*I posted this on www.edstetzer.com in response to a great conversation about the role of the evangelist. You should read it.*
In the evangelical church, when someone says the word "evangelist" very few know what that means, and the ones who do think of:
1. Billy Graham
2. Old school revivalists who preach in predominantly rural areas in mostly Pentecostal, Independent, or Baptist churches
3. TV preachers on TBN
It's unfortunate that this is the extent of exposure or understanding. But it's also understandable that some pastors and parishioners view "evangelists" as shucksters, showmen, or traveling vagabonds with no roots in a local church and no accountability. This is what the Baker/Swaggart scandals attributed to, as well as the advent of the Christian TV era.
As one who is called and gifted as an evangelist, and has pursued that calling since the age of 14, I expect to navigate these waters, and always appreciate it when folks ask me what I do and then when I tell them, they ask me what "evangelist" actually means. And I do take issue with anyone who says there is no calling to this ministry. They wouldn't know because they were not called, which is fine since the Holy Spirit meets out gifts according to God's grace and sovereignty.
I am currently spending a year mentoring 12 young men who feel called to itinerant ministry. Nearly all of them told me that they sensed a call to preach the gospel for conversion as an evangelist, but there was NOWHERE to turn for training, mentoring, coaching or teaching. No churches, no para-church organizations, even one of the largest outreach-oriented evangelistic ministries in the country told 2 of my guys that they had NO classes, conferences, retreats, or training for young evangelists. They only had some books they could purchase.
At age 37 and after 23 years, I see fewer evangelists (but many more conference speakers) and fewer churches using the few that are gifted to "draw the net" as the saying goes. Which brings me to one final thought...
Fewer and fewer preachers (pastors or evangelists) actually know how to call people to repentance of sin and faith in Christ...call it an invitation or an altar call, but they seem to have fallen out of style. Some say they are offensive to post-moderns, often manipulative, or they punt to the sovereignty of God saying that if God is going to save someone, He will, and we don't need to give invitations at all (yet if this is the case, could He not use an invitation to bring someone to repentance and faith?)...but I suggest, dare I even say I have SEEN...that the pastors and evangelists who preach the gospel boldly, speak of sin and judgment coupled with grace and mercy, who make the cross and the resurrection central to their proclamation, and then ASK people to make a decision, then and there, ON THE SPOT...these are the churches/pastors/evangelists that God seems to be blessing with conversions. These are the churches that see sinners repent, believe, be baptized, and walk in discipleship.
Two examples: Elevation Church in Charlotte NC and Newspring Church in SC. Both pastors are close friends (I am biased) who call for a personal response to the gospel when they preach. Both churches have seen over 5,000 conversions, respectively, in the past several years. Critics ask "Well where are those people?" Fair question. The answer is...they are involved in those churches, there every Sunday, serving and volunteering and mentoring and giving and leading mission teams and leading others to Christ. You can check the attendance over a 3 year period.
A crazy thing happens when lost people hear the gospel. People actually convert/get saved when the evangelist or pastor TELLS THEM HOW and then GIVES THEM THE OPPORTUNITY. (I am not yelling with the caps, just inferring importance).
I have personally seen 2,000 people repent of sin and trust Christ in one night, by God's grace and the power of the gospel. Yet one thing is sure...if our CHURCHES have never been exposed to preaching for the conversion of the lost, and if pastors, speakers, teachers, elders, et al, are not willing to give PERSONAL invitations at coffee shops or in homes ("So after hearing what Jesus did for you, would you be willing to repent of your sin and trust Him right now?") or PUBLIC invitations after their sermons/messages/talks...then why are we all scratching our heads wondering why baptisms, conversions, and church attendance are dropping?
Comments
August 6 2010
John Templeton
Good Stuff Clayton, and i see where you are coming from, you see more and more of this fearful Gospel in a sense that we don’t want to offend anyone or hurt some feeling. But the gospel will do that and it brings about conviction and that’s what makes people uncomfortable. i mean think of the early church those guys were straightforward and to the point and because of that and i quote ” and the lord added to their numbers daily”! we as the church have Got to follow the first century model! I thank you for all that you do a look forward to hearing more and more great things that God has accomplished through you obedience. Keep up the great work Bro!!
August 6 2010
Kyle Wilkinson
I dig it! I delivered the gospel message for about 40 youth a couple of weeks ago and did an invitation for the first time and 5 accepted Christ. There is nothing like people coming to Christ and it was one of the most powerful ways I’ve felt God move. Keep doing it big Clayton because God wont stop doing it big either!
August 6 2010
Charles Cole
A sermon w/o an invitation is really just a speech
August 6 2010
Chuck
Great post! Thank you brother!
August 6 2010
Mark J. Turner
Very interesting article. On many of the issues you raised I agree. I think it is very important to proclaim the cross-centered, gospel and call people to repent and believe.
One issue I had was that all of your argument in this particular article (though I trust not in your life and ministry) is devoid of Scriptural examples. Everything appears to be anecdotal. You even said: “They wouldn’t know because they were not called.” That shouldn’t even be allowed as an argument in a church. They should know what is a calling of God based on Scripture. Sorry if I’m being picky.
Keep up the good work of spreading the gospel. Also, have you seen any statistics/surveys on the decline of the things you are talking about (itinerant evangelists, altar calls, etc.)?
August 6 2010
jason
Alter calls may induce big numbers, but the churches with the biggest numbers are not always the churches with the most effective evangelism from God’s perspective. Similarly, a big physical stature (king Saul) meant nothing to God. God looked at the heart (king David).
Christ described evangelism this way: “Some seeds fall on rocky places where they do not have much soil. They spring up quickly because the soil is shallow. But when the sun comes up they wither because they have no root.” (Matthew 13) The only way to know if the root took is to look at the fruit later. Billy Graham used to have all his volunteers stand in the back and then rush forward toward the alter during the alter call. This, of course, made it look like many more hundreds of people were coming forward to ‘get saved’ than actually were. This, in turn, would help bring forward those in the audience who cared more about “fitting in” than about getting right with God. The question you must ask yourself is: “What about such people the next day, when they are alone or with a different group of friends?” Did the root take? OR… what about the next *year*?
Original evangelists, like Peter and Paul, often spent months and even years in one place, growing and tending to their converts. They understood that the fruit was the only thing that ultimately counted in evangelism. Not so with many modern evangelists who, each Sunday, simply attempt to get as many people to “believe” their way into heaven as possible. Such churches can easily develop into little more than social networks for thousands of people who have been convinced they “got saved” but actually may be headed away from God in the way they live and treat their neighbors.
August 6 2010
Frank Shelton
Clayton, as usual you are spot on. Ironically, I couldnt sleep last night and at 2 AM EST and also found myself writing a comment on Ed’s blog following your remarks. Today, I am afraid that too many in ministry are good at building churches but not growing the Kingdom. One would think they go hand in hand but not always the case. I also recall you giving an invitation before one of your sermons and when we are Spirit led and totally depending on God one knows no boundaries of what God can do with a person totally yielded to Him. Spurgeon and Dr Graham both were even stronger in the invitation than during the message. We have all heard wonderful messages but some drop the ball in the bottom of the ninth with a weak invitation or worse none altogether. You are loved brother and I appreciate you boldly but lovingly reminding us all to keep the Main thing the main thing. Have a great time in Canada and post pics when you get back
August 6 2010
Douglas Panneton
Hey - love your heart, and I thank God for calling you and the many, many people today who are to God and evangelism. There is an organization that is completely committed to training people to evangelism, its called Ambassadors Alliance ( http://www.ambassadorsalliance.com/ ) and Living Waters is also an organization dedicated to “inspiring and equipping Christians in fulfilling the great commission”. Also, there is a segment of Christianity that IS growing by leaps and bounds today. Reformed churches everywhere are experiencing phenomenal growth such as Mark Driscol’s church in Seatle: Mars Hill Church.
Yes, God can use anything He wants to save people, but we need to be careful we do not get to be pragmatic in our apoach and instead strive to be Biblical in all we do. God can use ‘Benny Hinn’ t.v. show’s to save people ( I know someone who came to faith watching a Benny Hinn show in the middle of the night ) but that does not mean that we should emulate Benny Hinn because it “works”, instead, as I said, we should strive to be Biblical, knowing that God is sovereign and will bless our efforts. I believe that we as evangelists ( yes, God called me to be an evangelist shortly after he saved me in 2001 ) should definitely be giving people a call to repent and put their faith in our King Jesus ( an invitation ) - but what I see as the fruit of this practice when used in the churches throughout the country and world is the problem of false conversions. This is not so much a fruit of invitations as such, but in the way that these invitations have morphed over the past 100 years since Finney and have become standard pillars of a “church service” , where anyone who walks down the isle and says the sinners prayer is then pronounced a new member in Christs family and given assurance that they are now saved.
October 1 2010
Chris Styles
Sir, in my mind, you are absolutely correct in what you are saying.
I think the situation is even worse here in England. In 1978 when I got saved I often heard people give an opportunity to respond to the gospel. Sometimes it was done by getting people to pray and then pausing once heads were bowed to speak directly to hearts in the silence. That was a favourite English way because we tend not to like putting people on the spot. But I also saw hands raised, standing up and also coming out to the front of the meeting. Now things are just left hanging in the air. It’s as if we say “Take it or leave it, bud!” We’re just so uninvolved now.
I very much agree with you that this has nothing to do with the Sovereignty of God issue too. But most of the attack has come from certain sections of the Reformed wing. The Biblical warrant is a red herring too: nobody does only what is in the new testament (e.g. using hymn books) God trusts us to apply biblical principles with a certain amount of creativity. I hate to say this of my brothers and sisters but I think it has more to do with lack of faith and jealousy.
It takes courage and a belief in the gospel as the actual power of God to save, to call upon someone to respond. No one was ever ruined by responding to God’s gospel. I grant that telling people who have wondered to the front of a meeting not exactly sure why they have that they are now regenerate is dangerous, but if a person has responded to the gospel it is the responsibility of pastors and church members to watch over that one when the evangelist has left. It is precisely because people are not being challenged either in evangelistic addresses that are both bold, urgent and, yes, “confrontational” - and are not being challenged thereafter even in the congregations - that the churches are weakened.
Billy Graham should be a hero of the faith today, loved and admired for his work and faithful service as well as his writings which inspire faith and discipline. Instead he has been overlooked, in this country, as an oddity - at least among conservative evangelicals (whatever that means now!!).
When I came to Jesus almost every office bearer, or active Christian, in my town seemed to have been converted either at Mr. Graham’s Harringay crusades in the mid-fities or his later visit in the mid-sixties (yes, he visited other times too, I know). Now that’s saying somehting. His traducers may quote statistics and anecdotes but I saw the evidence of Billy’s work in transformed lives. People who emphasised Christian disciplines like a daily devotional time, had the presence of God about them and who were concerned that souls were saved.
The same can be said for Bible teaching too. You know, I find most preaching in England boring. It ranges from no more than something of a spoken bible commentary, with frequent quotes from clever Christians, to something light and frothy. From what I’ve heard of American preaching (with the exception of the Calvary Chapel people who seem to be on the button on most things) it seems to be a lot of posturing and personality and promising things that cannot be delivered with a whole lot of “I was the big man on college” swank. Back of all of this is again, I fear, a lack of faith. It demonstrates a lack of involvement in the adventure of bible meditation, prayer and seeing God’s hand in one’s every day life. It also smacks of pride and status when our Master was humble and lowly. We could all improve here, I know. But we expect the minister to be knowledgable in the Christian LIFE (not to pass on mere second hand notions). Preaching should be the bible applied. Sermons should be flooded with application. And that application should be addressed in the second person “you”.
Anyway, thanks for what you have written. You are a lone voice crying in the wilderness, my friend. But people will begin to realise that you are right. I hope it won’t be too late.
God bless you
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