Tell the Truth, 4th Edition by Will Metzger - EXCERPT

4th

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A n e v A n g e l i s m T r A i n i n g m A n u A l

f o r g r o u p A n d i n d i v i d u A l u s e

W i l l M e t z g e r

the Whole gospel Wholly by grace

coMMunicated truthfully & lovingly

272 pages, paperback, 978-0-8308-3783-0, $20.00

TELL THE TRUTH, 4TH EDITION

In this thoIn this thoroughly revised fourth edition of

the now classic Tell the Truth, Will Metzger

reinstate the truth framework necessary for

the survival of evangelicalism. Biblical

illiteracy among evangelicals is on the rise.

Theological discernment between truth

and error is increasingly elusive. We need

to be to be recalibrated not to the changing

times but to the changeless gospel.

“Christianity is for sharing, and Christians who love their neighbor want to do that persuasively. Pizzazz-free and nonmanipulative, Metzger's training manual on helping people to care about truth and face the truth about Jesus is first class of its kind.”its kind.”

—J.I. Packer, Board of Governors Professor of Theology, Regent College, and author of Knowing God

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The Whole Gospel Wholly by Grace

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contents

Preface: What Is the Biblical Model for Evangelism? . . . . . . . . . . 13

INTRODUCTION

The Doctrine Is the Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

The Situation Diagnosed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

The Scripture Consulted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Doctrine: Concise Statements of the Pieces of Truth in the Divine Drama of Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

The Downfall and Recovery of the Doctor: An Allegory . . . 40

PART ONE

The Whole Gospel: losT and Found

Content of Our Message

1 Evangelism as Planting and Watering . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

What Is Evangelism? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

The Difference Between the Gospel and Our Testimony . . . 55

Distinguishing Our Role from God’s Is Crucial . . . . . . . . 56

2 Genuine Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Mere Profession or Real Possession? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Misleading Partial Responses by the Mind, Emotions, Will . . 68

Summary: The Holy Spirit Touches the Whole Person . . . . . 78

3 The Gospel Reduced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Packaging the Gospel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Whole Gospel/Shrunken Gospel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Message-Centered/Method-Centered . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

God-Centered/Me-Centered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

You're a Beautiful Person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Is the Gospel Really Being Compromised? . . . . . . . . . . 96

Truth: The Measuring Stick of Evangelism . . . . . . . . . . . 99



4 The Gospel Recovered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Gospel Grammar: The Five Primary Points of the Gospel . . . 102

Gospel Telling: “Come Home” Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

PART TWO

Wholly by Grace

The Foundation for Evangelism

5 Grace Is Only for the Powerless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Salvation Is Impossible for Nice People . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Three Myths That Obscure Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Unable Yet Responsible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

6 God Is Grace-Full. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Grace Makes Salvation Possible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Our Re-creating God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

7 Sovereign, Saving Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Two Friends: God’s Sovereignty and Our Responsibility . . . . 164

Not Free Will but a Freed Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Why God Chooses to Love Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

8 Worship: The Whole-Souled Response to Grace . . . . . . 175

Motivation for Evangelism: Encountering a Macro-God . . . . 175

Worship: The Passion for and the Purpose of Evangelism . . . 178

Real Converts Really Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

God-Centered Evangelists Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Worship: It’s All About God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

PART THREE

communicaTinG TruThFully and lovinGly

Character and Communication in Witnessing

9 Ordinary Christians Can Witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Pluralism and the New Definition of Tolerance . . . . . . . 189

Christ, the Only Way to God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193



Reasoning with People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Speaking to the Conscience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Our Fears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Wholesome in Attitudes and Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Prayer and the Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

10 How to Communicate Personally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

No Perfect Methods but Help for Starting . . . . . . . . . . 210

Different People, Different Places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Conversation Turners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Conversation with a Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

The Uninterested . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Using a Summary of the Gospel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Bloom Where You Are Planted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Practical Effects of Grace-Centered Evangelism . . . . . . . 228

Our Goal: Disciples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Plans to Obey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

APPENDIx 1

TraininG maTerials For learninG God-cenTered evanGelism . . 235

A. Recommended Books and Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

B. The Kind of Person God Uses in Evangelism . . . . . . . . . 237

C. Checkup: How Am I Doing in Telling the Gospel? . . . . . . . 239

D. Preparing Your Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

E. Explaining the Doctrine Underlying the Gospel and Evangelism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

F. A Theology of Evangelism Methodology (Talk/Sermon) . . . 243

G. Learning to Say What You Mean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

H. Being a Good Listener . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

I. Asking Good Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

J. Friendship Evangelism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250



K. Language Barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

L. Four Role Plays for Learning to Witness . . . . . . . . . . . 252

M. Evaluating the Content of a Gospel Presentation . . . . . . 254

N. Questions Non-Christians Ask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

O. Guidelines for Organizing Contact Evangelism . . . . . . . 258

P. Spiritual Interest Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Q. Telling the Gospel Through Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

R. God’s Test for Everyone: Measure Yourself by God’s Law . . . 264

S. Exposing Heart Attitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

T. Code of Ethics for Christian Integrity in Witnessing . . . . . 267

U. Schedule for a God-Centered Evangelism Training Seminar Weekend . . . . . . . . . . . 269

APPENDIx 2

learninG The Gospel diaGram “come home” . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

A. Procedure for Learning the “Come Home” Gospel Diagram . . 272

B. Come Home: Overview for Memorization . . . . . . . . . . . 275

APPENDIx 3

sTudy Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Twelve Sessions for Individuals or Groups . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301



charts and figures

Conversion: A Spiritual Process

(chap. 2, p. 66)

Some Contrasts in the Gospel Content

(chap. 3, p. 87)

Contrasting Views of God

(chap. 4, p. 104)

Come Home: Simplified Version (for sharing)

(chap. 4, p. 133)

God’s Method of Salvation

(chap. 5, p. 151)

Three Ways to Converse About Christ

(chap. 10, p. 217)

Turning Conversations to Christ

(chap. 10, p. 219)

Conversational Evangelism

(chap. 10, p. 221)

The Goal in Witnessing Affects the Methods

(chap. 10, p. 230)



introduction

The Doctrine Is the Drama

The title of this introduction is from Dorothy Sayers, a remarkable

Anglican woman. In the sixty-four years that God gave her (1893-1957), she

left an imprint on both the literary and church world. Of British stock, she

was one of the first women to receive a degree from Oxford University. Her

friends included C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and Charles Williams.

For Sayers, theology is what shapes or ought to shape everything that Chris-

tians think about and do, and it also ought to speak meaningfully to the

culture in addressing broadly human questions. . . . Christian doctrine, the

teaching of historically orthodox Christianity, . . . is not, as many have said,

restrictive or narrowing. Rather, it is expansive and opens us up to imagina-

tively exploring the vast implication that a particular doctrine might do for

our toughest problems. . . .

Thus Sayers’ legacy could be said to be that she shows us how to breathe

life into doctrines; and she demonstrates that they are not, in fact, boring, but

rather they are of the most dramatic of ideas when coupled with our creative

imagination rooted in genuine human experience.1

The Situation Diagnosed

What associations come to your mind when you hear the word doctrine? Re-

sponses I have received are “academic,” “impractical,” “arguments, “me-

dieval,” “sterile words,” “intellectuals,” “boring,” “divisive.” How have these

negative associations come about? The overwhelming climate in Western



26 Tel l T he TruT h

culture is postmodernism, which is extreme relativism. We can only look

inward to our inner feelings and try to be true to our real self. Our personal

preferences become our guide and tolerance, redefined as “approval,” becomes

the highest good. Forget trying to define and understand things; instead, live

with ambiguity. There are no moral absolutes. These attitudes form the basis

for a negative view of doctrine and theology within not only liberal Christi-

anity but increasingly in the evangelical Christian subculture. For centuries

Christians have opened the door to doctrinal indifference by unnecessary

church splits caused by a lack in understanding biblical doctrine and argu-

ments about words and ideas with no practical application to life. Contrib-

uting to this negative image of doctrine are two types of church leaders. First,

some leaders object to systematic theology, neglect to teach specific doctrines

that might upset people or don’t explain how doctrine can help them. Second,

other leaders are doctrinally explicit yet sometimes speak and write in uncivil

terms, not joining truth with love, or they do not explain the application of

doctrine to life and experience. We can’t simply blame the culture but must

admit our responsibility for giving doctrine a bad reputation.

The cultural climate is hostile to truth. Well-meaning evangelical Chris-

tians, concerned about losing an audience for the gospel, have offered their

own analysis of Western culture, noting worldviews, trends and character-

istics of those we want to reach. As cultural shifts take place, we need to

identify the new address of our audience so we can forward the gospel to

them. I commend their motives. There is a realization that we’re not reaching

many and that our communication, coming from another era, is out of step,

inadequate. They search for contact points with people’s concerns, experi-

ences, fear of commitment, search for hope and meaning. What is important

today is relationships, personal transformation, identity, inner peace, hap-

piness and rejection of all authority that does not correlate with their own

inner feelings. Finally, they find entry points into postmodern lives by devel-

oping programs and topics that fit what the lost are feeling. These evangel-

icals use cultural analysis to find ways to connect postmoderns with Christ

and enfold them into a Christian community.

However, when the relevance of core truths of the Bible is overlooked in

their diagnosis, then discernment of how to apply the gospel is lacking.

Human nature has not changed, and the sufficiency of the Bible to connect

and convert has not changed. A sincere desire to help the lost is not enough.

We can be sincerely wrong when we omit key gospel truths. Today’s over-



Introduction 27

whelming cultural atmosphere equates a person’s subjective experience

with reality and truth. Feelings and image, not rationality, determine the

course of contemporary lives and their approach to making moral decisions.

Those who see themselves as sovereign will never submit to a sovereign God.

A maturing life as a Christian coupled with a deepening understanding and

use of biblical theology would help keep on target those Christians who are

sensitive to cultural trends.2

Although this book is about evangelism, we must wrestle with the con-

fused mood and thinking of current times because they affect Christians and

their churches, derailing evangelism. Without real truth, biblical impera-

tives (the requirement to do this) and indicatives (Christ has done all re-

quired of us), evangelism will lead to converts who equate truth with their

warm feelings and vague spiritual experiences. Bare feelings uninformed by

Bible truths lead to superficiality, instability and a nominal Christianity. We

must use biblical truth to evaluate and interpret experiences, getting to the

core issue of idols in our hearts.

Consider one major trend among evangelicals in danger of redefining

the gospel.

Christians equating social activism with the gospel and evangelism. Do you

agree with these statements, commonly voiced by Christians?

• I enjoy getting the gospel out by tutoring inner-city kids.

• I show the gospel to the homeless by helping them find medical help,

food and shelter.

• I rejoice in witnessing to the gospel through the activity of helping at the

local soup kitchen.

• I proclaim the gospel by standing up for the rights of those that cannot

speak for themselves.

Increasingly, evangelical Christians are realizing that social justice and

the gospel go hand in hand. A recognition of the biblical basis for caring

about the poor and their many needs is close to God’s heart. Today, Chris-

tians are hearing God’s call to actively pursue justice issues such as pro-

tecting the defenseless, being a voice for those deprived by legal systems or

by unfair business practices and so forth. But some evangelicals are stretching

the gospel to equate it to loving service. This may be a result of how the

gospel has changed us, but social action, as important as that is, is not the

gospel! It is a result of the gospel being lived out by caring for others.




Churches need to be more circumspect regarding taking a firm position on

social and political issues. Individuals can organize to address issues without

requiring the church to take a position.

Mark Galli, senior managing editor of Christianity Today, observes:

The renewal of social concern also has been an essential correction to the life

of the evangelical church. . . . [It] has turned many Christians and churches

from a selfish spirituality to a faith characterized by justice and mercy. I’ve

been following the movement for three decades now . . . and in my experience

it has been the rare social justice appeal that grounds itself in the gospel of

grace in the Cross and Resurrection, in the miraculous gift of forgiveness, and

in the immense gratitude that naturally flows from that gift.

This relative absence of the vertical—the redeeming work of God in

Christ—in social justice rhetoric is matched by a focus on the horizontal. The

rhetoric usually assumes that the problem is a lack of human will and that the

job of the movement’s leaders is to cajole people out of social indifference with

whatever psychological tactic is at hand:

• Guilt: Look at others’ poverty in comparison to our wealth.

• Fear: What will our world be like if we don’t do something about x now?

• Shame: How can we call ourselves Disciples of Christ and not do x?

• Moralism: Exhortations littered with should, ought, do and must.

Sometimes the appeal is less oppressive, but nonetheless optimistic about

the human will. . . . The new emphasis on kingdom theology—an eschato-

logical vision that will drive our concerns for social justice—is a helpful ver-

tical corrective. Still, there is optimism in even this corrective that suggests we

think all will be well once we get people to think rightly. But the stubbornness

of the human will is anything but a little problem. It is, in fact, the problem of

fallen humankind, of deep seated desire gone awry. As Dallas Willard put it in

a Christianity Today interview, as Christians we are “learning to do the things

that . . . Jesus is favorable toward out of a heart that has been changed into his.”

We cannot simply harangue people to change their wills; our wills need divine

attention first. The more mature leaders of the social justice movement know

this spiritual reality all too well. They’ve watched too many activists burn out

because they know not the vertical dimension of justice.3

Carl Henry, the first editor of Christianity Today, promoted concern for

social justice among evangelicals in 1967 and offered five principles to guide

churches from going too far.

1. The Bible is critically relevant to the whole of modern life and culture—

the social-political arena included.



Introduction 29

2. The institutional church has no mandate, jurisdiction or competence to

endorse political legislation or military tactics or economic specifics in

the name of Christ.

3. The institutional church is divinely obliged to proclaim God’s entire rev-

elation, including the standards or commandments by which men and

nations are to be finally judged, and by which they ought now to live and

maintain social stability.

4. The political achievement of a better society is the task of all citizens, and

individual Christians ought to be politically engaged to the limit of their

competence and opportunity.

5. The Bible limits the proper activity of both government and church for

divinely stipulated objectives—the former, for preservation of justice and

order, and the latter, for the moral-spiritual task of evangelizing the earth.4

Let’s look at how a contemporary urban church has arrived at encour-

aging their members and attendees to be involved in caring for the people of

New York City, without forgetting Christ’s call to disciple the nations. Pastor

Tim Keller, commenting in an article about his book Generous Justice, ex-

plains why Redeemer Presbyterian Church divided the tasks of Bible min-

istry and justice ministry.

In the book I try to create a balance that I don’t often see. We have people who

say the church needs to be involved in both evangelism and justice. . . .

The idea that every local church should be equally evolved in evangelism

and justice—I don’t believe that’s true. As a minister at Redeemer my pri-

ority—the main thing I have to [do]—is to get people to believe in Jesus. If

they believe, then I disciple them for word and deed ministry. . . . Evangelism

takes the priority.

That’s why you see in Acts 6, for example, that even the mercy ministry

within the church is delegated to the diaconate. In Acts 6 the elders explain

that they’ve got to concentrate on the ministry of the Word. So, because

mercy’s important, they delegate. Inside the church, word has priority.

But an important purpose of that word ministry is to disciple our people to

work outside the church, to work in the city, to evangelize and do justice—to

make both an integral part of their lives as they engage those around them. . . .

[G]race makes you just, and justice is crucial.5

To summarize, the cultural climate among secularists has undermined

propositional truth. The evangelical subculture in America and elsewhere is




increasingly vague about gospel truths. This results in a lack of discernment,

which affects many facets of Christianity, of which evangelism is one. There

is confusion among many evangelicals about the relationship of word and

deed. Should we try to change society? To answer this modern confusion

Keller turns to the past and Jonathan Edwards! Edwards says motivation

results from true conversion. Motivation is fruit that includes passing on to

others, including the poor, the mercy shown to you.

Jesus was mighty in word and deed. Edwards preached the gospel with his

words; and he embodied the gospel with his deeds. . . . Some have argued that

Christians should only do justice as a means to the end of evangelism . . . on

the other hand, there are many who insist that doing justice is spreading the

gospel, it is evangelism they say. I propose a different way to understand evan-

gelism and social justice. They should exist in an asymmetrical, inseparable

relationship. Doing justice can indeed lead people to give the message of the

gospel of grace a hearing, but to consider deeds of mercy and justice to be identical

to gospel proclamation is a fatal confusion.6

Activism in social issues is not the gospel but a fruit of it.

We’ve been struggling with the reality of earthly suffering. Yet, the doc-

trine of eternal suffering in hell moves us to reconsider priorities. Ligon

Duncan, president of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, in an article

concerning eternal suffering in hell, compares this with the painful present

earthly suffering of many. He quotes John Piper saying, “Christians will care

about all suffering now, especially eternally suffering. If we don’t, we either

have a defective heart or a defective view of hell.” Summarizing a message

given by Piper during the 2010 Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization

in Cape Town, South Africa, Duncan writes,

Social justice is rightly concerned with people who are suffering. Our Lord

suffered for us. You want other people to receive the mercy that you received.

You want to show the mercy that you have been shown. So you become con-

cerned for all suffering, especially eternal. . . . Is the Great Commission to

make disciples or to love our neighbor? Is there a priority on sharing the

gospel or on ministering to the urgent and manifold needs of millions

worldwide? Should we care about their destiny or present predicament? . . .

[W]e whose hearts have been changed by grace and who embrace Jesus’

teaching on hell want to do all in our power to relieve human suffering now

and to proclaim the gospel with all of our might, so that as many as possible

will hear, and turn and flee the wrath to come. . . . [H]ell, rightly understood,



Introduction 31

does not make us hard; it makes us tender, . . . moves us to action and gives

us a perspective that refuses to merely work for the good of people now but

always and especially for their everlasting good.7

Three perspectives by Christians on the gospel. Among evangelicals, is

there one gospel or more? For help in classifying three approaches, I’ve

turned to a short excerpt from an unpublished paper by Tim Keller.

Doctrinal: “The Gospel of Jesus Christ” (Mk 1:1) (classical evangelical po-

sition)—The gospel is: Jesus lived the life you should have lived and died the

death you should have died, in your place so God can receive you not for your

record and sake but for his record and sake.

Cultural: “The Gospel of the Kingdom” (Mt 4:23) (progressive evangelical

position)—The gospel is: The way up is down, the way to power is to give up

power and serve, the way to God is to go to the margins in repentance and

faith. God loves to work through the weak, the marginalized, and the poor.

Pietistic: “The Gospel of Your Salvation” (Eph 1:13) (revivalist evangelical

position)—The gospel is: You are more wicked and flawed than you ever

dared believe, and more loved and accepted than you ever dared hope at the

same time. Unconditionally loved and radically humbled. Simultaneously jus-

tified and sinful, Simul justus et peccator.8

These perspectives should be combined—it must be seen that they inter-

penetrate and contain one another. That is, if you push down deep enough

into any of the perspectives, you find the other two! For example, if you

push down into the pietistic gospel of sonship far enough, you will discover

that we need to care for the poor. My new identity in Christ, when perfected,

must remove class pride and racism. If you push down into the gospel of the

kingdom far enough, you will see that the cross not only liberates from

the power of social idols but personal idols, which are rooted in self-

righteousness, as well. This concludes Keller’s thoughts.

Scot McKnight has written a book that gives an example of a kingdom

gospel. The author of a review writes,

N. T. Wright suggests McKnight is proposing a “revolution” in our under-

standing of the Good News. . . .

McKnight’s central critique is that contemporary evangelicals have re-

duced the gospel to the plan of salvation, or to the question of how an indi-

vidual gets saved. . . .

For McKnight the primary presentation of the Good News comes from




Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. To define the gospel as the plan of salvation

(and specifically justification by faith) is to ignore this crucial fact. . . .

McKnight’s case is persuasive but he leaves the relationship between the

story of the gospel and the way salvation works unclear. . . . [H]e leaves ques-

tions about how this broader gospel relates to key doctrines unanswered. . . .

The “revolution” that The King Jesus Gospel proposes is not a new way

forward, but a way back.9

I would point out that there is a revealed truth (doctrine) foundation un-

derlying all three of these gospel perspectives. But, the cultural perspective

needs to constantly connect its efforts with a sound biblical base. Can we

work toward a resolution? A gospel that includes all three perspectives?

Tim Keller is to be commended for his desire to help God’s children to

understand and be charitable toward each other. He’s taken the risk of being

accused as “simplistic” in order to highlight the focus and implications of

three movements within today’s evangelicalism. Keller provides insight into

their core beliefs and raises important questions about each. We can learn

from each.

Why is this important for a book on evangelism? Because we all have

blind spots and can become unbalanced. Some trumpet the gospel of Jesus,

others the gospel of Paul, still others the gospel of the kingdom. Is it pos-

sible that these refer to different aspects of the same gospel? The progressive

nature of revelation, which unfolds in time, means that historical events are

later explained through divine interpretations. The events of God, such as

the crèche, cross, cave, resurrection and ascension require prophetic inter-

pretation after they happen. The biblical story develops with a King ruling

over individual lives that extend corporately in various spheres. His sover-

eignty is displayed now on earth and culminates in an eternal reign in a new

heaven and earth. The Creator-Redeemer God is sovereign Lord—supreme

King. The gospel is good news. The core concepts (content) of the gospel are

expressed by the Greek word kērygma—the evangelistic message.

The Scripture Consulted

Kērygma: The gospel is a word message announcing good news. The key

Greek words connected to gospel refer to communication by words, talk,

speech. Verbal communication was the means by which the gospel spread.

It was primarily an announcement of the good news of what Jesus had done.

A proclamation of an amazing historic event to be heralded (kēryx) and



Introduction 33

proclaimed (kēryssō ). The propositional core truths contained in the gospel

message are represented by a Greek word transliterated as kērygma. These

doctrines are the “power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.

. . . For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness

that is by faith from first to last” (Rom 1:16-17).

J. I. Packer, in his classic book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, writes,

Paul saw himself as Christ’s herald. When he describes himself as “appointed

a preacher” of the gospel (2 Tim 1:11; 1 Tim 2:7 rsv), the noun he uses is

keryx, which means a herald, a person who makes public announcements on

another’s behalf. When he declares, “we preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor 1:23),

the verb he uses is kerysso, which denotes the herald’s appointed activity of

blazoning abroad what he has been told to make known. When Paul speaks of

“my preaching,” and “our preaching,” and lays it down that, after the world’s

wisdom had rendered the world ignorant of God, “it pleased God by the fool-

ishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1 Cor 1:21; 2:4; 15:14 kJv), the

noun he uses is kerygma, meaning not the activity of announcing, but the thing

announced, the proclamation itself, the message declared.10

Vern Poythress, a New Testament theologian, comments:

In a vision, Paul saw a man from Macedonia standing and begging him “Come

over to Macedonia and help us.” He concluded “that God had called us to

preach the gospel to them” (Acts 16:9-10). Did he begin to feed and clothe the

poor? Help change the laws regarding slavery? Improve health conditions in

the town? No. We find him preaching a message which called for a response.

A wealthy business woman listens and “the Lord opened her heart to respond

to Paul’s message” (Acts 16:14). Later, Paul tells a jailer “Believe in the Lord

Jesus and you will be saved—you and your household” (Acts 16:31). He gives

help by giving the gospel message. This reminds us that, “consequently, faith

comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word

of Christ” (Romans 10:17).11

Health-giving doctrine for healthy spiritual life. How is the word doctrine

used in the New Testament? The Greek word means “teaching.” There can

be good and bad teaching. Sometimes the adjectives sound and false denote

which is which. Often the context describes the effect of a teaching as either

godly or ungodly. False teaching is godless chatter, leading its indulgers into

increasingly ungodly living. These teachers’ false doctrine of the resur-

rection spreads like a poisonous gangrene infection in the soul and destroys

the faith of some. Such teachers have wandered away from the truth (2 Tim




2:16-18). This theme of the fatal, evil power of untrue words is emphasized

over and over by Jesus, Peter, Paul and the Gospel writers. Other words are

used in the Bible to describe those who are doctrinally uninformed: infants,

immature, lack of understanding and knowledge. These sometimes refer to

believers and unbelievers. The Jews are zealous for God, but their zeal is not

based on knowledge. Corinthians believers were infants and worldly. Peter

rebuked ignorant and unstable people who distorted Paul’s writings and

other Scriptures to their own destruction (Rom 10:2; 1 Cor 3:1). Note: You

can have great zeal, yet be wrong. You can create division in the Christian

community if you are not growing in the truth but remain immature in your

understanding. In Paul’s highly doctrinal letters, there are “things that are

hard to understand, which the ignorant [those who lack knowledge] and

unstable [those who lack discipline in their lives, thinking, emotions]

distort” (2 Pet 3:16). There is a connection between a person’s biblical com-

prehension and mature living.

Why is it difficult to interest Christians in the life-giving qualities of doc-

trine? Perhaps because the connection between biblical doctrine (truth) and

its fruitful application to our lives has become uncoupled. Some Christian

leaders, in trying to keep their audience’s interest, prefer brevity and provide

practical “how to” examples. Others emphasize expositional and exegetical

skills that provide a solid doctrinal base, yet they are vague in helping others

live the truth. This divorce between doctrine and practice needs to be

overcome; we need a remarriage based on a firm scriptural foundation. Paul

advised young Timothy of the importance of a ministry of sound doctrine and

a self-examined life—a divine combination affirming salvation as genuine and

affecting others for salvation through words: “Watch your life and doctrine

closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and

your hearers” (1 Tim 4:16).

A major theme in Paul’s letters for guiding young leaders in ministry is

adherence to doctrinal truth. The three pastoral epistles (1–2 Timothy;

Titus) constantly remind leaders to join together doctrine and experience.

This builds a framework for the Christian life, evangelism and growing the

kingdom of Christ’s lordship over the world. Passages in 1–2 Timothy and

Titus reveal that spiritual health comes from sound (literally “health-giving”)

doctrine, while spiritual poison comes from false doctrine. Truth is our soul

food. These two types of knowledge directly affect a person’s behavior for

good or evil. Yet Christians today focus on a person’s behavior and not as



Introduction 35

much whether their knowledge, understanding and teaching about spiritual

matters is true or false.

Let’s see what the apostle Paul says about this.

First Timothy

Command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote

themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote contro-

versial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.

(1 Tim 1:3-4 niv 2011)

Sound doctrine . . . conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed

God, which he entrusted to me. (1 Tim 1:10-11 niv 2011)

God our Savior . . . wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge

of the truth. (1 Tim 2:3-4 niv 2011)

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a

noble task. Now the overseer is to be . . . able to teach. (1 Tim 3:1-2 niv 2011)

[Deacons] must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear con-

science. (1 Tim 3:8-9)

God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foun-

dation of the truth. (1 Tim 3:15)

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and

follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come

through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot

iron. (1 Tim 4:1-2)

If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good

minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good

teaching that you have followed. (1 Tim 4:6 niv 2011)

This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. . . . Command and

teach these things. (1 Tim 4:9)

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching

and to teaching. (1 Tim 4:13)

Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you

will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Tim 4:16)

The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor,

especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. (1 Tim 5:17)




If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our

Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand

nothing. (1 Tim 6:3-4 niv 2011)

Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless

chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which

some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. (1 Tim

6:20-21)

Second Timothy

What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and

love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard

it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. (2 Tim 1:13-14)

The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to

reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Tim 2:2 niv 2011)

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does

not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (2 Tim

2:15)

Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and

Philetus, who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has

already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. (2 Tim 2:17-18)

The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone,

able to teach, not resentful. (2 Tim 2:24 niv 2011)

You, however, know all about my teaching. (2 Tim 3:10)

From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make

you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-

breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in right-

eousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every

good work. (2 Tim 3:15-17 niv 2011)

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and

encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come

when people will not put up with sound doctrine. (2 Tim 4:2-3 niv 2011)

Titus

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s

elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness. (Tit 1:1 niv 2011)



Introduction 37

[An elder] must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught,

so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who

oppose it. (Tit 1:9 niv 2011)

For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception.

. . . They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by

teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest

gain. (Tit 1:10-11 niv 2011)

You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. (Tit 2:1 niv

2011)

For guidance, I challenge Christians to read and reread these three in-

spired letters of the apostle Paul. Especially anyone preparing to be a church

leader and needing to evaluate which school to attend for training, which

ministries to look to for guidance, which church to join, what to emphasize

in ministry. I think the conclusion is unavoidable: we are to be approved by

God, “a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles

the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15). Christians must have discernment, which

comes from knowing the whole Bible and relating the truths therein. You

can protect the people from those who “will not put up with sound doctrine.”

Paul gives a strong command to stay true to the apostolic teaching, “the

pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the

good deposit that was entrusted to you.” What could be a clearer statement

of the priority of Scripture, doctrine and truth! Jesus stated that a knowledge

of God’s truth will free us (2 Tim 1:13-14).

Connecting doctrine with real life. Many evangelical theologians are

warm-hearted and passionate about applying Christian truth to life, theirs

and others’. Hear the earnestness and wisdom in the following quote by

Bernard Ramm.

How to put together theology and spiritual life has been one of the main con-

cerns of my life. Theology ought to lead to the depths of spiritual experience.

It certainly did with Paul. Spiritual experiences ought to create a great hunger

in the soul for the truth of God. But how fractured we are! Theologians are

frequently spiritually snobbish or over-sophisticated. And men who em-

phasize the spiritual life can be so theologically naïve and biblically illiterate.

Great theology and great spiritual experiences ought to go hand in hand.

John says that we are to test the spirits. This means that no experience as

such is beyond examination and evaluation. It is contrary to the New Tes-




tament for any person to remove his experience from the search light of the

New Testament. In short, no experience can claim to be Christian if the person

who had the experience refuses to subject it to the pages of the revealed and

inspired New Testament. The New Testament informs me that part of my re-

sponsibility is to test the spirits, for there are many spirits in the world. I

would be derelict in my duty if I took all spiritual experiences reported to me

at face value and did not test them according to the Word of God as expressed

in the canonical New Testament.

For example, in checking through the New Testament on the theme of truth

we find something very interesting. God is a God of truth and cannot lie (Romans

3:4).The Spirit is a spirit of truth and leads into more truth (John 16:13). The Son

said, “I am . . . the truth” (John 14:6). And the gospel is called the word of truth

(Colossians 1:5). This, along with much more evidence that could be cited, is a

powerful witness to the concern of the Christian faith for truth.

This leads immediately to another observation, namely, the priority of

truth over all religious experience. If the Father, Son, Spirit, and gospel are

truth, then Christians should be passionately concerned for truth. And this

passion for truth must be so great that Christians are willing to submit all that

they believe, practice, and experience to the test of truth. The true Spirit will

give true experiences to those who truly seek the Father and the Son ac-

cording to the Word of truth. Thus any Christian who would seek to exempt

their religious experience from the scrutiny of truth is acting in a spirit and

manner which are contrary to the entire New Testament. The slope in the New

Testament is from truth to experiences, not from experience to truth. It is the truth

that produces the true experience. If one reverses this order he does so at the ex-

pense of truth. . . . Experiences are real and true and valid because they conform

to the truth of God, and not because they were wonderful experiences as such. . . .

We cannot operate with “the truth of the New Testament.” This truth must be par-

celed out into manageable statements. . . . These manageable pieces are called

theology or doctrine.

In Romans 6:17 Paul speaks of the Christians in Rome being obedient to a

standard or form or type of doctrine. This means: The religious experiences of

these Christians was inspired, shaped and guided by the right pattern of doc-

trine. Here we have the proper function of doctrine and its relationship to spir-

itual life and Christian experience. The Christian who wishes to be faithful to

the New Testament, and who wishes to have the most and best of the Holy Spirit,

must seek those experiences prescribed by the doctrinal patterns of the New

Testament. He must shape and guide his own life by such doctrinal patterns.

As he wrote the pastoral epistles Paul was nearing the end of his life. He

believed that he would be executed in the near future (II Timothy 4:6). . . .



Introduction 39

What was to happen to those churches when the apostle’s firm hand could no

longer guide them? It is in this situation that Paul passionately appealed to

doctrine as the only hope of the Christian churches to survive the spiritual

and theological attrition that would follow upon his death. This is a most re-

markable phenomenon! The greatest appeal for doctrine and sound teaching

in the entire Bible is to be found in these pastoral epistles.

Dr. Ramm concludes,

There is such a thing as “dead orthodoxy.” People are justly resentful when

they are cut down to size for their religious experiences by people who have

loads of orthodoxy and no spiritual life. Sound doctrine may be taught, and

correct interpretation of the Bible may be given in a lifeless manner. . . . Let’s

hold to the New Testament synthesis of great Christian truth inspiring,

shaping, and directing great Christian experiences. Then the Church will be

strong in the land.12

Doctrine: Concise Statements of the Pieces of Truth in the Divine Drama of Scripture

A diagnosis has been given of the decline in doctrine in both the secular

culture and portions of the evangelical culture. I cited it as an example the

confusion of the gospel with social justice activism. The prevalence of in-

justice and suffering grabs our immediate attention. Yet too often Christians

find themselves doing things without developing their (and the ones they

serve) reliance on what Christ has done. The gospel is the root, and activism

a fruit. Genuine conversion to Christ leads to the fruit of concern for other

people. Eternal suffering keeps our focus on the gospel. Keller’s “Three

Christian Perspectives on the Gospel” helps us see their weaknesses and

strengths, and advocates for combining their perspectives. Whether or not

this can be agreed upon, his overview highlights the differences. Theology

is important and must be the basis for evangelism.

What then is the gospel? Consulting Scripture we find ke4rygma, the Greek

noun “meaning not the activity of announcing but the thing announced, the

proclamation itself, the message declared.” This is the basis for insisting doc-

trine as central to Christianity. Further, the Pastoral Epistles emphasize

sound doctrine as a medicine that produces healthy Christians. It is nour-

ishing and provides nutrition for the believer. Remember, these epistles were

written to instruct church leaders. I hope you are now motivated to “watch

your life and doctrine closely” (1 Tim 4:16). Doctrine is wholesome—it’s



Part One

The Whole Gospel

lost and found

Content of Our Message



1

evangelism as planting and Watering

i waited expectantly as the speaker began his comments. His topic was

evangelism. I was taken aback when he started using the phrase soul winning

to describe his evangelistic practice. Okay, I thought to myself, so this imper-

sonal phrase grates you. Let’s see if the rest of the talk gets any better. It didn’t.

What followed was a string of success stories about people he had led to

Christ. He reinforced his point by citing famous stars and athletes as victo-

rious evangelists. Then came an emphasis on techniques and manipulation

of people reminiscent of cults I had studied.

His crowning illustration of how to “get the gospel out to every person”

was a detailed set of instructions on how to roll up a gospel tract in such a

way that it could be accurately dropped from the window of a moving car.

The object was for it to drift to the feet of a hitchhiker—as you passed him

by! He justified this technique on the basis of the startling story of a young

man who was converted by this sort of “gospel bomb.” The speaker’s con-

clusion, “It works,” sounded to me like the unbiblical idea “the end justifies

the means.” As I left the church that night I wondered, Instead of sending his

Son, why didn’t God just send a tract?

Perhaps closer to your experience is the evangelistic approach of ma-

joring on the conscious (felt) needs of people (loneliness, lack of love, hurt,

stress, discouragement and so on) and molding Jesus into a supplier of their

desires. Often the deep sinful nature of their selfishness is never addressed.

Well-meaning Christians dilute the gospel into a bandage for surface wounds




and medicine for selfish wishes. The deeper need of reconciliation with their

Maker on his terms of unconditional surrender is omitted. Legitimate de-

sires (to be loved, have health, not be lonely) can become idols.

What Is Evangelism?

We have good cause to wonder what kind of a gospel is being conveyed in

our day. I am referring not only to individual speakers (this man was a pro-

fessor of evangelism at a Christian school) but to seminars and books that

purport to train Christians in evangelism. I’m embarrassed at the shoddy

methods and anemic view of God prevalent among evangelicals. We need a

growing concern for a God-honoring witness to his grand gospel. Before we

can make any headway, however, we should define our terms. What do we

mean by evangelism and witness?

In thinking of witnessing, we have to walk between a narrow and a broad

definition. Narrowly defined, witnessing is confined to a rehearsal of a few

gospel facts in the hearing of a nonbeliever. Broadly defined, it is whatever

we do as Christians before the watching world. Neither of these definitions

is satisfactory. The first narrows witness to only our lips; the second broadens

it to just being nice. Both our words and our ways are inextricably bound

together in witness. It is easy to excuse ourselves by saying either “Well, I

told her the gospel!” or “I just live my life before others.” These two ex-

tremes seem to have developed more in reaction to each other than on any

biblical basis. What might be a more balanced view?

The main design for each man and woman is not “to be a super soul-

winner night and day.” As the Westminster Catechism says, it is “to glorify

God and enjoy Him forever.” This means that we, as whole people, are to

enjoy God, starting now, and keep his honor in focus in all that we do.

Clearly the way we live is a primary aspect of our witness. Yet our life is to

be coupled with telling God’s truth. People need to be told who makes our

lives different. Our lives, then, will illuminate the truth we express to non-

believers. The airplane of Christian witness has two wings: our lives

(conduct) and our lips (conversation).

To remain silent and let others interpret our actions is wrong; God himself

did not do this. The pivotal points of God’s redemptive action in history are

accompanied with verbal revelation. God wants us to understand the

meaning of his actions. Likewise, we must speak—and speak of Christ—

even if we sense our own inconsistency of life. We must speak even when



Evangelism as Planting and Watering 53

we do not know much about the Bible. We must speak even when it is in-

convenient. God is bigger than our sins, our ignorance, our pride. He will

honor his word in our mouths.

Nevertheless, at times our actions do speak louder than our words. When

John describes our commission to witness, he says that as the Father sent the

Son, so we are sent to others (Jn 20:21). God didn’t send a tract; he prepared

a body. Likewise, God has prepared your life and personality to demonstrate

him. We need to be creative and selfless in our love to others. We need to

learn how to be friends as well as perceive the needs of others and do some-

thing for them. Much of Jesus’ witness was in response to a question fol-

lowing an act of kindness or a miracle. But we need to make sure that we are

not condescending. We should allow others to help us, let them minister to

us. Jesus asked the Samaritan woman to give him some water. We need to

learn to be human and treat others as God’s image-bearers. If we are friendly

only as long as someone is interested in discussing the gospel, we don’t know

much about friendship. We need to listen and seek to serve, not just talk.

How does the Bible define witnessing? In the Great Commission as ex-

pressed by Luke, we have central truths to which we are witnesses (Lk

24:48). At the ascension, Christ’s last words command the disciples to

witness about him, a person (Acts 1:8). In the Gospels we see the writers

selecting incidents from the life of Christ to convey the gospel. The back-

ground for the word witness is the law court. To witness is to testify that

Christ is who he said he is. Such testimony is a means to an end—to give an

eyewitness account of the truth (1 Jn 1:1-3).

Studying in the Swiss Alps at L’ Abri in the 1960s with Francis and Edith

Schaeffer, my wife and I had little idea that God would use us to help someone

find God’s grace. A young man, Chris, arrived one afternoon when our com-

munity was working in the gardens and carpentry shop, cleaning and

cooking. He was a student of religion at the University of Pennsylvania,

touring Europe to learn about life. He eagerly joined in with those of us from

every continent who had come to search for truth. He liked the intellectual

stimulation, friendliness and high morals, and seemed confident in himself.

In this man’s eyes, Jesus was intriguing but unnecessary to living the

good life. One day I asked him to read Paul’s account of why he had trans-

ferred his confidence from self-righteousness to a gift-righteousness. Pon-

dering this question, Chris began to spend time alone, reading Scripture and

asking God to make Christ real to him. Later that summer we parted with a




promise to see each other back in Philadelphia.

At the same time that I was getting to know Chris, a young woman named

Franny, whom I knew from Philadelphia, was also studying at L’ Abri. Franny

had been raised in a reputable New England family and had moved to Phila-

delphia two years previously. Following her religious upbringing was im-

portant to her, so she sought out a church with the refined atmosphere and

high liturgy to which she was accustomed. It wasn’t long before her cousin,

who had become a Christian, contacted her and introduced her to his

Christian friends. Providentially, one of them belonged to a group of stu-

dents at Westminster Theological Seminary who had a burden for evan-

gelism. Each Sunday these students would invite friends to church and then

to the pastor’s home that night for a discussion. Franny protested that if

anyone was a Christian, she certainly was.

Slowly, however, realization of her unbelief began to dawn on her. In her

own words, “I found myself confronted with my self-delusion at each church

service as I said the Apostles’ Creed. I got to a point where, after I began ‘I

believe in God the Father Almighty,’ I became silent for the rest of the reci-

tation. I admitted I didn’t believe anything else in that creed. I had come to

realize that my supposed faith was nothing more than a cultural tradition—

a warm nostalgia.”

She began to search in earnest. Again in God’s providence, he brought a

speaker and author to the city—and he was from her religious tradition! His

name was J. I. Packer. Eagerly she attended his lectures on the epistle to the

Ephesians. She was dumbfounded by the depth and richness of Scripture

and by the fact that her own church (Episcopal) had once been united in

teaching the importance of new birth. At the meetings she was introduced

to a Baptist business executive who mailed her a copy of Anglican bishop

J. C. Ryle’s book on the confessional statement of her church (the Thirty-Nine

Articles), which she began to read. Several weeks later, Franny called me.

“Could you come to my apartment as soon as possible? This is all making

sense. I believe! I want to talk to you.” This is the background that later led

to her visit to L’ Abri with two of her Christian girlfriends.

While at L’ Abri, Franny caught Chris’s eye, and they agreed to see each

other back in Philadelphia. Since I was serving the students at the Uni-

versity of Pennsylvania through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Chris

joined the group and started going to church. He and Franny, both new

Christians, began to date and soon were married. As the years have passed,




our friendship has continued. In a unique twist to this story of evangelism,

Chris joined the staff of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and is now my

supervisor! How I long for those reading this book to be used by God in

bringing others to Christ. Aside from worshiping God, there is nothing else

in this world that is more deeply fulfilling.

The Difference Between the Gospel and Our Testimony

The content of our message is Christ and God, not our journey to faith. Our

personal testimony may be included, but witnessing is more than reciting

our spiritual autobiography. Specific truths about a specific person are the

subject of our proclamation. A message has been committed to us—a word

of reconciliation to the world (2 Cor 5:19).

Good evaluation questions to keep in mind after hearing a testimony are

“How much did I learn about Christ? How much about the speaker? Which

was more prominent?” When people are very much in love, you find them

extolling many things about their loved one and not always focusing on

themselves. I still remember the change that came over an especially shy girl

every time she got the chance to talk about her boyfriend. You couldn’t keep

her quiet! It is the same with a healthy testimony about our lover Christ (see

appendix 1.B).

Why is it important to distinguish between gospel truths and testimony?

In an age of religious pluralism, we find many who are testifying. I’ll never

forget the time when I had been speaking to a young man about the change

Christ had made in my life. His sincere response was, “Listening to New Age

music does the same for me.” What would you have said in reply? Some

people recommend faith in a guru or in a technique of meditation or in self

or in relationships. Many cite experiences of a change in life. If our witness

has no truth content, we can expect the typical response: “That’s interesting.

I’m glad for you, but what you have isn’t for me.” Can you imagine the

apostle Paul saying, “I just have this warm feeling in my heart”?

Faith is not to be looked on as a separate entity (“I wish I had your faith”)

but as an ability given by God that is valid only because it connects us with

Jesus Christ.

It is worth noting that the New Testament Christians never attempted to es-

tablish the truth of Christianity on their inward experiences. . . .

To put it another way, we never find Paul trying to prove the truth of Chris-

tianity to others “because of the difference it has made in my life.”1




Distinguishing Our Role from God’s Is Crucial

The crucial thing to remember in evangelism is the distinction between our

responsibility and God’s. Our task is to faithfully present the gospel message

by our lives and our lips.2 Any definition of our task that includes results is

confusing our responsibility with God’s prerogative, which is regeneration.

Picture a fragile, thin-stemmed wine glass. Now think of a rock the size of a

basketball. Imagine lifting that rock and dropping it into that delicately con-

structed glass. Shattered. We too will be broken if we try to carry something

that only God can carry. We plant and water; God gives the increase (1 Cor

3:5-9). We may reap—but only when God has brought the grain to maturity.

The question of whether or not we are evangelizing cannot be settled by

counting the number of converts. In that case, many faithful missionaries

who have seen no converts from years of labor would have to be rebuked for

lack of witnessing. To define evangelism in terms of results is too broad.

Then its essence becomes a quantitative measurement: if there are no results,

then no evangelism has been done. I do not mean to suggest we should not

evaluate both our results and nonresults, building a holy dissatisfaction

with nonresults. We are not content with never catching any fish when

fishing (Lk 5:4-11) or having empty seats at God’s kingdom banquet (Lk

14:15-24). Have you ever pleaded for lost people with deep sorrow as did

Jesus and Paul? Have you wept?

It is just as misleading to narrow our definition of evangelism to the type

of meeting, literature, appeal or Bible passage used. If we did this, then we

would be embarrassed to find little evangelism done in the New Testament

times. Can you find a biblical example of the methods employed in today’s

typical evangelistic rally and appeal?3 Rather, we need to evaluate all sup-

posed evangelism by the question “What truth was taught?” If we think

wrongly about our definition of evangelism, we are likely to act wrongly in

our methods of evangelism (see appendix 1.M).

In the Bible we have many examples of witnessing from which we can

draw numerous principles. Studying the way Jesus interacted with people

and the way the apostles witnessed in the Spirit can help in our own witness.

From these models of witnessing, however, I will mention only one. The

passage is an account of Paul’s witness before Agrippa (Acts 26:16-29), and

it highlights the characteristic of bold, conscience-directed speech.

Paul describes himself as appointed by God as a servant and a witness (a

good combination to keep in mind). In a series of striking contrasts, the goal




of the mission is summarized as nothing less than conversion. Repentance

and evidence of it are his major concerns. Paul centers on fulfillment of

Scripture and Christ’s death and resurrection. He speaks to Agrippa’s con-

science—an element often neglected in witnessing. Genuine witnessing in-

volves persuading people to convert but stops short of evaluating the success

only in terms of results.

There are two main ways that we can study the presentation of the gospel.

First, we can study the Bible itself, especially the book of Acts, the Epistles

and the life of Christ. Second, we can study the history of the Christian

church. That is, we can look at the revivals and, in particular, the people

whose preaching has been honored in the conversion of others. From such

study, Martyn Lloyd-Jones has drawn the following foundational principles

for evangelism:

1. The supreme object of the work of evangelism is to glorify God, not to

save souls.

2. The only power that can do this work is the Holy Spirit, not our own

strength.

3. The one and only medium through which the Spirit works is the Scrip-

tures; therefore, we “reason out of the Scriptures” like Paul did.

4. These preceding principles give us the true motivation for evangelism—a

zeal for God and a love for others.

5. There is a constant danger of heresy through a false zeal and employment

of unscriptural methods.4

Understanding that God, not us, is the evangelizer (the one who brings

results) is wonderfully liberating. This makes witnessing an adventure in

which we merely ride along with God as he moves out. We don’t force open

any doors, just walk through the ones he opens! In The Lion, the Witch, and

the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis allegorically describes the sensation of riding on

Christ (symbolized as the lion Aslan) over the wall into the enemy’s territory,

as he confronts the power of sin to bring rebirth.

“And now,” said Aslan presently . . . “we have a long journey to go. You must

ride on me.” . . . And with a great heave he rose underneath [the children] and

then shot off, faster than any horse could go, down hill and into the thick of

the forest.

That ride was perhaps the most wonderful thing that happened to them in

Narnia. Have you ever had a gallop on a horse? Think of that; and then take




away the heavy noise of the hoofs and the jingle of the bits and imagine in-

stead the almost noiseless padding of the great paws. Then imagine instead of

the black or grey or chestnut back of the horse the soft roughness of golden

fur, and the mane flying back in the wind. And then imagine you are going

about twice as fast as the fastest racehorse. But this is a mount that doesn’t

need to be guided and never grows tired. He rushes on and on. . . .

It was nearly midday when they found themselves looking down a steep

hillside at a castle. . . . No face looked over the battlements and the gates were

fast shut. And Aslan, not at all slacking his pace, rushed straight as a bullet

towards it. . . .

Next moment the whole world seemed to turn upside down, and the

children felt as if they had left their insides behind them; for the Lion had

gathered himself together for a greater leap than any he had yet made and

jumped—or you may call it flying rather than jumping—right over the

castle wall.5

Here’s a story of how I rode on God’s back (and the prayers of a Christian

family). It all began with a father who was concerned about a college student

who wanted to date his daughter. Since the young man was not a believer,

the father and daughter agreed that the only “date” would be on Sunday

mornings at church. They told him to come talk to me about the Lord—and

he did!

I was skeptical as a lanky Colombian with a ponytail settled on the sofa

in my office. One hour and forty minutes later, I had become hopeful and

encouraged by his interest in spiritual things and the Bible. He had already

been attending a good church for three months; God’s Spirit was definitely

working. As I told him the story of the conversion of two “religious” men—

Paul and the rich, moral young man—a light seemed to come on. He too

considered himself religious and moral, but now he saw his pride, hypocrisy

and guilt before a holy and loving God. I repeatedly warned him not to play

with God in order to win favor with this Christian young woman.

Two weeks later Pablo came to tell me his story. When he left my office

after the first visit, he went to a park for several hours and read his Bible,

thought, prayed and reviewed the Scriptures we had gone over, and even-

tually repented of his sin. He said:

The next day I was changed. I felt joy, peace, forgiveness. Before, I only saw re-

ligion as mental acceptance of certain historical facts: Jesus lived in the Middle

East, Jesus rose from the dead, etc. Now I feel the meaning of those facts.

That night my friends were drinking and had rented a porno video. As




soon as I realized what it was, I couldn’t stay in the house. I got up and left.

Jesus would not want me to watch this. They were shocked and worried about

me. I didn’t know how to explain to them. But they know I’m into God now

and are suspicious, yet curious.

Later, I wrote a letter to a friend, who has a good job and money but is

depressed and lonely, telling her what I had found: “Jesus is the Savior for our

sins.” She thinks I’m just young and have a Christian girlfriend, and I’ll grow

up someday.

Every day now I’m God-conscious. When I read the Bible, it’s like I’m lis-

tening; it seems to be speaking to me and taking me somewhere. I am much

more aware of my sin now, but also of my sorrow for sinning before God

(Psalm 51), and have experienced release from guilt. As I face temptations

daily, I’m surprised at how I can now resist some of them. I feel strangely

stronger. God has become more important than my career plans and the girl

that I like. I could never meet all her needs and vice versa. Each of us needs

God to be number one. It seems that God has even arranged our summer so

that we will see very little of each other for two months. This is good. I have

a lot of reading and evaluating to do.

I love to ask new babes in Christ, “What’s it like?” and just listen. Of

course, I’m comparing it with Scripture—especially 1 John, which was

written to give the marks of true salvation and assurance. I avoid telling

them they are saved. The Holy Spirit gives assurances as they see the fruits

of a changing life. How thankful I am for the prayers and wisdom of the

Christian family who took Pablo to church and for a church that gives the

gospel “straight.” Wow! Will you pray and speak to someone today? Invite

them to church?

I have begun this examination of evangelism by describing the idea of

witness. Now let’s shift to a scriptural study of what constitutes the “whole

gospel.” We’ll do this both negatively (by way of contrast with a partial

gospel) and positively (by way of presenting an outline and commentary on

the central elements of the gospel).

Complete the worksheet in appendix 1.C, “Checkup: How Am I Doing in

Telling the Gospel?”



Documents

Tell the Truth, 4th Edition by Will Metzger - EXCERPT