The Gospel & Personal Evangelism

One of the benefits of traveling to foreign countries is the time that is all of a sudden freed from previous engagements (I.e. work). In preparations to go to Korea and then to China, I thought a book on evangelism might be a good book to read, to stir up the heart and bring out some conviction. So as I scanned through my bookshelf, I came upon Mark Dever’s The Gospel & Personal Evangelism, a book I received at the Together 4 the Gospel conference. I flipped through the book and felt that this would suffice and packed it into my backpack.

For those who do not know who Mark Dever is, he serves as the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC and wrote several books (Nine Marks of a Healthy Church). Personally, I have never read Dever, even though I have heard much about him. I’ve read his church’s blog and heard his sermons, and if he writes like he preaches, then I know his book will be well-thought out, clear and practical, with his teachings stemming from the Scriptures. With a foreword by C.J. Mahaney and a few good recommendations from faithful pastors, this book has the potential to address the issues of evangelism.

If there is one thing that I am grateful for, in this book, is the relative ease and effectiveness of Dever’s writing and organization. I guess you can call me a “simple-minded” reader, which makes me appreciate the book even more, but that doesn’t detract from Dever’s ability to dig and extract biblical principles that are to be found in our evangelism. He broke down the book into questions that often enters the hearts of Christians in evangelism. Chapter headings like “Why Don’t We Evangelize”, “ What Isn’t Evangelism”, and “How Should We Evangelize” addresses the concerns Christians may have when it comes to sharing the Gospel.

In particular, I found the chapter “What Isn’t Evangelism” challenging because, in many ways, I tend to cop out and justify my subtle evangelistic attempts as sharing the gospel. Dever gives off 5 things that are mistaken to be evangelism, imposition, personal testimony, social action and public involvement, apologetics and the results of evangelism. As I reflect back, I must confess that many of my “evangelism” was in an imposing way. Due to pride and many other vices, that’s just the way I would evangelize. But read Dever’s words on imposition for yourselves:

“In biblical evangelism, we don’t impose anything. In fact, we really can’t. According to the bible, evangelism is simply telling the good news. It’s not making sure that the other person responds to it correctly. I wish we could, but according to the Bible, this is not something we can do. According to the Bible, the fruit from evangelism comes from God.” (70)

In addition to the addressing of issues in evangelism, Dever also shares practical tips and stories of his own evangelism experiences. Sometimes in the midst of studying theology and doctrine, one may not spend as much time on the practical applications of what is being studied. Fortunately, Dever does not simply leave the reader with Scripture and an explanation of it, rather, he includes steps and even a few funny stories of his evangelistic endeavors. I found them encouraging and you really see Dever’s pastoral heart in wanting the reader to not be ashamed but to simply go and share the gospel.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read and be reminded or sharpened for evangelism. It definitely has for me and I am appreciative that God would bless me with a timely book. I leave with one last quote from Dever:

“The Christian call of evangelism is not simply a call to persuade people to make decisions, but rather to proclaim to them the good news of salvation in Christ, to call them to repentance, and to give God the glory for regeneration and conversion.

We do not fail in our evangelism if we faithfully tell the gospel to someone who is not subsequently converted; we fail only if we do not faithfully tell the gospel at all.”

Spiritual Questionaire

Just a friendly reminder of one tool Berean LOT offers to help in evangelizing. You can also find this survey in the “Helpful Websites/Tool” section. Enjoy!

Berean LOT suggests using this Questionnaire to initiate conversation when you go evangelizing. It is helpful for those who struggle with approaching strangers “cold turkey” style. It also has an outline of the gospel and Bible verses to help you as you share. Just copy and paste into word, print it out, and take it with you!

Spiritual Interest Questionnaire

Please ask the person to respond to the following statements and circle their response:

1. There is absolute truth.
Strongly disagree         Disagree        No opinion         Agree         Strongly Agree

2. There is an objective standard of morality in the world.
Strongly disagree         Disagree        No opinion         Agree         Strongly Agree

3. Morality is relative.
Strongly disagree         Disagree        No opinion         Agree         Strongly Agree

4. First-degree murder is morally justifiable.
Strongly disagree         Disagree        No opinion         Agree         Strongly Agree

5. Rape and child molestation is morally justifiable.
Strongly disagree         Disagree        No opinion         Agree         Strongly Agree

6. There is a universal standard of morality accompanied by a universal standard of justice.
Strongly disagree         Disagree        No opinion         Agree         Strongly Agree

7. These universal systems are not dependent on culture, education, social, or economic status, etc.
Strongly disagree         Disagree        No opinion         Agree         Strongly Agree

8. Violation of this moral standard indicates that there is a perfect moral standard that has been broken.
Strongly disagree         Disagree        No opinion         Agree         Strongly Agree

9. The existence of such a standard necessitates an external source that embodies these standards perfectly.
Strongly disagree         Disagree        No opinion         Agree         Strongly Agree

10. The external source, embodying these moral standards perfectly, is God.
Strongly disagree         Disagree        No opinion         Agree         Strongly Agree

With the unbeliever, you should now have established that there is a perfect standard, which is God. From here, you can now share the gospel through personal explanation and using references from the Bible:
1. We have broken this moral law externally (actions) and internally (intentions and thoughts)
2. All are sinful as evidenced by man’s lack of love for God as well as seeking after him (Romans 3:23, 3:11, 1:18-20).
3. The punishment for sin is death (Romans 6:23, Revelation 20:12-15, Matthew 22:13).
4. How are we saved? Jesus Christ lived a perfectly obedient life. He loved God and obeyed God. He was sentenced to death as a criminal even though he did nothing wrong. He was punished for us, for what he did. It was God who was punishing him. (Matthew27:46, Romans 5:6-8).
5. Jesus Christ was dead and buried. He was raised from the dead. The resurrection proves He was who he said he was. It also showed that He conquered death (1 Corinthians 15:17, 54-57, Acts 26:23, by being raised from the dead, he was the first to preach the gospel).
6. By being raised, he was the firstborn among many (the first of what would happen to all of us—resurrection from death). Hebrews 2:14-15.
7. How does one partake of this resurrection? By faith! “For all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved…” (Romans 10:13).
8. What is faith? (Hebrews 11:1).
9. How do you accept Christ?
• Repent and be baptized.
• By faith alone, but a faith that is not alone (James 2:17, 24).

EV Conversations from the Past

August 27th, 2007

by: John Tang

This past Monday, I had an opportunity to talk to a guy named Fabio while I was EVing. We had a pretty long conversation basically centered on truth; he had already heard the gospel message from his mom, and although I was able to share it in brief during our conversation, he seemed very adamant in his own views. Fabio was basically opposed to any form of organized religion because of its structure and rigidity, which he felt hindered the individual person from having his or her own personal experience. He was, on the contrary, all about the personal experience of spirituality. This experience, to him, superseded any doctrinal or theological affiliations. Our ultimate goal, in his opinion, is to have some form of personal spiritual experience, whether it is through Christianity or Buddhism or even an individual creation of deity that you choose. In the end, he believed that it’s what you experience that’s true, since it’s an experience that is real and true to you. Truth, then, is whatever is perceived through the eyes of man.
After hearing him share much of his own testimony about his progress through religion and asking some questions, we proceeded to talk about the idea of truth itself. Our conversation ranged from various topics such as: nature, Christ, the apostles, the Bible, and personal experiences. What I tried to emphasize to him was that truth exists apart from the individual and therefore must be examined apart from the opinion of the multitudes as well the personal experiences of the individual; in the end, the Truth exists apart from any beliefs that we can conceive on our own.
Our conversation basically ended with him telling me that he’s heard the gospel from his mom and he doesn’t want to hear it or believe in it. While he did say that he saw good things in Christianity, in the end, he was adamant about that the pursuit of personal truth and the experience of finding this truth hold absolute weight.
I do agree to some extant with what Fabio said about the lack of personal experience within structured religion. The lack of a personal testimony for believers who have either been raised in the church or gone to church mindlessly has left these same believers without life in their worship to God because they feel like they can’t personally relate to the work of God. In fact, there are reminders in the Old Testament for Israel and even in the New Testament for believers to remember the work that God has personally done for them. After explaining the work of Christ in saving the Gentiles, Paul commands the Gentile believers in Ephesus to “remember that you were at that time separate from Christ… having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought bear by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:12-13). It’s often when we remember the work that God did in our lives that we grow a more personal love for Him; all Christians need a testimony, and Fabio is right in talking about the need for a personal experience.
However, what doesn’t sit right with me is that Fabio placed such a high value on this personal experience that he was willing to diminish the existence of any absolute truth for the sake of experience. He essentially placed emotions above truth. So you can believe anything you want, as long as you have a spiritual experience or emotion about it. While that does solve the problem of the emptiness felt by many today who have never had any personal experience with Christ, this is ultimately a solution that will never fully satisfy. We’ll always hunger for more spirituality and emotional experiences until we finally come to the true source of spiritual life. “The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply” (Psalm 16:4).

Struggling Asian American Christian

I joined the local outreach team in March not because I’m good at evangelism, but because it’s one of the things I most believe in and struggle with the most.

Today was especially hard. My mom surprised me this morning by telling me that I had to take her to the Chinese Cemetery in East Los Angeles for Qing Ming, a Confucian weekend-long holiday that involves ancestor worship.

Each year, my extended family observes Qing Ming and Qong Yang, a similar holiday around October. My aunts, uncles and cousins would meet at the graves of my dad and grandparents to offer them prayers, incense and burnt paper money. Honestly, aside from the rituals and traditions, it was a time to celebrate how close we’ve been through three generations. Today, though, it was just with my sister and I because of scheduling problems.

These seemingly innocuous ceremonies began to trouble me when I went to college and examined my faith. How could I ask my relatives in the supposed afterworld to bless me when I now desire to worship God alone? This issue and, indirectly, filial piety, were on my mind in Berkeley. I remember buying a book called “Chinese Christians In America: Conversion, Assimilation and Adhesive Identities”. There was a passage that said:

“Generally speaking, when they are able to de-religionize a specific Chinese tradition, these Chinese Christians claim it as compatible with the Christian faith; when it seems impossible to de-religionize a tradition, they reject it; when it looks possible but difficult to separate the religious dimension from the cultural dimension in a tradition, they manifest ambivalent anxiety and tend to avoid it” (133).

That was what I did: avoid it. I lived 10 years around Berkeley, only returning to SoCal for a few days in the summer and winter. So, I was able to avoid these ceremonies until I moved back a year and a half ago.

When I’m with my extended family at these events, there are about 20 of us and I could somewhat blend into anonymity. Although I can speak passable Chinese in conversation, I have trouble sharing my faith in a second language, which means I tended to say very little and was shy at these events. One time, feeling quite nervous, I excused myself to the restroom for half an hour rather than participate. It was quite obvious and I could see that my mom was disappointed.

But today I tried to be braver. I dug out my Cantonese dictionary and worked out a script to say to my mom: “Of course I respect my late father and grandparents. But I am a Christian and cannot mix these beliefs.” I thought I could be like Naaman, who tried to maintain a clear conscience in a pagan environment (2 Kings 5:18-19). I thought I could just drive my mom there, place the flowers, step back and let her do her thing. It turned out I was foolish.

With only my family around, my mom became very insistent that I bow even though I declined to. She accused me of having no respect for her, my family and our culture. She tugged at me and pushed, trying to get me to bow after her. I stood my ground. She’d cut me off when I tried to explain myself. Then she accused me of being heartless and reminded me how my grandfather took care of me when I was a baby. I saw how much this meant to her. In her eyes, I was thumbing my nose at her father.

Many thoughts raced through my head. I remember reading Asian American Christians arguing that ancestor worship is really ancestor “veneration”, and that there is no problem with bowing toward a tombstone. After all, they’re not God, they would say. I had so vehemently disagreed with them at the time, but what was I feeling now? I also remembered reading Shusaku Endo’s “Silence”, which was about a 17^th-century Portuguese missionary in Japan who apostatized after being tortured by the Japanese military and convinced that he was corrupting their culture. I remembered in college how the student president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship denied his faith after visiting his dying grandfather in Taiwan and refusing to believe that he would go to hell.

At the end of the two-hour standoff, my mom declared that I had to bow or we cannot leave and she would disown me. What could I do? I thought of my sister, who stood mostly silent behind her the whole time. Maybe the best I could do, in this situation, was to explain to my sister what I believed.

I took my sister to the side and told her how there was no power in bowing to our ancestors (1Cor. 8:4), and that I did not want to stumble her as she’s been coming to church with me (1 Cor. 8: 9-13). To end this impasse, I suggested to my sister that I’ll just give a half-nod toward my grandparents but that it will be totally meaningless to me and that the Bible says to love and worship God above all else. I also asked her to come to church with me again so that we could get good advice about how to better deal with this situation. She agreed.

It’s a pathetic compromise. Having been a Christian for so long, I am shaken that it’s only now that I’m confronting this conflict in my family. I may have hurt my witness and sinned greatly. My solace is in reading the last chapter of the Book of John, where Jesus lovingly forgives Peter for his denial.