On Sunday, the Gospel Conversations class discussed “pre-evangelism.” What’s that? If “evangelism” is “telling people about the good news,” then “pre-evangelism” is what you do before you tell people the good news. After all, “take up your cross and follow me” is not good news unless you know the whole story.
D.A. Carson has written a helpful article on Acts 17 in which he outlines the need for explaining the “big story” of the Bible in our evangelism:
Paul at the Areopagus in Athens has established an entire frame of reference before he gets to Jesus. He has challenged the Greek worldview with his JudeoChristian worldview. If he had presented clichés like “Jesus died for your sins” before he had established the appropriate frame of reference, people would necessarily have misunderstood what he was saying.
We too, today, in our biblically illiterate society need to establish this biblical framework. This might take five minutes, five hours, or five years, but at some stage we have to do it.
Two questions for reflection:
- What are some Christian clichés we need to overcome so people can really hear the Gospel?
- Do you think this means we have to take people back to Genesis 1:1 before we can do any evangelism? Why or why not?
Cliches:
1. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life…
2. Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart…
3. Jesus is waiting for you..
Context is King, and out of context, these statements will eventually leave everyone hopeless. I think a return to Genesis is a good idea. Anything trip shorter than that (say, one that starts at John 3:16 and goes forward)leaves out our significant sin-debt. Without knowing how much we owe, we can not appreciate the fact that it is paid– once-for all.
The other day I was talking to a neighbor’s child about Jesus-just the basic stuff-“Have you ever heard of Jesus?”, etc., and before you know it, I was back at Genesis. I tried to make it ‘short and sweet’, but then I thought, did God intend for His message to a dying world to be made ‘short and sweet’?! How could I possibly decide what is ‘worth’ telling to a lost child? I found that starting with the introduction of sin into the world was good place.
Just my .02…
I think people need to have a basic understanding of Genesis 1:1 to understand the Gospel. It seems to me that people in America have a general sense that we are talking about the God who created the earth when witnessing to them. While Adam and Eve’s sin tells us we are sinners by nature, the 10 commandments (and how we fail the true standard) seem to reveal our sinful nature. “If you are guilty of breaking one law you are guilty of them all”.
There is no Gospel, however, without Christ. His perfect sacrifice and punishment for our selfishness; our sin. The good news is that He took what we deserved. ” While we were yet sinners Christ died for us” Through confession and faith we can receive forgiveness from a Holy God. “Confess your sins and He is faithful and just to forgive your sins – It is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God”. The neat thing is that He somehow draws us to Him. I cannot claim one ounce of my salvation. He did it all! A gift so amazing, no gold in the world can purchase it! Only through the perfect lamb-Jesus! The gift of God Himself, and me, go figure, His precious child, but only because of Him!!! I love it!! 🙂
I don’t think it is possible to communicate the gospel without an understanding of 5 components. God, creation, sin, redemption, and judgement. If you have a wrong understanding of any of these pieces, you won’t understand the gospel message.
When I have heard Carson talk on this topic before, he mentions his campus missions. When he first started doing evangelism on campuses, the God atheists didn’t believe in was the christian God. This was because the culture was still largely a christian culture many of whom were literate in what the story of the bible. A story of God, who is good, people who are bad, redemption, and justice in all the ways it is worked out in the bible. Now the landscape of culture is such that people at large don’t have an understanding of the bible really says. The culture at large gets pieces haphazardly from T.V, movies, or wherever. Therefore telling someone of sin and the cross is not cogent, because most of the pieces are not in place.
All that being said, I think Genesis 1 is important because it starts with God who was and is perfect and complete created everything; Genesis 3 to show the rebellion in our hearts; Deut 5 articulating a just and transcendent law; Rom 1-3 demonstrating how we are accountable to God for our rejection of him demonstrated by the rejection of the law; John’s Gospel showing God who is true to his character by coming to earth and offering a sacrifice for the redemption of his people who believe he is who he has consistently showed himself to be; Revelations 19-20 showing the judgement of the wicked for their sin and rebellion; and Revelations 21-22 showing the reward of the faithful.
While I think all these pieces are necessary components of the Gospel, I don’t think all these aspects have to be communicated every time you are witnessing to someone. I think giving an answer to all who ask in the culture we live in require us to know and be able to articulate the whole story.