Evangelism and Education

Evangelism and education do not function separately. They go hand in hand to present everyone mature in Christ. Those who are called to share the gospel often have no concept of education behind their proclamation. Those who are called to teach don’t want to proclaim the gospel to non-believers. In Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999), Robert E. Webber laments the superficiality of the church in today’s world, saying:

This loss of evangelism in education as well as the loss of education in evangelism is one of the root causes of superficiality in evangelism today. The message of Christianity is a historical message with content.

Whenever Christianity is preached without its history or content, it is reduced to a social or psychological panacea, or worse, a manipulation of feelings…On the other hand, whenever the content of Christianity is presented as factual or intellectual data without an accompanying call to commitment and change of life, Christian education loses its power to form character in the convert. Clearly, evangelism and education must stand together. There must be content in preaching and proclamation in teaching (p. 153).

“Go… and teaching them what I have commanded you…” (Matt. 28:19-20) is a biblical command that we often obey partially. I am not denying the fact that some are called to be evangelists, and some are called to be educators. But what is unacceptable is that we over-emphasize the one over the other in our beliefs. Such imbalance of understanding the Great Commission in Matthew’s gospel leads to what we now call the situation of the church: growth without depth. Converted Christians are born again. But they have no root. It sounds good to tell the church that Mr. B believed in Jesus and has decided to follow him. It is good news. However, unless we continue to help Mr. B to grow with the Good News, Mr. B would end up swimming on the surface and miss the depth of the sea. In Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2010), J. I. Packer and Gary A. Parrett write:

As we contemplate today’s complex concerns, hopes, dreams, and ventures of Christian renewal, discipleship impresses us as the key present-day issue, and catechesis as the key present-day element of discipleship, all the world over. The Christian faith must be both well and wisely taught and well and truly learned! A far-reaching change of mindset about this is called for, without which such well-worn dictums as “American Christianity is three thousand miles wide and half an inch deep” will continue, sadly, to be verified. Recovery of the educational-devotional discipline that we are advocating cannot, to our mind, come a moment too soon (p. 17).

The Courage to Be Protestant

Here is a simple rule to keep in mind: When David F. Wells writes a book, buy it with no hesitation. I bought his book The Courage to Be Protestant: Truth-Lovers, Marketers, and Emergents in the Postmodern World (Eerdmans, 2008) two days ago. It’s his fifth book to analyze how the church has been attacked and corrupted by Postmodernism (outside) and new forms of liberalism (inside) and what the Church should do in order to let God be God over the Church. If you want to know why the church has been losing her distinctive role and prophetic function in society, Well’s book can definitely offer you a critique.

An excerpt:

“Evangelicalism had two flaws that have been there from the beginning in its post-World War II phase. The first flaw is that evangelicalism has an inclination to allow its biblical core to shrink. In parts of the evangelical world today, it has shrunk so much that virtually nothing remains. This was so initially because evangelism has been a populist movement that owes much of its temper to democratic impulses. When it also became a marketing phenomenon, further emptying-out happened.”

“Second, and alongside this, evangelicalism’s inherently para nature asserted itself that it increasingly became parachurch to the point where the local church, in biblical terms, became increasingly irrelevant. Once these things began to happen, I believe, evangelicalism was on its way to decline.” (p. 210)

The first point is about Christian historic doctrines being de-centered and lost in the church. Christian doctrines no longer offer direction and set moral boundaries for Christians. The second point is about the church being marginalized by para-Christian organizations. Christians no longer think within the church, but apart from the church.