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On the Ethics of Evangelism Below is an excerpt from Dr. Bruce Prescott’s presentation at an Interfaith Dialogue on the Ethics of Evangelism at the University of Oklahoma on April 6, 2005. I am a Christian and Christianity is a missionary religion. I am a Baptist and Baptists are mission-minded people. So, I deeply appreciate this opportunity to speak on a topic that is central to the expression of my faith. The word “evangelism” comes from the Greek word “euangelion” which literally means “good news.” To evangelize is to proclaim the “good news” (in English we call it “the gospel”) which is a message about the love that God demonstrated in Jesus Christ and about God’s rule or reign over humanity (the kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom ruled by love and grace, not a political kingdom ruled by force and threat of violence). We believe that the message we proclaim is such “good news” that everyone ought to have an opportunity to hear it. Here’s why we believe the gospel is such “good news” – because everyone already has knowledge of and experience with the “bad news.” 1) We believe that every human being experiences guilt and/or shame when they deliberately do something that they know is wrong. We call that sin. The good news that we proclaim is that God offers forgiveness to those who turn from their sins (we call that repentance) and that, if we will receive it, God can and will create a clean heart and conscience within us. 2) We believe that every human being has some experience with a temptation to sin that is so strong that sin itself, or something external to our own deepest wishes and desires, seems to have power over us. The good news that we proclaim is that, in Christ, God broke the power that sin has over us and through his Spirit he can enable us to live the kind of life that we know we should. 3) We believe that every human being has experience with the feeling that God (or whatever is perceived as ultimate reality) is distant from them, or unconcerned about them, or angry at them. The good news that we proclaim is that, in Christ, God demonstrates that he is not distant, that God cares about us, and that we were created to live in loving relationship with God and others. If what Christians believe is true, then it is “good news” and we would be callous, insensitive, and uncaring not to share it with anyone who will listen. Evangelism gets a bad reputation from Christians who spend all their time maintaining lists of sins rather than proclaiming the gospel. In doing so, they are making the “good news” “bad news” and are turning people away from the gospel. Evangelism also gets a bad reputation from Christians who lack respect for persons of other faiths or of no faith. Instead of trying to overpower people with manipulative rhetoric or argumentation, we should be engaging them in dialogue. The power of the gospel is in the message itself – all Christians should be doing is sharing it with an attitude of genuine love, humility and friendship. |
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