Archive: The Priority of Evangelism
By John Ed Mathison
Forget about all of those theoretical books on church growth. John Ed Mathison has seen Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, multiply from a 400-member congregation in 1970 to its present mega-church status. Without question, Mathison believes that evangelism has been the key to growth. —the editors
In order to develop a model for growth, our church created a planning group called the “Joel Committee,” taken from the Old Testament prophet who encouraged “the old men to dream dreams and the young men to see visions” (2:28).
Prayerful planning is essential for growth. We must discover God’s plan for our congregation and implement it, coming to terms with the priorities of the church. Congregations do not have the resources to spend their time, energy, or money without defining priorities.
After prayerful consideration, the priority for Frazer was established as that of making disciples, that is, evangelism.
The committee took time to carefully define evangelism because the word has been so misunderstood, producing regretful negative connotations with too many people. Therefore, we felt that our definition of evangelism had to reflect Scriptures such as: Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:14-16; Luke 24:45-48; John 20:19-22; and Acts 1:6-8.
On the basis of these biblical mandates, evangelism includes every member of the congregation. As such, evangelism—introducing people to Jesus—is the starting point for all of the ministries of the church. Stewardship, education, social action—all are the products of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Stewardship and tithing are important, but people do not tithe until first their own commitment to Christ is in order. Social concern is crucial, but the motivation must come out of what Jesus Christ has done in our individual lives.
Frazer’s definition
Evangelism is the proclamation, by word and deed, of the saving act of God in Jesus Christ to people, with a desire that they will decide for faith and become Christian disciples through the church.
Each word of the above definition is important.
The word proclamation is used rather than the word preach, because preaching in today’s culture usually denotes what happens behind the pulpit. Proclamation in the New Testament was what happened in the marketplace as people shared with each other concerning the event of Jesus Christ.
Proclamation is the “good news” that God has become known to us in the form of Jesus: “The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, … full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
Proclaiming the “good news” concerning the kingdom of God does not deal with ideas about God, but with the reality of God.
Proclamation is not an ideal, or a set of truths to be grasped, but sharing what God’s grace has done in your own life. The validity of the proclamation is not measured in terms of success, but rather in terms of faithfulness to the biblical mandate to “witness and make disciples.”
Evangelism is not having a revival once a year, or having some kind of special worship service, but that which happens when lay people share with each other in their everyday living.
The heart of Frazer’s growth is based on lay people, not clergy. Many churches have a concept that the pastor is paid to be the evangelist. But the pastor does not have the contacts with unchurched people that the laity have.
Our definition also places the emphasis on word and deed. Who a person is often speaks more loudly than what the person says. Lifestyle communicates and proclaims.
The Bible is not only a record of the historical acts of God, but a touchstone to show the activity of God for today: “It was not with our fathers that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive today” (Deuteronomy 5:3). Biblical proclamation is not commitment to formulated dogma of the past, but is open to God’s dealing with people today as God’s Word engages our contemporary situation.
Evangelism is not just a matter of proclaiming, but also a “desire that people will decide for faith and become Christian disciples.” This brings the hearer to a time of decision. Our message is proclaimed with a desire that the hearer will respond for faith.
Finally, evangelism aims at the making of “disciples through the church.” The Christian life is a converting process. This is why the term evangelism, when rightly understood, is synonymous with “making disciples.” Evangelism happens as God continues to work in the lives of disciples, reaching out through them to make new disciples, and making their own discipleship ever more full and true.
The Bible teaches in John 3:3 that we must be “born again.” Doctors are not allowed to deliver babies and leave them lying on the street. They would have their licenses rejected and be prosecuted for malpractice. Someone has to feed the baby, change the baby and, care for all the baby’s needs.
People who decide for faith are reborn as babies. Some evangelism efforts just end there and leave them on the street, and “babies” have no chance of survival by themselves. We must nurture and care for them until they become mature enough to become reproducing disciples.
In the Frazer definition of evangelism, the phrase “through the church” is essential. This is a structure of accountability. The congregation is designed and gifted to assume the nurturing, discipling process. This means that the church has a great responsibility for each person, and each person has an ever-increasing responsibility to become involved in the whole process of making disciples.
Assimilation, therefore, is a vital part of evangelism. It becomes important for the person who has made a new commitment and joined the church to become involved in a small group and in a function of ministry.
The concept for the church is really understood at two levels—the overall community of the membership of the church, and the different subgroups or “communities” that are formed around several different dynamics. Some of these small groups are based on special interests or talents; some are sociological, economic or vocational groupings. It is essential for the new member to become involved in a small group and in a function of service.
The purpose of these small groups is to minister to the world and to the community itself. It is crucial for the direction of interest to be both out to the world and in toward the group—for service and fellowship.
In summary, the purpose of evangelism is to produce disciples who by word and deed will proclaim the good news in the day-to-day situations of life. This proclaiming calls and gathers people into the church, which provides communities where the new disciple can find fellowship and service. Evangelism becomes self-propagating in the sense that proclamation produces disciples who, through the church, become proclaimers who produce disciples, and so on.
Each ministry at Frazer is evaluated yearly by the Council on Ministries, according to the criterion of whether or not it is making disciples. Frazer does not have the time, money, or energy to be involved in good programs that are not making disciples.
The Result
An excellent example of evangelism in operation is seen in the lives of two people in the Frazer family. It all began when some members took seriously the importance of carrying the good news to all people—even to those in prison. About eight years ago, one of the prisoners named Tommy Waites made a commitment to Jesus Christ.
The prison ministry helped disciple him in the Christian faith. Tommy was serving a life sentence. About six years later, he was up for parole. Two of the requirements for parole were to have a place to live and a place to work. After seeing several doors close for Tommy’s employment, the committee suggested that the church hire him as part of the custodial staff, which it did.
Tommy has no formal education, but he is a diligent student of the Bible and an excellent communicator. He loves to talk to people while he does his custodial work. He even became an extremely popular Sunday school teacher.
About five years ago a man in Montgomery, Wes Strane, who had not been to church in years, was invited to come to Frazer. Wes did not really like being in church and resisted coming, but finally decided to play it safe by coming on a Sunday night. During the closing prayer time, he saw a seriously handicapped young man trying to make his way down to the altar. The man was holding on to each pew as he went forward. God used the scene of that young man to touch the heart of Wes Strane. He thought to himself, That boy is crippled in body, but I am crippled in my mind.
Wes got up from his pew and helped the boy down to the altar, and knelt beside him. It was there that he confronted the reality of a God who really cared for him and was calling him to be a disciple. Wes made that commitment. He is an example of what can happen when people invite others to church!
Wes joined a Sunday school class and became interested in the prison ministry.
One Sunday morning Tommy Waites was invited to teach a large adult class. Wes Strane was sitting with his wife on the front row. Tommy was thanking the church for reaching out to him in prison, and was describing what God had done in his life. He said, “One place God had a hard time changing me was in my attitude toward white policemen. I hated white policemen. But when God changed my life, he changed my attitude toward them, and today I have learned to love everybody—even white policemen!”
Just then Wes Strane stood up and said, “I am an ex-white policeman. I didn’t go to church for years until I was invited to come to Frazer. God has changed my life. The one area where God has had the most difficulty with me is in my attitude toward black prisoners. But I am here today to witness to the fact that God has changed my hatred of black prisoners into a genuine love.”
At that point, these two men walked toward each other and embraced in front of the class. It was the most moving lesson that had ever been taught in that room. It was an example of the results of evangelism. You cannot legislate human relationships and race relations. The answer to the prison problems lies in the kind of prison ministry that changes the hearts and attitudes of people. The answer to changing racial prejudice is found through evangelism—making disciples.
Shortly after this, some lay people suggested that Tommy should be involved in a large housing project where we wanted to start a ministry. It is the worst drug-pushing area of our city. Several different churches and organizations had tried to start ministries there, but had failed.
We talked with Tommy about starting a ministry there. The first person to volunteer to help him was Wes Strane! Today these two provide a vital service in the Riverside Heights Housing Project. On Sunday mornings they have about 75 adults in worship, and often have more than 100 boys and girls in Sunday school. They are disciples making disciples with an important ministry in that section of town.
This is why evangelism is a priority. Social concerns, stewardship, education—all are expressions of love motivated by what Jesus Christ has done within the lives of disciples. Through evangelism, every member becomes essential to the heartbeat of the church.
John Ed Mathison is the senior pastor of Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. This article is adapted from his book, Tried & True: Eleven Principles of Church Growth from Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church. Copyright 1992 by Discipleship Resources, P.O. Box 840, Nashville, Tennessee 37202. Adapted by permission of the publisher.
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