Uncompromising Witness: Why Pragmatism Is Not True Evangelism

I recently read a true story about a man,  Helmuth Hubener, who was only 16 years old in Hamburg, Germany, when he witnessed his Jewish friend arrested by the Nazi regime.  Armed with nothing but a radio and a typewriter he set out to expose the Nazi lies. He created and distributed anti-Nazi flyers because he knew truth needed to be shared to save lives. Hubener was faithful. He knew that the cost would be high and eventually, he was caught and charged with high treason.

Throughout history, we have often seen the power that words have to affect change. Today, we have many keyboard warriors shielded by screens, who can immediately disperse a message around the world by hitting one button. As Christians, we need discernment and must always ask: Is it true or false? Many often assume the credibility and/or success of content or people by how many “likes” or “followers” they have.

In our current context, words are being used to shape the morality of the culture, e.g., abortion is changed to “healthcare,” and many sectors of society have capitulated to the transgender movement by insisting on “pronoun hospitality,” declaring that men can get pregnant, and proclaiming that there are more than two genders.

God’s Word also has the power to change lives and does so supernaturally by the work of the Holy Spirit. Many churches profess this truth in their doctrinal statements but have been increasingly tempted to turn to pragmatic methods for “successful” results. The fallout from this decision has had tremendous ramifications: God’s Word is diminished, preaching expositionally is cast aside in favor of shorter messages that appeal to today’s limited attention spans and the gospel message is truncated, biblical literacy rapidly declines, the pulpit preacher is replaced with a “TED Talk” presenter, and grievously, pastors are platformed and relabeled as CEOs.

Throughout church history, there were several great men of faith who discerned the times when liberalism threatened the purity of the church and used the printed and spoken word to declare the dangers ahead. They called for the church to return to faithfulness to God’s Word. Charles Spurgeon was one of the men who fought hard as a truthteller and suffered greatly. God continues to give the church watchmen on the wall; however, many still fail to heed their warnings of danger, and many are discarded and labeled as accusers of the brethren or divisive. God’s response can be found in Matthew 18:6, “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

The Diagnosis: Worldliness has entered the church.

The sins of pride and covetousness take over when we want to build influence for ourselves and for the church. It is easier to use Rick Warren’s strategies or the ARC business model to build a “successful” church than to trust in the power of God’s Word. The justification for church growth strategies is often vocalized as, “we want to be an Acts 2 church” and/or “it is ok to be pragmatic, more people mean more money for missions.” The ecclesiology of the church is very important, and the methods mentioned above should grieve every reborn believer, and I believe they also grieve the Holy Spirit.

The Remedy: We must be people who fear the Lord and stand in awe of our God. Moses’s father-in-law, Jethro’s first instruction to Moses was regarding how to select qualified leaders, Exodus 18:21 says, “Select capable men from all the people— men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain— and appoint them as leaders.”

We have forgotten that men are called to lead by example, by remaining in the Word, being diligent in prayer, and growing in holiness.

How has this affected biblical evangelism and ministry?

Instead of focusing on the sovereignty of God and the authority of His Word, many churches have created an endless cycle of “events” often to stir emotions and as a means for a “fresh” revival. This is nothing new, Charles Finney used the same methods in the early 1800’s  in what was dubbed as the Second Great Awakening. The focus was on methods of “success” to produce professions of faith. Sadly, while large numbers of professions were recorded, those who continued in repentance and faith were comparatively few.

As a street evangelist, I have heard from many unbelievers that they can see through manipulative methods which lead them to question the underlying motives of a person or an event. I spoke to a woman named Elizabeth, and she shared her observations regarding her visit to a mega-church, “Why would I go to a church that just has videos and when I look around no one is using their Bibles, it just doesn’t make sense. I can easily be entertained at home.” Drawing people to church buildings is not evangelism. The church is for worshiping the Lord and the proclamation of the Word.

Evangelism Audit

The following are examples of how “success” has changed the understanding of evangelism.

Case #1: I have been a street evangelist for over six years and have sporadically partnered with a few pastors. One pastor asked me out of curiosity, “how do you know that your evangelism is successful?” After a long pause, I responded, “Any time the gospel is shared- that is success.”

Case #2: I have witnessed in street evangelism, a pastor urgently pleading for a man to pray a sinner’s prayer. This caused more confusion considering the person stated that he never read the Bible and did not understand the truth that was shared with him. I felt compelled to approach the two men. I simply placed God’s Word in the man’s hand and told him to please go home and start reading the Bible, for this is how God speaks to us.

Case #3: The idea proposed in a children’s public-school ministry that the sinner’s prayer is just a “tool” and is an acceptable way to evangelize children. The truth is the Holy Spirit does not need a tool, and the only benefit of this method is numbers and disregards the extreme danger of creating false converts.

From these three examples, I hope to have illustrated that man craves results to share with others. And that is why I believe many people neglect or disesteem the seed-planting ministry of street evangelism. Biblical men like Moses and Abraham are true examples of “success.” Their success was solely measured by their faithfulness and obedience to the Lord. The clear, God-centered instructions of the Great Commission is found in Colossians 1:28-29, “Him we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose, I also labor, striving according to His working, which He works in me in power.” And in the famous Christian allegory, Pilgrim’s Progress, written by John Bunyan, Christian, a reborn believer, captures in song, the path and the beauty of true discipleship, “Might have been catched, entangled, and cast down; but since I live, let JESUS wear the crown.”

Failed Evangelism

“Failed Evangelism is when a person compromises or discounts what the Bible says about evangelism and replaces it with something more ‘effective’ and may see many  ‘converts’ and numerical success. External criteria such as affluence, numbers, money, or positive response have never been the biblical measure of success in ministry. Real success is doing the will of God regardless of the consequences.”  (John MacArthur, Ashamed of the Gospel)

Successful Evangelism

“To endeavor to save men by absurd or nonsensical talk, ideas, excitement, or rhetorical display is as foolish as to hope to hold an angel with adhesive or to lure a star with music. The best attraction is the gospel in its purity. The weapon with which the Lord conquers men is the truth as it is in Jesus. The gospel has the same magnitude in every emergency— an arrow which can pierce the hardest heart, and a balm which will heal the deadliest wound. Preach it and preach nothing else. Rely implicitly upon the old, old gospel. You need no other nets when you fish for men.” (Charles Spurgeon, The Soul Winner)