian is in direct response to the gospel. If the unbeliever cannot discern that a Christian’s behavior is motivated by Christ, then it cannot be that the passage in Matthew is a command from Christ to evangelize merely by our actions.
In fact, what the passage in Matthew 5 is actually describing is behavior that is concert with the proclamation of the gospel in word. Jesus taught His disciples that they were salt of the earth and the light of the world. He commanded them that, in these capacities, they were to testify of Him through the gospel message. In fact, in the preceding verses, Christ stated that they would be blessed when people would tell lies about them and persecute them for the sake of Him. Therefore, this further solidifies that Christ had not commanded the disciples to give a godly appearance before men to attract them to hear the gospel message. Rather, he was instructing them to have a godly demeanor that, when seen in conjunction with the proclaimed message, would give credibility to the fact that they believed what they preached.
In Matthew Henry’s “Commentary on the Whole Bible,” he wrote concerning this passage of scripture, “Those about us must not only hear our good words, but see our good works; that they may be convinced that religion is more than a bare name, and that we do not only make a profession of it but abide under the power of it.”
So we see that Christ was making it clear that our behavior must indeed reflect the change we claim to have in Him. However, it is not by behavior alone that we are to attract people to the gospel. The unsaved sinner is unable to discern the godly change in our hearts because they are blinded by their sin. Therefore, it is necessary that the Christian make an open proclamation of the gospel that sinners might know they are in danger of God’s judgment, yet there is salvation in Christ. In conjunction, our behavior must be a reflection of Christ Himself in love and charity. It is not to be a draw card to salvation, but rather an affirmation that we believe, and have been changed by, what we preach.
Having considered the methodology above, it can be stated that Christians are in fact commanded to preach the gospel to the lost that they might be saved. However, we must do so through spoken or written word. We cannot assume that our behavior alone will draw the unregenerate to Christ. If we do so, we deny the commands of our Savior and pervert His teachings to pronounce that which they do not say. We ought not fear offending the unbeliever. He is already at war with God through his wicked deeds. We have the words of life given to us by our Lord and Savior. Therefore, let us trust in Him alone and His gospel message, knowing that He will save those He has died for. But then let us live such lives as it is clear we believe Jesus when He says we are the salt and light of the world.
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