It seems to me that there is a constant discussion, or you could call it a debate (or you could even call it a family fight) among us evangelicals over whether we should be focusing all our attention and efforts on evangelism or discipleship. Trust me...this is a big deal in the church right now. If you could hear just a small fraction of the conversations I have as I travel and preach...
Because I am an evangelist (see Ephesians 4) by call and trade, I get bombarded by the discipleship camp with questions like, "What happens after all those people respond to the gospel when you preach?"
Because I am a pastor, I also get comments from soul winners like, "If all you ever do is teach the Bible to Christians, how will the lost ever hear the gospel and be saved?"
These are both very good, and, eternally important questions. And to answer those questions, let me first draw your attention to the false dichotomy that we have created in our little evangelical church culture here in the West. This is a simplification...but is a fairly accurate synopsis of the two teams, tribes, camps, etc.
TEAM DISCIPLESHIP
1. We follow the Great Commission! Jesus never said make converts. He said make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). And that is what the church must do.
2. A true disciple will become a witness, will share their faith, and will lead the lost to Jesus. Therefore we don't have to focus on evangelism.
3. Focusing on evangelism hurts the process of discipleship because evangelism is all about numbers and results and ignores spiritual growth.
4. Discipleship takes more time and investment than evangelism, and therefore is spiritually superior and more important.
5. We would never declare that a person is "saved" or a "Christian" until they have proven their faith by following Christ over a period of time.
6. God alone converts people to faith, but it is our responsibility to make disciples out of those that God saves.
7. Jesus made disciples! (Peter, James, John, Thomas, Mary, Martha, etc...)
TEAM EVANGELISM
1. We follow the Great Commission! Jesus told us to preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15-18). We preach the gospel and God saves the people.
2. A true Christian should automatically want to share their faith, so we teach them how to be a witness and bring others to Christ.
3. Focusing on discipleship hurts the work of evangelism because it focuses too much on the individual who is already saved, ignoring those who are lost.
4. Evangelism is more grueling and difficult than discipleship because it takes us to the front lines of the lost world, making it spiritually superior and more important.
5. The Bible says that when a person confesses sin, repents and believes in Christ, they are saved (Romans 10:13, 1John 1:9). It's not "false assurance" to say they're saved.
6. The same God who saves a sinner will complete the work of discipleship in that new believer (Philippians 1:6).
7. Jesus was an evangelist! (The woman at the well, Zacheus, the woman caught in adultery, Nicodemus, etc...)
Go back and re-read these lists. Do you see how the wedge can easily be driven down into the church if all we ever do is repeat our platitudes?
Are these two tribes really in disagreement? Are they mutually exclusive?
Tomorrow I will unpack this debate further and humbly offer some hopeful insights that the church could benefit from.
What do you think about this? What "team" do you more naturally fall into?
Comments
October 8 2012
Nathan Klein
I think the answer is in the number 7 of both camps. Jesus did both. He followed the will of God. Whatever the situation called for that’s what He did. If he was to be an evangelist He spoke the gospel to those that needed to hear. If it was to make disciples He did so with joy and compassion. We need to follow Christ, and be prepared and obedient to the will of God, to be able to meet whatever need is presented to us.
October 8 2012
Chet Andrews
One can’t really separate discipleship from evangelism or claim one is more important that the other. However, proper biblical discipleship is the foundation for proper biblical evangelism. In other words we are not commanded to make converts we are commanded to make disciples (Matthew 28:19) as number 1 under discipleship stated. Evangelism without the intention of discipleship is incomplete. The one who is discipling the new believer should emphasize that one of the reasons they are being discipled is to give away their faith, and spread the gospel seed through intentionally praying for and reaching out to the lost in WORD and deed.
October 8 2012
Josh Hamby
I think we (myself included) argue in generalizations sometimes. As if, we should all focus on either evangelism or discipleship. The beauty of the church is it’s many parts. The evangelists who preach evangelistic themed messages and the pastoral staff that follow up with discipleship. You can’t make disciples without evangelism and to evangelize someone without providing discipleship is like birthing a baby and leaving it to grow alone.
October 8 2012
Joshua Jones
I’ve never understood the difference in outworking and action here. Both are, simply put, pointing people to Jesus. It sounds like were just trying to draw lines on where people are along in the process and choosing if we should do, or not do, that at different points. Can’t we just simply do that regardless of where people are?
October 8 2012
Axel Beteta
I fall more on the discipleship team. For ten years I was part of a church that was all about evangelism - the church grew immensely in a short period of time, but people came and after taking a few steps in their walk with God, they would leave. However, no one cared about the issue - people come and go, and that was frustrating. I also believe it is important to train the person into discipleship before you can send them out. Jesus trained his disciples and gave them authority before sending them out to share the gospel.
I really want to read more about this and of course your thoughts on the subject.
October 8 2012
CH
Any particular church, group, person, or ministry who exclusively does one or the other misses out on the full power of God through his church (we get to take joy and experience excitement from being co-laborers in The Kingdom!!!). To separate the two is to corrupt God’s intended unity for His/Her church, which can portray itself in many ways.
I wouldn’t mind evangelism being redefined as leading one to the truth and then walking with them to completion/fullness in Christ.
October 9 2012
George Claud
Interested in hearing your thoughts! As I find my own words in your lists, I’m sure you really have heard more than I know when it comes to this “family fight” in recent years.
A part of me feels that the basic debate about evangelism will never quite be over - it’s been going hundreds of years strong (I’m thinking back to Spurgeon and Moody, among others). But finding some help to navigate it all would be really helpful.
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