The Reasons for Evangelism ...

[B/W Photodude]

Sometimes we tend to think the sign of a successful evangelism crusade is large numbers of baptisms. But what if even those who turn away from the Gospel and reject Jesus were for the purposes of the command to "go and teach" were also a success? Is not one of the purposes of spreading the Gospel message to give people the chance to make an informed decision on what they wish to do with their eternal lives, for or against?

[CoAspen]

Yes!

[Kevin H]

Elder Jim Ayers (I think we have 2 of them, and I believe it's the one who use to sing for the Kings Harold's, Anyway he use to be the speaker for "The Word of the Lord" Sabbath school tapes) said that up to the time of Augustine the church believed that what Jesus did on the cross was so powerful that it saved everyone except those who outright rejected it and that mission work was sharing with people what Jesus did for them. Then starting with Augustine the idea came that everyone was lost except those who outright accept Jesus and thus the thrust of missionary work was to get these people to accept Jesus.

I believe that the Holy Spirit works with everyone pointing them to Jesus and in everything we do we develop a character more Christlike or more unlike Christ. I understand all faiths to have some amount of light and different amounts of error with the light pointing us towards Jesus and error keeping us away from him and encouraging the other. I understand us to have two basic attitudes: Our sinful nature or as Eli Siegel put it "A disposition to think we are for ourselves by making less of the outside world." or as Mrs. White said "There is in man a disposition to esteem himself more highly than his breathern to serve self to seek the highest place and often this results in evil surmisings and bitterness of spirit."

However our deepest desire is to be like and with Jesus. As Siegel says to love the world on an honest basis. As Mrs. White says "When we love the world as he [Jesus] has loved it then for us his mission is accomplished. We are fitted for heaven for we have heaven in our hearts.

This is the basic thing that we need to understand better no matter what faith we are in. Using this with the proper understanding of hell fire can make many of our debates make sense.

Thus no matter what their background I understand people to fit into one of four categories:

1. Those who have in some form developed a relationship with whoever is out there and are so settled in that relationship that it cannot be shaken no matter what happens to them.

2. Those who have in some form developed a relationship with whoever is out there but are not settled into the relationship.

3.Those who have not in some form developed a relationship with whoever is out there but who would if they understood better

4. Those who have in some form rejected a relationship with whoever is out there and nothing is going to change them.

Under the Augustine view of evangelism we are facing people who are lost and want to try to get them saved. Under my suggestion we are running into any of the above four groups of people. Our job is to help them see Jesus better whether they understand everything about the historical events when Jesus came here or not. We help to clarify traditions and superstitions that keep people away from him. It makes a difference if someone believed that their non-church attending loved ones are burning forever in hell, or if they learn that heaven and hell are two responses to experiencing God in all his beauty at the end of time.

For those in the first 2 categories we can help them grow in their knowledge of who they already love. In the 3rd category we can deal with what is keeping them away from accepting whoever is out there.