marksman
My eldest granddaughter showing the result of her
I write about the presentation of the Gospel here.
Problems with the Modern Evangelical Approach to Evangelism
1. It leaves out the Gospel.
2. Telling People Not to Be Religious and How 'Personal' Everything is Not Particularly Helpful
3. Our Relationship with God is the Result of Our Believing the Gospel
4. The Ritual Replaces the Biblical Role of Baptism
In Acts 2, Peter preached about Jesus dying on a tree and being raised from the dead, that He was both Lord and Christ. When his listeners were smitten to the heart and asked what they should do, he told them to repent and be baptized. We see this all throughout Acts. Peter decided the Gentiles at Cornelius house should be baptized. The Samaritans received Philip's message and were baptized. Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch. Paul baptized the jailer. Many Corinthians were baptized.
In the Great Commission, Jesus did not say to go into the world and tell the nations to repeat a prayer accepting him. He did want the apostles to preach the Gospel, to baptize the nations, and to teach them what He had commanded. No wonder Peter baptized.
The ritual of repeating a prayer after a preacher came into widespread use through Billy Graham. There was a gradual evolution of evangelistic technique. Finney had the 'anxious seat' and even acknowledged that it occupied a similar role as baptism in the Bible. Why would those who do not believe in infant baptism not just baptize when they get to that point? Other evangelists would have audiences respond by shaking the preacher's hand, fill out cards, or pray with counselors. Billy Graham crusades had counselors. The counselors had a prayer to repeat. Eventually, as the crowds grew, Billy Graham had the audience repeat the prayer after him. Many evangelicals copied this method.
A generation or so later, I actually heard a preacher say, "If you have not prayed that prayer, you are not a Christian." What crazy false doctrine! As if the saints in the early church who lived before repeating a prayer weren't Christians. What started as a tool to help people confess their sin to God while at the same time confessing faith that Jesus is Lord and that He rose from the dead was treated as a ritual that saved. Now, many preachers strip their sermons and sinner's prayers of the Gospel content-- the atonement on the cross, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lordship and Messiahship of Jesus, and have the audience repeat a prayer. The ritual of repeating a prayer after the preacher is treated as the means of salvation.
I write about the presentation of the Gospel here.
I have been to many churches that have altar calls, or nowadays challenge people to pray at their seats. What seems to be the norm is to follow the script below:
- Preach a sermon that is not really salvation-focused.
- Do not explain to the audience Who God is.
- Do not explain to the audience Who Jesus is.
- Maybe, or maybe not mention that Jesus died on the cross. Do not discuss the atonement.
- Do not tell the audience that God raised Jesus from the dead.
- Tell the audience that religion is bad, and that they do not need religion.
- Tell the audience that they need a personal relationship with God or tell them they need a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
- Offer the audience some sort of emotional comfort if they become a Christian.
- Have the audience repeat a prayer that mentions Jesus, asking Him into their lives.
- Tell the audience if they believed what they prayed, they are born again.
Some of you may say, "They don't do this with the altar call/ sinner's prayer at my church." I hope this is the case. I think a lot of Christian's churches do this, and they aren't paying attention to what the pastor says. I think a lot of these pastors aren't paying attention to what they say, either.
Problems with the Modern Evangelical Approach to Evangelism
3. Our Relationship with God is the Result of Our Believing the Gospel
4. The Ritual Replaces the Biblical Role of Baptism
In Acts 2, Peter preached about Jesus dying on a tree and being raised from the dead, that He was both Lord and Christ. When his listeners were smitten to the heart and asked what they should do, he told them to repent and be baptized. We see this all throughout Acts. Peter decided the Gentiles at Cornelius house should be baptized. The Samaritans received Philip's message and were baptized. Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch. Paul baptized the jailer. Many Corinthians were baptized.
In the Great Commission, Jesus did not say to go into the world and tell the nations to repeat a prayer accepting him. He did want the apostles to preach the Gospel, to baptize the nations, and to teach them what He had commanded. No wonder Peter baptized.
The ritual of repeating a prayer after a preacher came into widespread use through Billy Graham. There was a gradual evolution of evangelistic technique. Finney had the 'anxious seat' and even acknowledged that it occupied a similar role as baptism in the Bible. Why would those who do not believe in infant baptism not just baptize when they get to that point? Other evangelists would have audiences respond by shaking the preacher's hand, fill out cards, or pray with counselors. Billy Graham crusades had counselors. The counselors had a prayer to repeat. Eventually, as the crowds grew, Billy Graham had the audience repeat the prayer after him. Many evangelicals copied this method.
A generation or so later, I actually heard a preacher say, "If you have not prayed that prayer, you are not a Christian." What crazy false doctrine! As if the saints in the early church who lived before repeating a prayer weren't Christians. What started as a tool to help people confess their sin to God while at the same time confessing faith that Jesus is Lord and that He rose from the dead was treated as a ritual that saved. Now, many preachers strip their sermons and sinner's prayers of the Gospel content-- the atonement on the cross, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lordship and Messiahship of Jesus, and have the audience repeat a prayer. The ritual of repeating a prayer after the preacher is treated as the means of salvation.
A couple of weeks ago we had our silver seventies lunch, a meal for those 70 and over. During the course of the conversation, I said that nowhere in scripture are we told to accept Jesus into our hearts. That set the cat amongst the pigeons. what about this verse and what about that verse. My reply "what about the day of Pentecost when they were told to repent and be baptised..." mumble, mumble, mumble.
I love church history and have studied it for yonks. I have more books on church history than any other subject in my personal library of about 1,000 books. One obvious thing to notice is that the church is totally dependent on formulas. Someone comes up with a good idea that seems to work so we must do it for the next 500 years and if someone suggests changing anything...oh dear no as it has worked for 500 years.
Face facts. The protestant church is a revised version of Roman Catholicism. During the Reformation, the church changed its doctrine in several areas for the better but it did not change its practices. The protestant pastor is a throwback to the catholic priest. The communion is a throwback to the catholic mass. The protestant church adopted many catholic practices and gave them a different name.
As a result, the protestant church is as mired in tradition as the catholic was and is. When that happens, the scripture takes second place to tradition. Accepting Jesus into your heart has become the tradition so the scripture injunction to repent and be baptised is no longer valid.
Another thing. On the day of Pentecost, about 3000 men were baptised. No baptismal classes here. No singing of a hymn when the person is baptised.
I wonder what the church would be like if we did what the scripture tells us to do?
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