Imagine, if you will, that you are a missionary. You have taken the classes you will need to get around in this new country. You know the common language well enough. You understand the customs and are confidant you won’t make a scene your first day on the ground. There has been very little progress made in this locale, and that is why you were sent. It is your first missionary assignment, and you hope that God will use you to do great things among the people.
You are in a high place. The top of a building, or maybe a helicopter. You look down and see an ocean of humanity. From your classwork, you know that the crowd below you is not one that will be conducive to the gospel. Perhaps the country already has an established religion. Maybe atheism is the state sponsored religion. Either way, the reports show that less than one percent of the population is Christian. You’re still wet behind the ears and all of your ideas of building a church and waiting for the people to pack in to hear your masterfully orchestrated messages are beginning to fizzle.
What do you do? You despair of even making a dent for the gospel, let alone sparking a revival!
This is a makeshift scenario that has been met by many missionaries in the past. If you allow for the details of the setting to be adjusted, I would guess that most missionaries have faced a situation where there seems to be so much work to be done among a people who are so tuned out to the gospel that it seems pointless. That is where theology must come in. You must make a stand somewhere, and that stand can be made on your efforts or on the power of God to transform the sinner.
John 10:16
And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
This is where Calvinism meets evangelism. Many have said that the two are at odds with one another, but that is not so. Calvinism will change the way you evangelize, but it will not keep you from reaching out to the lost. What it does do is affect our message, our methods and our motivations.
A Calvinist will not tell the unregenerate man that God loves him and has a wonderful plan for his life. It is not our place to give any man a false sense of security through a narcissistic message, no matter how well the lost man responds to such a message. If it is true that the heart is deceitful above all things, the Calvinist cannot, in good conscience, preach a gospel that speaks only to a deceitful heart. It is not our place to declare anyone righteous to any degree before God. That is the work of the Holy Spirit, who convicts men of their sin and who drives them to the cross. This work is accomplished through the word of God, empowered by the spirit of God.
Our methods can take on similar forms as the world around us, and that is often to our discredit. But consider this, you won’t find many Calvinist bumper stickers on the road today. That is because we have seen too many examples of flash advertising that cheapens the name of Christ and because we have no desire to boast of our salvation. “Try Jesus” one sticker reads, as if Jesus offered test drives. “Wise men still seek Him” is another. Funny, I thought we had it on apostolic authority that nobody seeks after God. “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.” As if nothing is settled until you agree with what God said? The God of the Bible is replaced in the American psyche with an image of a detached Santa Claus, who really really really wants to give you a pony this Christmas. Assuming you’ve been good, of course.
Back up for a moment to the missionary example I gave earlier. A young missionary with high aspirations may wonder how he is supposed to reach all of these people. Why, they have supporters back home who expect results if their investment is to continue. You can look over the sea of faces and despair over how to go about winning this crowd to Christ or you can back up for a moment and remember that it is not your job to win anyone to Christ. Not a single person. When you go out into the field, your job is to preach the gospel to whoever will listen. That’s it. Sure, you may help in a hospital setting or some other pursuit, but your primary mission is to spread the gospel.
You will never know who is of the elect and who is not until God reveals them to you as new brothers and sisters in Christ, and you will rejoice all the more as a witness to a miracle no less incredible than the raising of Lazarus from the dead. And even if God grants you no converts, you can rest assured that God is using you to plant seeds. Another may come to water. But it is always God who gives the growth.
Calvinists are planters and waterers. We are not ones to try and take on the role of God by forcing growth where there is no growth. There are people who will accept the gospel and people who will reject the gospel. Whether the gospel is accepted or rejected, we strive for that gospel to be proclaimed in all of its truth. If we are to be messengers of the king, how can we be good and faithful servants if we do not proclaim the message we have been given?
Tags: Doctrines of Grace, Evangelism, gospel
“white unto harvest,” what about our hearts as we labor in it? What about love? Here’s a good read about the movtivation to give the gospel. Do we do it under coercion and dread, or with freedom and delight? I know which one I choose. Have a read here.
CoffeeSwirls » Calvinism and Evangelism Is it really necessary to be a Calvinist to believe this? – Chuck Source: CoffeeSwirls » Calvinism and Evangelism “A young missionary with high aspirations may wonder how he is supposed to reach all of these people. Why, they have supporters back home who expect results if their work is fruitful enough. You can look over the sea of faces and despair over how to
Amen. The Gospel, as explained by Calvinism, does not lie against evangelism. Rather, Calvinism compels Christians to be His witnesses. We are elect and undeserving. In all humility, we submit to the command of Christ to go and spread the Gospel. Have you read Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by Dr. J.I. Packer? This book beautifully presents this truth.
No I haven’t, but it is on my ever expanding list of books to read. Thanks for the comment!
Well done.
What a relief from the ridiculous pressure of having to give the gospel “just right” in order for people to come to faith in Christ. Instead, we are free to speak the truth to anybody and everybody, and watch what happens.
Thank you, Doug.
We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction…1 Thessalonians 1:3-5 (NIV)
Am enjoying your website. What a freeing for us when we realize that we are only instruments used by God to do His work. He said His Word will not return void. The Holy Spirit does all the work! We can’t change anyone’s heart. Doug, have you ever done a word study on two little words–in Christ? Keep up the good work of the good news.
I haven’t done a serious word search, but I have contemplated the ramifications of this phrase in the past.
1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
In Adam, all are condemned. In Christ, all are saved. That is not to make a universal statement regarding all people, by the way. Everyone is born into Adam. Some are later reborn into Christ. This is the crux of the conversation that takes place in John 3 and is also explained for us in Romans 5.
I take great joy in this change of my federal head. Where once I was under sin in Adam I am now under grace in Christ. It must be this way if Christ is to be my only hope, therefore we must rejoice in our only hope!
That is a drum worth beating. Thanks for the comment!
[...] Many Calvinists point out that God tells us to evangelize, and that’s reason enough to do it: First, my Lord Jesus Christ commands me to do so (Mark 16:15). (OPC) Even if we had no other reason, we would still evangelize…because it is a clear command from God. (Old Truth) If we are to be messengers of the king, how can we be good and faithful servants if we do not proclaim the message we have been given? (Coffee Swirls) [...]