Effectively Evangelistic
About 15 years ago I attended a church welcome class that opened with a session designed to place that particular church within the stream of historical Christianity. The leader differentiated between Roman Catholic/Protestant, Calvinist/Wesleyan-Arminian, and conservative/liberal, this last being less about church history and more about the politics of social issues. Then, the leader shared a much photocopied statement of beliefs from the National Association of Evangelicals, the presentation of which seemed to declare the local church more firmly as ‘evangelical’ than as part of the denomination to which it belonged. Looking back, the class likely did little to orient people who lacked pre-existing knowledge of church history and merely added to confusion about what it means to be evangelical.
In my current ministerial role, I direct a project whose stated purpose is “creating more effective evangelistic preachers to transform communities.” When describing the work, I am sensitive to the climate surrounding the use of the word ‘evangelistic’. I find it necessary to emphasize a positive relationship between evangelistic preaching and the potential for community transformation. In doing so, I have been unintentionally describing characteristics found in Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s by David W. Bebbington. The author identifies four primary qualities which describe the broad moment of evangelicalism. Though Bebbington’s work is set in Great Britain, my own denomination, The Church of the Nazarene, flows from this history via John Wesley. Bebbington’s historical framework gives a helpful lens through which to view my current work overall. For this blog I will relate the project I am currently directing to the quadrilateral of characteristics offered by Bebbington which inform historical evangelicalism. First, I will describe the four qualities, then I will explain how two are expressed in my work. Finally, I will consider how the influence of capitalist market tendencies may have decreased interest in specifically evangelistic preaching.
The characteristics which are consistently present in evangelicalism are (1) conversionism: an emphatic belief that people need to become Christian, especially via a defining moment (2) activism: commitment to living out one’s faith by means of sharing it with others and by working to meet the needs of others (social justice) (3) biblicism: strong emphasis on the centrality of scripture and (4) crucicentrism: making the atonement the central point of theology.[1]
Preaching for Conversion: According to Bebbington, “Preaching the gospel was the chief method of winning converts.”[2] In the United States, the founders of denominational Methodism, Bishops Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke determined that the very purpose of preaching was evangelism, the saving of souls. They developed a three step ‘way of salvation’ per Wesley consisting of awakening to one’s sin, conversion to Christ and finally, sanctification.[3] In my current work, pastors are encouraged invite a decision during the preaching event by including an opportunity for hearers to make their next ‘yes’ to Jesus. It could be a conversion decision to begin a relationship with Jesus, or to take some other step as prompted by the Holy Spirit.
Activism/Community Transformation: Bebbington describes activism as the converted now having a great desire for the conversion of others.[4] His work describes the transformation from gentleman clergy to hard working preachers who “threw themselves into efforts to spread the gospel.”[5] Not only clergy, but congregants in early evangelical churches were moved to participate in the ‘work’ of conversion through attending additional services, prayer meetings and participation in mission societies. Besides attending services and meetings, “activism often spilled over beyond simple gospel work” and included work to “enforce the ethics of the gospel.”[6] Being moved by one’s own conversion to participate in actively addressing the social needs of others is characteristic of the American Holiness movement with which I am more familiar. Reclaiming the historical practice of working out one’s salvation by representing King Jesus on behalf of society is the heart behind the words “to transform communities” in the aforementioned statement of purpose.
I engaged with Dr. Jason Swan Clarks, “Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship, seeking greater understanding of perceived resistance to the idea of ‘evangelistic’ preaching. Could distaste for the term among some colleagues stem from the intersection of evangelicalism and capitalism? Clark writes, “The relationship of Evangelicalism to capitalism was indeed a ‘mixed bag’, as all forms of ecclesiology always are, being both captive to the worst of market forces, and yet at the same time, being able to transmit themselves through the market, effecting enormous change in resistance to those forces.”[7] Evangelicals have been accused of revivalism without care for social issues. Within the movement, some have taken the view that conversion builds prosperity by the accompanying change of life (holiness) that transitions individuals, and ultimately society, upward economically. To the extent that this is true, ‘evangelistic preaching’ that leads to conversion without care for the whole person and their context seems an expression of capitalism at its worst.
Two things can be true at the same time. When evangelism crosses paths with capitalism, the church can be growth oriented, ‘success’ driven, and insensitive to society. In the same situation, the church can also be a leading voice in responding to the ills imposed on society by capitalism.[8] This was seen in the American Holiness movement of the 19th century out of which the Church of the Nazarene began in Los Angeles in 1895 established on ‘skid row’. In that space, the converted were actively seeking to convert others to Jesus and were doing so while ministering to their personal needs. Reclaiming this combination of idealistic historical evangelicalism is the intent of our current work. May we go forward with optimism and care to remain on the good side of history.
[1] David Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s (London: Routledge, 2005), 2.
[2] Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, 5.
[3] Mark R Teasdale, “Evangelism and Identity in Early American Methodism,” Wesleyan Theological Journal 47, no. 2 (2012): 97.
[4] Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, 10.
[5] Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, 11.
[6] Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, 12.
[7] Jason Swan Clark, Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship. London School of Theology, 2018, 74.
[8] Clark, Evangelicalism and Capitalism, 68.
About the Author
Julie O'Hara
12 responses to “Effectively Evangelistic”
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Julie, great job of relating the reading to the work you’re doing. I appreciate how you would take time to help people understand how evangelistic preaching can impact community transformation and the caution to care for the other needs of people alongside the care of souls.
IN a “church growth” oriented evangelical movement, what practices or guardrails do you employ to make sure that the focus does not simply become about the growth of a church, rather than the transformation of the community?
Hi Graham, Thank you for your important question. I have a great deal to say surrounding the question, but am determined to stay focused. First, there is a big emphasis on ‘celebration stories’. These would be highlighting the transformation of individuals (transfer from dominion of darkness, etc.) Another type of celebration story is that of churches which are actively engaged in community. Two things about community engagement: 1) Transactional engagement is not celebrated, relationally based, long term engagment s the method to highlight 2) This is not a big church thing. small churches, under 50, are doing might Kingdom work. My intention to highlight their stories is not only to celebrate the work (with the prayer that it is repeated) but also to change the self-perception of small church generally and especially their pastors. Seems they measure themselves against capitalist measures: bigger and richer is better. Let’s break that mentality and focus on where Jesus is actively transforming…and I also add that healthy things tend to grow…but that might be another conversation!
Hi Julie, I too like how your connection of the text to your work was present. What struck me was “the converted were actively seeking to convert others to Jesus and were doing so while ministering to their personal needs.” Even in the secular world, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs shows that if basic needs aren’t met, then learning and higher level thinking is nearly impossible. I think the same is true with evangelism. It has to be difficult for someone to hear the gospel when their basic needs aren’t met. Thanks for bringing that forward in your work. I don’t really have a question at this moment, just an appreciation that the actions of the evangelists as much as the words they speak could be part of someone coming to a place of conversion to follow Jesus. Peace.
Thank you, Diane! You have encouraged me.
Hey Julie! You really captured the readings in your post highlighting Bebbington in a couple of key areas. I was interested in your take on preaching for conversion. (As a preacher I know you suppose Why!! )
As we read about capitalism, how do you equate preaching and capitalism in today’s ministry context?
Also, how do we stay conversion focused?
Hi Daren – If church attendees have a consumer mindset and pastors tune their preaching to that channel, the sermons could be watered down to what the preacher ‘thinks’ the attendees want to hear. One example might be serving only ‘comfort food.’ Tastes good, and forgettable. The powerful Word of God calls for action and if the life of Jesus and the disciples, and the early church shows us anything, that action is not on behalf of self and will very likely come with a lot of discomfort along the way.
As for staying conversion focused: When crafting a sermon, the response can be considered all along the way, so many messages can include a ‘salvation’ invitation, often alongside some other invitation to respond. Just the simple practice of intentionality to “ask” changes everything. (and of course being also committed to disciple-making/the whole person, etc)
Julie, I appreciated your post, especially your insight into the birth of the Nazarene church from the American holiness movement of the 19th century. You mentioned two things that can be true simultaneously: When evangelism crosses paths with capitalism, the church can be growth-oriented, ‘success’ driven, and insensitive to society. In the same situation, the church can also be a leading voice in responding to the ills imposed on society by capitalism. Are you saying this is happening in different ways or that the church can choose to react in one of two ways?
Hi Chad, Reading back, it looks like I wasn’t very clear! Thanks for your question.
What I was trying to say is that within the Big C Church, both things can be true at the same time. Some little c churches are moving in one direction, some in the other. I add that I don’t think that any church ‘chooses to be insensitive’ but does what seems best and then sometimes that path curves away toward forms that are indistinguishable from the market culture. I have examples in mind.
Thanks Julie. Great post and I like how you said that two things can be true at the same time!
In what ways can we work towards, “being on the same side of history” in our current american context?
Hi Ryan, Thanks for your question – I think the practical expressions will look different in every context: urban/rural, north/south, different ethnic churches, etc…but a guiding concept could be the expression of being known for what we are “for” rather than what we are against. To be known for what one is “for” necessitates action, visible expression on behalf of that value. No church will be all things to any community, but there is something for every church body, no matter the size. We can’t let the only “Christians” people know be the ones on tv at protests or after a moral failing…engaged in community, in real relationships with people who don’t know Jesus provides a powerful counternarrative.
Hi Julie, I appreciate your devotion to seeing the growth of effective evangelistic preachers to transform communities. I resonate with your question concerning distaste for the word evangelistic and its intersection with capitalism. The term can conjure some unfortunate stereotypes. However, it is so foundational to our faith. I don’t have a question, but I want to thank you for your work.
Hi Elysse,
Thank you for your comment. I feel encouraged that the work seems valuable.