Evangelism and the early church any difference?
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| English: Christ rides into Jerusalem. Passeri. In the Bowyer Bible in Bolton Museum, England Print 3820. From “An Illustrated Commentary on the Gospel of Mark” by Phillip Medhurst. Section P. into Jerusalem. Mark 10:46-52, 11:1-11, 11:15-18, 12:41-44. http://pdfcast.org/pdf/an-illustrated-commentary-by-phillip-medhurst-on-the-gospel-of-mark-section-p (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Regrettably, we often overlook what this passage tells us about evangelism in the early church. Immediately after the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:54–60), a “great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem,” which caused all of the Christians there, except the apostles, to be scattered throughout Judea
and Samaria (8:1b). In other words, the laity in Jerusalem were forced to flee the city and leave those ordained to church office behind. This is significant
because it was these scattered laypeople who began preaching the Word beyond Jerusalem (v. 4), beginning the spread of the Gospel to the ends of the earth as Jesus predicted (1:6–8). From the church’s earliest days, lay Christians have been faithful and effective evangelists.
Nevertheless, many believers in the church today feel unequipped to proclaim
the Gospel, or they think the responsibility to preach Christ to
non-Christians lies solely with the pastor. Such sentiments are easily
explainable: No one has taught them how to share the good news of Jesus
Christ. If people are to proclaim the Gospel, they must learn how to share it
with others.
All Christians can benefit from systematic evangelism, that is, some kind of
evangelistic program that is easy to memorize and use for spreading God’s
Word. Getting to the basic facts of the Gospel — the demands of the Lord’s
holiness, our sin, the atonement and resurrection of Christ — and packaging
them in a way that is easy to learn and repeat can go a long way towards
helping people evangelize.
Of course, we run the risk of distortion any time we try to reduce the Gospel
to its simplest points. However, even the apostles worked with a simplified
message when they went to those who knew nothing of the Bible. The apostolic sermons in Acts show us that the kerygma, the basic message of the Gospel, wasdelivered to the Gentiles who knew nothing of God’s Word. Only after peoplewere converted did systematic, in-depth teaching of the Scriptures begin.
Many people leave evangelism up to the preaching of the pastor. However, this confuses teaching with evangelism. The teaching ministry of the church is essential to the growth of the kingdom, but its primary task is to educate those who are already Christians — any evangelism that happens is secondary. If you feel unequipped to share the Gospel, seek a program designed to help you preach the Gospel to those who do not know Jesus.
