01 March 2023
Okay, so now you should understand that it's not necessary for outsiders to take us seriously. Just getting that across would forever change what has become a publishing industry for evangelism materials.
The gospel message has become so dumbed down that it's no longer the gospel. The current standard teaching that is labeled as "the gospel" is not a call to Heaven, but strives to compete with every other human philosophy. Stop the competition. Evangelism isn't going to stop a damned soul from going to Hell. All we can do is welcome into our family those whom the Lord has elected before the foundation of the world.
Stop for a moment and think through all the implications of genuine biblical doctrine. On the one hand, it is by far the most pragmatic path you can choose. It is reality by definition; it is God's revelation of who He is. Since He is the Creator, and everything He has done is infused with His moral character, it should be obvious that if you understand God, you understand the reality He created. Changing the revelation to match human expectations guarantees that you have perverted revelation.
We are not appealing to those who have not been touched by the Lord! We can do nothing for them.
One of the biggest crimes in the history of western church leadership was when they analyzed the invading Germanic mythology and perverted the gospel message to appeal to them, as if it were a simple matter of political persuasion to make them "Christian". That choice to rewrite the gospel in pagan terms, based on pagan assumptions about reality, set the pattern. Today, evangelism is just a sales pitch. You are no longer required to commit yourself to leaving this world in order to join a church.
Nobody gets put on the path back the Eden. Folks, that's what the Covenant is all about. It's a renunciation of this world. For anyone to cross that boundary is a miracle, and that's exactly what it should be. It's not a choice. Biblical evangelism is not about decisions made by humans. Evangelism is our effort to bring eternal souls to the moment of recognition that God has called them. Once that registers on their awareness, they then become capable of making choices. Until that moment, they could not choose Christ from within their own human capabilities. They can choose all kinds of things that might be labeled "Christ", but it's not Him.
Genuine evangelism is hearts speaking to hearts, in their own heart language and on the heart's unique wavelength. You do not address the mind directly because it's fallen and cannot be redeemed in itself. The mind can be redeemed only by redemption of the heart. Thus, we need never worry about making sense. We do not appeal to the flesh in any way. Rather, we say and do things that we know only an awakened heart can grasp.
Thus, we should expect hassles and harassment from the rest of the audience. This is what Christ did when He spoke about the Bread of Heaven. It was meant to polarize the audience that had become dominated by those seeking only comforts of the flesh. His parables reduced the crowd and made His work somewhat less of a circus performance. It alienated the majority of the people, and that's what real evangelism does.
If the world understands us, we have done something wrong.
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