The Logic of Evangelism: Revisited

The Logic of Evangelism

Revisited

edited by

Michael J. Gehring, Andrew D. Kinsey, Vaughn W. Baker

foreword by William B. Lawrence

afterword by William J. Abraham

THE LOGIC OF EVANGELISM

Revisited

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paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-0456-0

hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-0458-4

ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-0457-7

Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Names: Gehring, Michael J., editor. | Kinsey, Andrew D., editor. | Baker, Vaughan Willard, editor. | Lawrence, William B. (William Benjamin), foreword. | Abraham, William J. (William James), afterword.

Title: The logic of evangelism : revisited / edited by Michael J. Gehring, Andrew D. Kinsey, and Vaughn W. Baker; foreword by William B. Lawrence; afterword.

Description: Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2019 | Series: if applicable | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: isbn 978-1-5326-0456-0 (paperback) | isbn 978-1-5326-0458-4 (hardcover) | isbn 978-1-5326-0457-7 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Evangelistic work. | Abraham, William J. (William James), 1947-—Criticism and interpretation.

Classification: BV3790 .L70 2019 (print) | BV3790 .L70 (ebook)

Manufactured in the U.S.A. February 4, 2019

Table of Contents

Title Page

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: The Theory and Practice of Evangelism

Chapter 2: The Gospel: Abraham’s Kingdom Evangelism

Chapter 3: Proclamation

Chapter 4: Church Growth and Evangelism

Chapter 5: Evangelism as Initiation

Chapter 6: Conversion, Baptism, and Morality

Chapter 7: Catechesis and the Spiritual Gifts

Chapter 8: The Logic of the Creed in Evangelism

Chapter 9: The Wider Ecumenism

Chapter 10: The Ministry of Evangelism

Chapter 11: Evangelism and Modern Theology

Chapter 12: Evangelism and Modernity

Chapter 13: Evangelism in the Postmodern World of Science and Technology

Afterword

List of Contributors

Bibliography

Foreword

It is quite possible that if we were to ask, "What is the most powerful program in the ministries of the church? and, What is the most problematic program in the ministries of the church?" the answer to both questions might be the same: evangelism.

The power of evangelism is its Christological mandate. In the Great Commission from the risen Lord—whether one reads it in Matthew 28, John 21, or Acts 1—the good news of Jesus Christ is an empowering gift offered to others. We have authority from the Lord to evangelize with many methods: in preaching, teaching, and baptizing, as Jesus describes it through Matthew; in caring for all of God’s children with everything from food to forgiveness, as Jesus describes it through John; and in reaching the ends of the earth, as Jesus communicates before the Ascension in Acts.

The problem with evangelism is the way we have packaged it. Sometimes in the history of the church, we have turned it into mere tactics for church growth, settling for statistical satisfactions about the number of churches we have started or the number of members we have recruited. Sometimes in the history of the church, we have confused it with reviving the enthusiasm of current members, and we have substituted revivalism for a real sharing of the good news with those who remain unreached. And sometimes in the history of the church, we have weaponized it; assuming that if we could just impose our own form of religion upon others in the world through political control—or even warfare—we would be winning souls for Christ.

In every generation, Christians have to rediscover and reclaim the power of the good news without replicating the problems that have bedeviled us. We must, as Saint Paul said in the letter to the Romans, not be ashamed of the gospel. At the same time, we must not do shameful things in the name of the gospel. Evangelism is serious spiritual work in the name of Christ. It deserves both the deepest dedication of our souls and the highest intellectual standards of our minds. Among the great endeavors to take evangelism seriously in recent years has been The Polycarp Community at Perkins School of Theology.

For several decades, Perkins has had a Missional Center that devoted specific attention to evangelism. Under a succession of directors, it has launched an array of projects. The Center has trained laity through certificate programs in ministries of evangelism. It has linked interest in communal life under a neo-monastic rule with community outreach. It forged a respectful connection between the evangelistic mission of the church and the reconciling mission of the church with interfaith communities. Today, the Center for Evangelism and Missional Church Studies at Perkins School of Theology continues to fulfill its purposes through substantive, practical initiatives in academic and ecclesiastical settings.

One serious effort that has been underway for many years involves convening groups of evangelism scholars with global vision and respect for the power of the Holy Spirit in the mission of evangelization. It came into being with the formation of The Polycarp Community.

Under the auspices of Professor William J. Abraham, who began his work on the Perkins faculty as a professor of evangelism and who has been the Albert Cook Outler Professor of Wesley Studies for decades, an international gathering of academic leaders in the field of evangelism has dedicated itself to reclaiming the power of evangelism for both academic and ministerial purposes.

Within The Polycarp Community, senior scholars who are engaged in research on evangelism, pastors with terminal degrees who engage in the work of evangelism, and graduate students who are writing dissertations in various aspects of evangelism create Christian conferencing around the issues that are vital to faithful evangelistic mission.

The Polycarp Community has a fully orbed program in Christians’ obligation to the mission of the church. Dr. Abraham has noted that Christian mission includes the themes of justice, healthy local communities, healthy nations, care of the poor, and care of the environment. Evangelism, he insists, is located within that broader mission of Christianity. It is not only about proclamation of the gospel but also about nurturing disciples in the gospel so that God’s people can be transformed with the gospel.

Perhaps the very name of this endeavor is a sign of its feistiness. By calling those who participate in this project The Polycarp Community, we can sense its connection to the deep history, durable theology, diverse ethnicity, and dedicated spirituality of the evangelizing that the church has been called to do. Polycarp was one of the Christians martyred in the second century. He belonged to the generation that followed the era of the apostles who had been personal witnesses to the life of Christ on earth and who shared the story in the earliest tasks of evangelism. He helped form the teachings of the church before the adoption of formal creeds. He also became the Bishop of Smyrna, which is now the modern city of Izmir in Turkey, not far from the place where Europe and Asia meet, in the midst of the place where most of the important early Christian history occurred and at the crossroads of great religions today. He committed to writing his views on teaching and practicing the faith, thus leaving a record of the foundations of faith for Christians in every millennium to come. For The Polycarp Community, the work of evangelism is not to be separated from the history, the theology, and the liturgy of Christianity.

These reflections of those who participate in The Polycarp Community continue that dedication. They are the scholars of evangelism and the practitioners of leadership in the church’s ministries of evangelism. Like Polycarp in his era, they witness in this age so that there will be witnesses in the age to come.

William B. Lawrence

Acknowledgments

We want to thank the contributors of this volume for the following essays recognizing William J. Abraham’s The Logic of Evangelism. We are grateful for their efforts to probe more deeply into a book that has become a classic in the field of evangelism. It is a privilege to assemble the insights of both teachers and practitioners in the ministry and field of evangelism. The content they share represents a cross-section of views and offers the deep appreciation of those who have worked with and learned from Abraham over the years. Their work seeks to honor him as well as continue the conversation about the church’s overall mission of evangelism. Special thanks must go to Dean William B. Lawrence, who wrote the Foreword, and, of course, to Professor Abraham for the Afterword.

Learning that evangelism is a field of research and study in and of itself has shifted the focus of evangelism and introduced a whole network of associations now seeking renewal in the church. Abraham’s mark has been left. The Logic of Evangelism has ushered in a new era.

This volume is one small gesture toward recognizing the significant impact of Abraham in the field of evangelism and with continuing the trajectory of that work.

Andrew D. Kinsey

Michael J. Gehring

Vaughn W. Baker

Chapter One

The Theory and Practice of Evangelism

Philip Meadows

I was first introduced to The Logic of Evangelism in the summer of 1994 while on a mission trip to Bulgaria.¹ It was not long after the collapse of Communism, and the church was beginning to enjoy a new season of religious freedom. The pastor of the Methodist Church in Sophia was an American missionary who turned out to be a kindred spirit as we celebrated the work of God in Bulgaria and lamented the failure of evangelistic zeal in the mainline denominations back home. He asked if I had heard of William J. Abraham, as The Logic of Evangelism had impacted his own calling and ministry. He was excited that Abraham’s work not only provided an effective vision for evangelism but also helped to give an intellectual respectability to the subject and greater confidence to evangelical Christians in seminary education. Shortly after returning home, I sat in my study, reading the book. A few years later, I stood in a classroom quoting from it as a seminary professor. More than twenty years later, it is still on my required or recommended reading list for classes in the theology of evangelism.

The original subtitle of The Logic of Evangelism was a significant contribution to the theory and practice of evangelism. As a teacher of missiology and evangelism, however, I am acutely aware of the gap that exists between theory and practice. Recognizing the weakness in our practice can stimulate the need for better academic reflection, and improvements in our theory can certainly stimulate a fresh interest in evangelistic mission. It is also equally possible to have all the theory and none of the practice. In what follows, I will review the central arguments of The Logic of Evangelism, and follow with a few concerns of Abraham’s overall project.

The Evangelism Gap

Thanks to the efforts of Abraham and others, the contemporary church has never been supplied with better theologies, deeper wisdom, or richer teaching and training in evangelism than at present. Given the general state of church decline in the West, we have never had greater motivation to put these things into practice! However, evidence suggests this situation is not having the desired impact on the evangelistic witness of the church—especially in the trenches.² The reasons are complex, and we will turn to The Logic of Evangelism to help us expose some of them.

Evangelism in Theory

Abraham stated his intention to write a book that makes a case for taking evangelism radically seriously as a topic of theological enquiry and to delineate the contours of an ongoing research program that could well constitute the beginnings of a new field within the discipline of theology.³ He sets out to accomplish this task by pursuing three subsidiary aims: first, to conceive of evangelism as initiation into the kingdom of God; second, to demonstrate the necessity for an interdisciplinary approach to the theory and practice of evangelism; and, third, that this might provoke or inspire other scholars either to provide a better way of pursuing critical reflection on evangelism, or to take up and improve on his own argument.⁴

It is fair to say that the academic aspirations of The Logic of Evangelism have been more than fully realized and most certainly within the broad Wesleyan tradition to which Abraham belongs. There is now a substantial body of work on the theology and practice of evangelism from a variety of perspectives and disciplines, some of which critically and creatively extend the arguments in the book. Much of this work has been influenced by developments in the field of missiology, which have emphasized the now-and-not-yet kingdom of God as an eschatological framework for understanding the role of evangelism. Professional guilds in the field of evangelization studies have been also strengthened,⁵ and professorships in evangelism have become well established.⁶

Evangelism in Practice

In his Preface to The Logic of Evangelism, Andrew Walker of King’s College in London writes, Billy Abraham is a pastor and an evangelist as well as an academic.⁷ Walker’s observation has been my personal experience as well, and it shines through the book in both its style and content. Abraham’s overarching aspiration for the book is to stimulate a fresh confidence in the practice of evangelism at a time of crisis and opportunity in the church. From the perspective of 1989, he predicted that there would be a very significant outburst of evangelism as the church heads toward a new century and that the church would come to acknowledge that the Western world needs to be evangelized afresh. In the midst of deepening secularization, he observed a growing consensus that evangelism must become a top priority for the modern church.⁸

Let me make some observations from my own context in the United Kingdom. In line with Abraham’s prediction, the 1990s were formally designated a Decade of Evangelism, but they could hardly be assessed as a significant ‘outburst’ of evangelistic fervor.⁹ The church pushed for church planting, developing mission-shaped churches, and ecumenical initiatives like Fresh Expressions.¹⁰ Now, the necessity of mission, evangelism, and making disciples has become a well-established priority in the rhetoric and polity of many mainline denominations.¹¹ Although there are mixed signs of growth and decline, the overarching trend in church membership and attendance reveals a state of severe attrition. For example, the Church of England declined by around 100,000 members in 2005–2015,¹² and the Methodist Church in Great Britain lost around a third of its total membership in approximately the same period.¹³ There is little evidence that this trend will change anytime soon. If anything, the renewed concern for evangelism may have exposed an underlying lack of spiritual vitality, confidence in the gospel, and ability to share faith with non-Christians. During his inaugural address as President of the British Methodist Conference in 2015, the Rev. Steven Wild urged the denomination to take God seriously in the task of evangelism. He urged them to put mission on the agenda and give our churches an aim to win a person for Christ. In other words, within the coming year, the challenge was simply to bring one person to faith—to make one new member. It is telling that he had to remind them, It is not impossible!¹⁴

Re-Evangelizing the Church

In assessing The Logic of Evangelism, it seems to me that it begins and ends with an underlying spiritual conviction. Without the experiential reality of abiding in the kingdom of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to transform our lives, there can be no authentic evangelism. If the church is not alive to God, it will lack evangelistic zeal for the least and the lost as well as the capacity to make true converts or disciples. For Abraham, the logic of evangelism is closely coupled to the need for renewal, and he observes that the church itself may need to be evangelized afresh.¹⁵ A passion for evangelism is not an optional extra for the church but fundamental to its very nature: If the church does not evangelize, it has forfeited the right to be called apostolic, and apostolicity is an ineradicable mark of the church’s identity.¹⁶ Given the urgency of the present task, however, the church may not have the luxury of time to get its own house in order before reaching out to others. Rather, with a better vision of what evangelism entails, we are urged to venture out in fear and trembling and to discover that in evangelizing, the church itself is re-evangelized.¹⁷

The Logic of Initiation

Abraham writes with the motivation of an evangelist. His aim is to win the reader to a better vision of the gospel as good news of the reign of God and what it means to live as a faithful citizen in God’s kingdom. Having captivated our minds and hearts to this vision, he invites then to repent of our old ways and believe that evangelism is a much more ordinary, yet demanding set of activities than we assumed.

In particular, we are to repent of the mistakes inherited from the traditional models of proclamation and church growth. Every non-evangelist breathes a sigh of relief as the distasteful images of street preaching, crusading, and televangelism are exposed as flawed and inadequate approaches to spreading the gospel. Abraham confirms our worst suspicions that such para-church approaches to evangelism have focused on making converts rather than disciples. All those who have been burned out by the technocratic mindset of the church growth school take little persuading that searching for the one-best-way to organize the church for evangelistic mission is a dangerous illusion. Marketing and programmatic approaches to evangelism have focused on attracting seekers but have ended up making consumers of religion rather than citizens and agents of the kingdom. Filling churches with stunted converts and religious consumers cannot be the goal of evangelism.

The Goal of Evangelism

Freed from the burden of mistaken approaches, Abraham then encourages us to re-imagine the logic of evangelism as a means to the end of living under the reign of God. Abraham puts it this way: We can best improve our thinking on evangelism by conceiving of it as that set of intentional activities which is governed by the goal of initiating people into the kingdom of God for the first time.¹⁸ We can accomplish these intentional activities through participation in the community and ministry of the church where life-together embodies the real presence of the kingdom and equips people for a journey of conversion and holistic formation.

Abraham describes evangelism as a polymorphous activity that includes proclamation, basic instruction in the faith, equipping with spiritual disciplines, nurturing in small groups, and releasing spiritual gifts. These activities conform to the logic of evangelism, as part of a process that is governed by the goal of initiating people into the kingdom of God.¹⁹ This process facilitates a journey of faith in which one makes a personal decision to live under the reign of God, moving to baptism or confirmation. Although the experiences associated with evangelical conversion are an intentional outcome of evangelism as initiation into the kingdom of God, Abraham reconnects evangelism to the bigger task of making authentic disciples.

The Means of Evangelism

Describing evangelism as a polymorphous activity also provides a way for conceiving how any practice in the church has the potential to become evangelistic in character. Abraham identifies three essential ingredients in this