Why is evangelism increasingly ‘optional’?

It has become startlingly obvious to me over the years that evangelism, and its importance, has increasingly receded in the life of the church in America.

I know there are exceptions, and of course there are many individuals who are effective and zealous in personal evangelism. But my anecdotal and instinctive observation was recently confirmed by Lausanne’s survey on the importance of the Great Commission. The survey asked whether the average Christian, in various countries, believes that sharing the gospel is essential or optional. It is no great surprise that where the church is growing rapidly the average Christian believes that sharing the gospel is essential: Africa, Asia, Latin America. But where the church is not growing (North America and Europe) the average Christian thinks that evangelism is merely optional. You can look at the figures yourself here: lausanne.org/ report/great-commission-discipleship.

Over the years I’ve asked myself, as I’ve noticed this pattern developing, what might be the cause? After all, presumably most Christians know (at some level) that the Great Commission is, well, the Great Commission, and given to us by the Lord Jesus Himself. And presumably most pastors also know (at some level) that we are not merely to ‘preach the word’ but also to ‘do the work of an evangelist’. But yet the emphasis on evangelism is patently lacking.

I sometimes feel it is deeply theological. It seems to me that in some circles, where quote-unquote ‘seeker-sensitive’ Christianity is viewed with suspicion, any discussion about, much less any activity of, evangelism is, likewise, viewed as suspicious, liable to downgrade Christianity to a more superficial form. I have been tempted to wonder whether it is simply the coldness of our hearts towards God: but then we seem to be passionate for the cause of God in other areas. Do we need (those of us who think of ourselves as having a commitment to the sovereignty of God in conversion) to read again J.I. Packer’s Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God?

I myself, in my tender years, was much influenced by listening at Cambridge to Don Carson preaching a set of sermons on Paul’s prayers. When he came to the theme of Prayer and Sovereignty he made it clear to me that the activity of prayer was not in the end antagonistic to a view of God’s sovereignty, but rather compatible. Whether in that sermon, or at some other time, I remember him making a similar point about Paul’s commitment to evangelism in Corinth because God had many people in that city; that is, because of his commitment to evangelism.

Are we scared? Are we backing away from anti-Christian forces to become silent? Perhaps, but then there appear to be brave culture warriors among us who will speak up about the moral issues of our day.

To be sure, a concern for evangelistic numbers can be a trap; if you led one Billy Graham to the Lord, you would have a big impact through his life – bigger than someone who led ten other people to the Lord who were not so anointed. Recently, when I was asked, then, why I wanted to look at numbers at some event or other, I replied: ‘Because there are a lot of people going to hell, and I want them not to!’ It wasn’t the most subtle theological argument for a passion for evangelism – but it’s Biblical. Did not the apostle Paul say that Christ love compels us, but also ‘knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others’? (2 Cor. 5:11/14).

Should we republish Paul Little’s How to Give Away Your Faith? I remember one story about him when he and a friend went to some restaurant and before the other friend could finish ordering the server was on his knees giving his life to Jesus. Of course, Little was an evangelist, and we are not all. Similarly, I once had a meal with the evangelist Luis Palau, and was astonished at his felicity at a personal level for engaging in spiritual conversation with the people serving our table. No, we are not all called to be evangelists, but we are all called to evangelise.

Does it have something to do (and here I tread on shaky ground) with a misguided commitment to church planting as a replacement for personal evangelism? To be sure, church planting is Biblical – the apostle Paul did it – but his church planting was evangelistic in its nature. Some of our contemporary church planting seems to me to be an exercise in moving sheep one from church preference to another church preference. That’s not always a bad thing! Blessed subtraction, and all that. But it’s not evangelism!

As so often, I find I am writing for myself. Do I need to take up a D.L. Moody-like vow that I will not go to bed without having shared my faith with at least one person? I might break the vow some days but not every day. Perhaps you could take a similar step forward, too.