To-day's Evangelism
Evangelism is the promulgation of the Gospel. It is that line of service which follows obedience to the command of Christ. It is specific and earnest, and its direct aim is to carry the Gospel tidings to every creature in every land.
Evangelism is simply rolling away the stone and giving the dead a chance to hear the word of life. It is bringing the Evangel or Gospel into contact with the unsaved, and it is for contact, not conversion, that the Church is responsible. We are to do our part and leave God to do his.
Every child of God may truly say” Christ sent me to evangelized and to evangelize is the first duty in the order of time, for there must be 13 believers to be baptized and converts to become believers in order to form the Church.
“It is first in the order of importance, for it is accession and growth that keep the Church in being. Everything therefore, both as to accessions and enlargement of the Church of God hangs on evangelizing men.” Under this definition and its enlargement may be described all the aggressive work of the past.
Bounded on the one side by Pentecost the other boundary is to-day, and in all of this stretch of time there must be included the work of the apostles, the church fathers, the martyrs and heroes of other days, the faithful pastors, whose quiet, earnest, and ofttimes unheralded work has meant the permanent growth of the Church; the consecrated evangelists like Finney, Moody, Whittle, Earl, Needham and others, now in the presence of God, all these together with a host of others still living, whose ministry has meant a multitude of souls for Christ. The special agencies of the Church must not be forgotten, such as Rescue Missions, the Salvation Army, the Volunteers, the Young Men’s and the Young Women’s Christian Associations, and the 1 Eyangelistic Work.”
Young People’s Societies, all these together have made a glorious history.
“The progress of the Church of Jesus Christ is strikingly depicted by the pen of John, the Disciple of Love. The attractive story of the multiplication of the disciples runs through all his writings, like a thread of gold running through an exquisite fabric of the loom. I call you to follow the progress of the growth of the Christian Church in John’s writings. First there was only one man who believed in Jesus; John the Baptist. Then we read of two; then of three; then of four; then of five; then of twelve; then of seventy; then of one hundred and twenty; then of five hundred; then of one hundred and forty and four thousand; and then of ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands, a great multitude which no man can number, all singing, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.’ Truly the pathway of the Christian Church as depicted by the Disciple of Love, in Gospel and in Epistles and in Apocal)^se, is a pathway of triumph which leads to perfection. We cannot but praise God that we are part of the Christian Church which is ascending the steeps of light to its eternal destiny.”^
Present-day evangelism is just the adaptation of the principles of which the above is a definition to the times in which we live.
Truth never changes, it is always the same, but the adaptation and application of truth may be a matter of times and seasons.
The evangelism of the present day must be the evangelism of the first century or it is not true to Christ and his word.
Many people are asking with intense interest the question, “Is there to be another awakening?”
The question is timely, not only because we have just fairly entered upon a new century but because the need is simply appalling. Of this we may be assured if we but open our eyes to take note of the progress of sin and indifference, the decrease in many places of Church attendance and the lack of interest shown in certain parts of our country in those things which contribute to the advancement of the Kingdom of God. There are quite as many to-day, however, Rev. David Gregg, D. D., LL. D.
who optimistically view the situation at large and answer the inquiry above made with an emphatic affirmative.
During the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries as well as in certain parts of the nineteenth century there were powerful awakenings, whole nations were moved by the power of God, “but these movements differed widely in character, in method, and in the conditions from which they sprang; some of them had political as well as religious elements, whose causes were complex and remote; and yet the study of them reveals the fact that each of these great religious awakenings came in connection with the preaching of a neglected Scriptural truth which was precisely adapted to the peculiar needs of the times.”
Since, therefore, it is true that every awakening has had its distinguishing characteristic, this better day which is believed to be dawning must have its peculiar mark.
I cannot but think that with all that may be
accomplished by pastors and evangelists that
the great work of this new day is to be the
winning of the individual by the individual, or to
“The Next Great Awakening.”
put it in another way, Pergonal Evangelism is to be the key-note of our present work.
It is quite generally acknowledged that during the past few years evangelistic methods in general have been under the fire of criticism. In some cases this criticism has been unjust, in other instances it has been only what might have been expected. Out of this, however, we are coming to a better service for Christ than we have known for years.
It is also equally true that until recently — there has been a real sag in the evangelistic spirit of the Church. That this is true, has been in part due to the fact that pastors in some instances have not realized their evangelistic gifts, in other cases they have failed to exercise the gift that was in them, for many more pastors by far, than we, or even they imagine, could preach along evangelistic lines with telling effect.
The ineffectiveness of some is due to the lack of training in the seminary, which is alas too often true, for with all that the seminaries have accomplished, and their mission has been truly wonderful and greatly owned of God, there is scarcely a theological seminary in the land to-day but is defective in the matter of the training of evangelists or the assisting of theological students in the development and exercise of evangelistic gifts.
The failure of others is due to the fact that they have not realized the responsibility resting upon them for this particular form of service; and unless there is an awakening along this special line the judgment upon those who have failed will be sharp indeed.
Again this sag in the spirit of evangelism has been in part due to the fact that the Church has exercised little or no care in the training of evangelists. While here and there throughout our country there are institutions, like the Bible Institute in Chicago, which have had actually to contend for existence, still it is true that the Church has done practically nothing for the evangelist. He has gone forth frequently untrained, at times unwisely, to exercise his ministry, but he has been almost entirely without oversight and too often without sympathy where sympathy was really deserved. In frequent instances because of his conviction that he ought to preach the Gospel as an evangelist he has been obliged with real distress to himself to maintain his position.
There would be fewer unskilled men in the field to-day as evangelists and far less of those who bring the office into disrepute, did only the Church exercise her authority in training, in oversight, and even in discipline. But a brighter ’ day is coming. We can already behold the morning star which heralds the day and indeed the horizon is brightening with indications of a coming victory.
Then too evangelistic meetings in the past hcpue frequently been considered an end rather than a means to an end. This is almost a fatal error. Admirable as such meetings are in themselves, their chief value lies in the fact that they arouse dormant energies, deepen convictions, and provoke to enthusiastic service. If they fail at these points they yield a poor return for the investment of money, time and effort.
Yet after all what is needed in our country to-day is not so much a successful evangelistic meeting here or there but a general awakening.
Indeed it is revivals alone which advance the Kingdom of God, evangelistic meetings only save us from disastrous declensions.
It is almost certain, however, that the coming awakening will move along somewhat different lines from those of the past. It is no repudiation of the methods of the past, that to-day the emphasis has been in part shifted. Dr. Josiah Strong in commenting upon the awakenings of other days, has well said, “Be it observed, Moody did not repeat the message of Finney, nor did Finney repeat that of Wesley, nor Wesley that of the Puritans, nor did the Puritans simply reiterate the great doctrine of Luther and the Reformation. Each dealt more or less with the great body of Christian truth, of course, but each had a distinctive message, which was peculiarly adapted to his own times and, therefore, made God real to the men of his generation. Nor did the prophet of one age employ the methods of his predecessors. Though the substance was the same, the form and method were new because the times were new. The men who to-day expect to reproduce Moody’s results by reproducing his message and his methods will fail completely as Moody would have failed, if he had been a mere imitation of Finney. Such men as the author of ‘Ecce Homo ’ says, are plagiarists rather than prophets. The true prophet sees God in his own times and in relation to the peculiar needs of his own day, and thus makes others see him.”
In a conference of Christian workers not long ago an aged minister said, “I revere the memories of the great evangelists and yet as I recall the crowds attending their meetings, the music of the great choirs and the high pitch of enthusiasm aroused, I must admit I think of them all with a feeling akin to horror.”
I confess I heard him with a feeling beyond horror. Who can estimate the value of the meetings conducted by Mr. Moody in the Hippodrome in New York, the Grand Depot in Philadelphia, or in the city of Baltimore when in all of these places for weeks he preached the precious Gospel and lived himself the most wonderful exemplification of the doctrines he taught. Who can estimate the stimulating influence given to the Church through these agencies, the inspiration imparted to ministers, the object lessons to the community and the value of the souls won, many of whom I personally know and hosts of whom are preaching the Gospel throughout the world.
Study history and you will find that about every The Next Great Awakening.”
one hundred years God has raised up for himself a special representative along some distinctive lines for the strengthening of our faith. In the truest sense D. L. Moody was that man for his generation, and a countless host rises up to-day to call his memory blessed.
Who can tell what the condition of the Church or her ministers might have been if his voice had not been heard, if his glorious ministry had not been exercised? But is there a change being wrought in evangelistic methods? This question is in the minds of many.
The days of great meetings are not over, of this we are confident. What greater blessing could come to a community than that all the forces of the Church should enter upon an aggressive campaign against the devil, in many cases this is essential, to be indifferent to it is to imperil the best interests of the Kingdom of God.
The day for the evangelist is certainly not past. He has never been more needed than to-day. The calls for his services are loud and clear, yet it will never be possible to accomplish the evangelistic work of the Church depending upon his services alone.
The days of union meetings have not passed simply because certain denominations have with authority taken decided action with reference to aggressive evangelism, but beyond all question it is true that in the present day evangelism the emphasis is to be placed,
First: On Pastoral Evangelism, and more and more God seems to be teaching us that the man who has been called to preach and placed in charge of the Church is in every part of his service to be a winner of souls.
Second: Upon Personal Evangelism, Since it is true that the majority of the members of the Church have never won a soul to Christ, the emphasis placed here is most timely. The indifference of the Church to the winning of souls is positively shocking. The fact that so many people have it to say to their shame that they have never given themselves to the work of winning souls to Christ, is almost a proof that they are themselves unregenerate. One trembles when he thinks of the judgment seat of Christ and a great multitude standing in his presence empty handed.
Must I go an empty handed,
Must I meet my Saviour so,
Not one soul with which to greet him.
Must I empty handed go?”
The time is coming when business men must seek to win their business associates.
Two business men regularly made their way into the city of Boston from Lowell, one a Christian, the other not; for almost twenty years they had occupied the same seat in the train. In the providence of God they were both dying the same day, and the man who was not a Christian said, “Is it not strange that my friend knew I was not a Christian, and in our twenty years of acquaintance having discussed innumerable subjects, he has never spoken to me about Christ?”
Parents must be interested in their children’s conversion.
I overheard a Christian worker pleading with a boy to come to Christ. His mother was a leader in the Church and his father an officer in the Church. Every attempt was useless, and when pressed to give a reason for his indifference, the boy said, “Neither my father nor my mother have asked me to come to Christ, and I cannot come.”
Third: This new day is to be distinguished by particular emphasis being placed upon the training of evangelists. That there are men who have evangelistic gifts is unquestioned; that they ought to go forth to proclaim the Gospel to the very ends of the earth is equally true; that they ought to be trained is certainly a position about which there can be no argument; that the Church owes it to her Lord to properly prepare these men can be proven by the Scriptures, and this is coming with the new evangelistic spirit in the Church.
Fourth: Emphasis is being placed upon Bible study.
“Haydon painted a picture of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem on the ass. It hangs to-day in the Catholic Cathedral in Cincinnati. Into it he introduced two figures in addition to the main subject — Wordsworth and Voltaire — the one bending in reverence, the other tossing his head in scorn. The peculiarity of the picture is that whether intended or not, the reverential figure bends so low, and the scornful figure poses itself so loftly, that neither can see the object of their respective emotions. It was to me a parable of how two opposite classes of men miss the gracious wealth of the Scriptures. Beware of that mock reverence which hides God’s Word by denying the right of reason to investigate and to inquire. But beware equally of that self-confident and irreverent rationalism which is not lowly enough to see God’s treasures before its eyes. There is a one-eyed scepticism as well as a one-eyed faith. God gave us two eyes. Open them both, my friends; you will see more and better.” 1
But the devotional study is essential to the cultivation of the evangelistic spirit.
“We must feed on the Word. Read it on your knees. Let the atmosphere of the Spirit surround it and you. Ponder as you read. Turn up all the references, and bring the passages together. Who does not know the kind of heavenly illumination which soon begins to play upon the page, the gentle dew which soon begins to fall on the spirit, as verse after verse is set in the light of the soul’s need and bathed in the rays of the Son of Righteousness! When you are reading in this way keep praying — turn your eye from the Book to God, from God back to the Book. Realize that it is his way of conversing with you. When you are reading in this way, do not stop at the difficulties; go by them. It is of no use to stop in your approach to God because you see a boulder 1 “How to Study the Bible.”
in the way, or because a swollen brook crosses the path. Press on; let the boulder alone; look a moment and you will see stepping-stones across the brook.” 1
Fifth: The Prayer Life is being emphasized, for we have come to appreciate that which has been true in all the ages of the Church, that by the cultivation of the spirit of prayer men have come to know God’s plan and have been equipped with power to carry it out.
Sixth: The Church is being awakened to the necessity of caring for her own, for as a matter of fact it is true that if to-day we simply had our own our buildings would not be large enough, not a denomination but what would have to tear down and build larger. The population of Manhattan is 1,931,162; the Church membership is 695,942; on a pleasant Sunday in November, 1902,451,731 people were in attendance upon the Church, and the houses of worship were fairly well filled, and yet in this part of New York it has been proven that hundreds and thousands of people who were Christians have not darkened the doors of the Church since they have taken up their residence in the
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great city, and if they did they could not be seated.
It is one thing to win souls to Christ, it is quite another thing to help build up these souls into Christ. What is needed to-day said Henry Van Dyke, is not so much a minister to draw as a Church to hold. It is believed that the new evangelism will bring this to pass.