An introduction to evangelism:

UCCF Staff Orientation

August 2011

UCCF and evangelism: historical roots"Before I left, near the end of that term,

the Spirit distinctly came on me to go and speak in no uncertain terms to all I knew personally who had not accepted Christ, or who at least showed no sign of spiritual life - men whom I never expected to see again in this life. I went and pulled no punches, and a number came out for Christ, about sixteen of them. This caused a stir like a touch of revival… It came like a vision to me that every university and college in Britain and the world should have its evangelical and witnessing union, as we had…. Little did I then realise that this was the start of what has since grown to become the world-wide InterVarsity Fellowship [now IFES], now in hundreds and probably thousands of colleges in all nations.”

– Norman Grubb

Loving the gospel“Our aim is to treasure Christ above everything so we naturally and sincerely extol Christ to our Christian communities so that they might find joy in Christ. Then as they treasure Christ, they too will extol Christ to a lost world so that other join us in treasuring Christ….

The exciting thing is that when we extol Christ we do so to ourselves as well as to others so we nurture our own treasuring of Christ. In the same way when our communities extol Christ they do so to one another and to us so together we extol Christ all the more. These “feedback loops” create virtuous circles.

The diagram highlights our starting point and therefore our main task as leaders: to treasure Christ. My main task is to nurture my own joy in Christ. Everything else flows from this point."

– Tim Chester

Compassion for the lost"What does it mean to be ‘lost’? A word study of lost (Greek apollymi) is sobering. The root word means to destroy. When referring to Zacchaeus, the word ‘lost’ refers to a man who is clearly ‘missing out.’ Those outside the kingdom of God like the wealthy yet corrupt tax collector are missing out on real life. In Luke 5:37, ‘lost’ speaks about a brittle old wineskin that is ruined by the influx and expansion of new wine. In Luke 15:4-6, ‘lost’ means disoriented, speaking of a sheep that is in serious danger having wandered away from the shepherd. In Luke 15:17, ‘lost’ is used for the son wasting his life and potential, because he was not in relationship with his father. In Luke 4:34, the word is used for eternal destruction, describing the state of destruction a demon wants to avoid at all costs.

Putting these usages of the term together paints a chilling picture of those who are lost. They are missing out on what God has for them, ruining themselves and others, wasting their God-given potential, are disoriented and confused in darkness, facing ultimate destruction. No wonder that Jesus said he came to seek and to save the lost.”

– Dave Earley

• We evangelise together:– there are only five places in the NT

when one person is witnessing on their own (three of those are Jesus!)

– witnessing together allows Christians to complement each others’ gifts;

– witnessing together allows those watching on to see the quality of Christian relationships.

A caveat

• Do you see any disagreements or confusion in the evangelical world about what evangelism is?

• In your opinion, what are the characteristics of ‘good’ evangelism?

Discussion

Proclaiming the Gospel

“Now we shall possess a right definition of faith if we call it a firm and certain knowledge of God’s benevolence towards us, founded upon the freely given promise in Christ, both revealed to our minds and sealed upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”

– John Calvin, Institutes, III.ii.7

“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”

– Romans 10:17

• If we work with this definition of faith, what can we deduce about how faith is formed in people?

What is evangelism?

• Gospel (euangellion) - good / joyful news• Euangelizo – to announce good news• Basar (OT) – to announce glad tidings

• In the Old Testament, this word was often used to describe the defeat or death of a king or an enemy, and the ascension of a new king. This was good news because the old king was a tyrant or enemy of God’s people .

• In the New Testament, this primarily refers to the good news of God’s salvation in Christ.

God’s powerful message

• Though the message looks weak, it is in fact dynamis:– God himself is the gospel’s author – it is “the

product of his breath”– The gospel brings us to God’s Living Word,

Jesus – the message is not coercive, but leads us to Christ, who captures our hearts (“The power of the word is an almighty power, but is gentle and persuasive, working always through the message of a crucified and risen Saviour that wins hearts” – Robert Preus)

– The Spirit works through the gospel message to illuminate Christ.

"When Luke records the growth of the church in Acts, he simply says that the word of the Lord grew, spread, prevailed and multiplied. He doesn't say converts multiplied but that the word did. Proclaimed truth was prevailing. It has power in itself. The idea that there was once a time when straight proclamation evangelism was particularly in vogue doesn't bear investigation. Jesus himself was challenged by what authority he spoke and acted.... Some have suggested that Christians need to display more humility, but sadly this sentiment is often misplaced. Certainly we should always show appropriate courtesy in presenting our message, but it would be wholly inappropriate to try and communicate humility by expressing lack of certainty or personal doubt in the actually message we are communicating.... We need to be comprehensible and relevant. We must also stick to the point. We are witnesses to his resurrection. Forgiveness is available. Eternal life can be faced with joy and certainty. Death is defeated. Jesus is alive and can be known. Boldness is not inappropriate when we have good news to tell. " – Terry Virgo

• What might you say to these students?– “Actions speak louder than words.

Quite often, the only Gospel any non-Christian is going to ‘read’ is the life of a Christian they encounter on their way through life.”

– “There’s got to be more to mission than just telling people about Jesus. My friends are hurting.”

Discussion

The gospel is…A confession: that Jesus is Lord(Romans 10:9, 2 Corinthians 4:5 etc)

Jesus really is Lord… leading to a comprehensive vision of a happy ending for the story of everything – that is the story of the Bible e.g. fulfilment, community, relief from suffering

This means that ‘the gospel’ is something very specific, but with incredibly wide-ranging consequences and depth… so where do we even start in our evangelism?

The core message (kergyma)

• Have a look at these passages. What are the common components to the gospel message?– Luke 24:24-29– 1 Corinthians 15:1-8– Acts 2:22-39– Acts 3:13-26– Acts 4:8-12

The core message (kergyma)

• Characteristics of the ‘kergyma’:– An accomplishment: Jesus died for our

sins;– A declaration: Jesus has been raised

from the dead and enthroned as King;– A response: repentance and faith in

Jesus are called for;– A promise: of forgiveness of sins,

salvation and the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who respond

The gospel is…A confession: that Jesus is Lord(Romans 10:9, 2 Corinthians 4:5 etc)

A core message (kergyma) describing the essence of Jesus’ Lordship

Jesus really is Lord, leading to a comprehensive vision of a happy ending for the story of everything

Not the whole story…

• Read Acts 17:16-32. Given what we’ve seen, how do Paul’s actions and message seem surprising?

KEY POINT: Paul sets the context in order that his hearers can make sense of the core- common grace, categories, language

etc.

The gospel is…A confession: that Jesus is Lord(Romans 10:9, 2 Corinthians 4:5 etc)

A core message (kergyma) describing the essence of Jesus’ Lordship

Jesus really is Lord, leading to a comprehensive vision of a happy ending for the story of everything

A context set within which the proclaimed kergyma makes sense

In evangelism we work hard to set this context, so that people can make sense of our gospel, and to show how Jesus’ Lordship is related to a comprehensive vision of a happy ending for the story of everything.

How can I know fulfilment?

CONFESSION: “Jesus is Lord!” We taste fulfilment now as we surrender our lives to Jesus and enjoy his love. We will know it in fullness when our sin is done away and we enjoy him forever.CORE: Jesus’ death and resurrection bring us back to God if we repent and believe in him. This is a relationship we experience in part now and have for eternity in Jesus. Without believing in Jesus, we will never know lasting fulfilment.

COMPREHENSIVE VISION: We all long for fulfilment: we can endorse this as a real desire. It is something that we all experience made as humans in God’s image, and find in relationship with him.

CONTEXT: We look for fulfilment in the wrong places: we look for our own fulfilment away from God, and find ourselves unfulfilled and out of relationship with him.

• In your experience, what are ‘touching points’ in evangelism with students?

• How can we increase students’ confidence in the proclaimed gospel?

• A recent survey of new believers in Britain showed that the average time from first hearing the gospel to becoming a believer was four years. How should this impact our evangelism with CUs?

Discussion

Focusing on communication

“We must faithfully proclaim the gospel message – telling the gospel as it is – trusting in the word to do its work. After all, only God can open hearts to respond to the gospel.”“We must faithfully communicate the gospel through engaging with the questions, ideas and assumptions of the particular individual or group we are conversing with, carefully choosing the language we employ. Through this engagement with the gospel, God calls people to repentance and faith in Jesus.”

Have you come across this kind of disagreement? How is this disagreement usually expressed? How do adherents of the approach render each other?

Engaging communication“When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.” – Acts 17:1-4

• Reflects what is going on in Acts (see 17:1-4, 18:1-4, 19:8-10)• Takes people seriously – seeing people as those with real dignity having been made in the image of God, and having capacity for real personal relationships• Allows you to build a Biblical worldview in which the kernel of the gospel makes sense, and the ‘crackling’ is removed• Takes people’s fallen rationality seriously – evaluating success of communication not on what I think I have said but on what the person has understood• Recognises that non-believers are living off ‘borrowed capital’ which inevitably creates a point of tension for them• NB: Word and Spirit work in harmony – both point to Jesus. The Word is the book of Jesus; it reveals truth about Jesus. The Spirit glorifies Jesus; he reveals the beauty of Jesus.

How might this affect your…

(a) own evangelism with students?

(b) training the CU for evangelism?

Embodying the gospel• The truth that Jesus is God’s promised King: the Messiah,

the Son of God calls us to serve. The eternal Son made himself nothing and became the servant of all. This is a complete reversal of the world’s way of thinking which values power, status and recognition. So the gospel should create a new servant community of humility, hospitality, serving one another and our communities.

• The truth that Jesus’ death and resurrection atones for sin and satisfies God’s wrath should lead us to speak. The Christian community should be a community of clear proclamation of the gospel, calling people to repentance and faith in Christ alone by grace alone. We should be motivated by heartfelt thanksgiving for what Christ has done for us (1 John 4:7-12).The truth that Jesus’ death and resurrection breaks the rule of sin, death and evil and renews the entire creation should lead us to engagement. We evangelise knowing that history points towards the day of Jesus’ return. We teach Christians that all of life matters because it will all be redeemed. We encourage Christians to work for the good of their community (Titus 3:1-2). God loves justice and so should we. We should embody the coming justice by being concerned for the weak and oppressed in the world today, thereby ‘adorning the gospel’ (Titus 2:10).

-- Tim Keller

Embodying the gospel in the everyday: eating

together“Jesus is called ‘a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ This is why eating and drinking were so important in the mission of Jesus: they were a sign of his friendship with tax collectors and sinners. His ‘excess’ of food and ‘excess’ of grace are linked. In the ministry of Jesus, meals were enacted grace, community and mission. So the meals of Jesus represent… a new world, a new kingdom, a new outlook. But they give that new reality substance. Jesus’ meals are not just symbolic; they’re also application. They’re not just pictures; they’re the real thing in miniature…. [Meals] represent the meaning of mission, but they more than represent it: they embody and enact our mission.”

-- Tim Chester

Depending on the Lord in prayer

“Prayer is a confessing of impotence and need, an acknowledging of helplessness and dependence, and an invoking of the mighty power of God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. In evangelism, we are impotent; we depend wholly upon God to make our witness effective; only because He is able to give people new hearts can we hope that through our preaching of the gospel sinners will be born again. These facts ought to drive us to prayer. It is God’s intention they should drive us to prayer. God means us, in this as in other things, to recognise and confess our impotence, and to tell Him that we rely on Him alone, and to plead with Him to glorify His name. It is His way regularly to withhold His blessings until His people start to pray. “You do not have because you do not ask.” [James 4:2]. “Ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened unto you: for every one that asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him that knocks it shall be opened.” [Matthew 7:7ff].

If you and I are too proud or lazy to ask, we need not expect to receive. This is the universal rule, in evangelism as elsewhere. God will make us pray before He blesses our labours in order that we may constantly learn afresh that we depend on God for everything. And then, when God permits us to see conversions, we shall not be tempted to ascribe them to our own gifts or skills or wisdom or persuasiveness, but to His work alone, and so we shall know whom we ought to thank for them.”

-- JI Packer

On prayer What are the cultural and social phenomena that mean that much of British Christianity is relatively prayerless when it comes to the work of evangelism? How might these be countered in the CU setting?

Discussion

• What do you now understand to be the key ingredients in developing evangelism within CUs?

• Which of these areas are you particularly keen to develop in personally?

• What is the Lord saying to you above all?