{"id":2046,"date":"2011-07-29T09:08:10","date_gmt":"2011-07-29T13:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fbclafayette.org\/?p=2046"},"modified":"2011-12-12T09:26:50","modified_gmt":"2011-12-12T14:26:50","slug":"evangelicals-stop-evangelizing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/evangelicals-stop-evangelizing\/","title":{"rendered":"Evangelicals Stop Evangelizing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

This week, CNN featured an article from Carl Medearis<\/a>, the author of Speaking of Jesus: the Art of Not-Evangelism<\/a> in which he attempts to explain why evangelicals should stop evangelizing.\u00a0 He asks, “What if evangelicals today, instead of focuing on ‘evangelizing’ or ‘converting’ people, were to begin to think of Jesus not as starting a new religion, but as the central figure of a movement that transcends religious distinctions and identities?”\u00a0 You wonder if Medearis’ next book will suggest that fans should stop cheering or ducks should stop quacking.\u00a0 How could anyone seriously suggest that evangelicals should stop preaching the gospel?\u00a0 Whatever happened to, “knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men<\/em><\/strong>” (2 Cor. 5:11)?<\/span><\/p>\n

Is Jesus the uniter of humanity?<\/h2>\n

Medearis decries his former days as a missionary when he had a “doctrinal litmus test” which inevitably led to a division between people who believed the gospel and those who didn’t.\u00a0 He believes Jesus should be viewed as the great uniter of humanity who transcends religious distinctions.\u00a0 The problem with this position is that it ignores huge chunks of Scripture that teach\u00a0the exact opposite.<\/p>\n

For example, in Luke 12:8-9 Jesus explained that, “Everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him before the angels of God; but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God<\/em><\/strong>.”\u00a0 Later, in that same chapter, the Lord asked, “Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth?\u00a0 I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three.”\u00a0 Medearis’ may want a world where Jesus unites people regardless of their acceptance of the gospel, but that position is simply contrary to the words of Christ Himself.<\/p>\n

This is not to suggest that followers of Christ should be needlessly offensive or divisive.\u00a0 But the gospel, by its very nature, separates people into those who repent and believe and those who do not. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Is following Jesus more important than doctrine?<\/h2>\n

Medearis goes on to express his relief that he is “no longer obsessed with converting people to Christianity” so he is free to “talk about Jesus” with people from other faiths.\u00a0 He says, “I believe that doctrine is important, but it’s not as important as following Jesus.”<\/p>\n

How do you follow Jesus apart from doctrine?\u00a0 Jesus who?\u00a0 Is this the Jesus that a person fabricates in his own mind?\u00a0 The Jesus who is cobbled together from a few isolated proof texts?\u00a0 How can Jesus be separated from His<\/em> teaching?<\/p>\n

Glorifying God by preaching the gospel is central to the mission of Christ’s church<\/strong>.\u00a0 This gospel is inherently doctrinal. Paul explained as much to young Timothy when he said, “Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.\u00a0 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you<\/em>.” (2 Timothy 1:15).<\/p>\n

True evangelicals will never stop evangelizing<\/strong>.\u00a0 We will seek to speak the truth in love and always give first attention to whether we are allowing Christ to change us so that we have a credible witness to share.\u00a0 But with Paul we say, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes<\/em>.” (Romans 1:16).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, CNN featured an article from Carl Medearis, the author of Speaking of Jesus: the Art of Not-Evangelism in which he attempts to explain why evangelicals should stop evangelizing.\u00a0 He asks, “What if evangelicals today, instead of focuing on ‘evangelizing’ or ‘converting’ people, were to begin to think of Jesus not as starting a… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[94],"tags":[4409,4235,4124,4410],"yoast_head":"\nEvangelicals Stop Evangelizing? - Faith Church Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/evangelicals-stop-evangelizing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Evangelicals Stop Evangelizing? - Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This week, CNN featured an article from Carl Medearis, the author of Speaking of Jesus: the Art of Not-Evangelism in which he attempts to explain why evangelicals should stop evangelizing.\u00a0 He asks, “What if evangelicals today, instead of focuing on ‘evangelizing’ or ‘converting’ people, were to begin to think of Jesus not as starting a... read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/evangelicals-stop-evangelizing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-07-29T13:08:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-12-12T14:26:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/files\/2011\/07\/Evangelicals-stop-evangelizing-e1311944771448.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Viars\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Viars\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/evangelicals-stop-evangelizing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/evangelicals-stop-evangelizing\/\",\"name\":\"Evangelicals Stop Evangelizing? - Faith Church Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-07-29T13:08:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-12T14:26:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/b83c7b6a62eab6b6e07c6659b204826c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/evangelicals-stop-evangelizing\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/evangelicals-stop-evangelizing\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/evangelicals-stop-evangelizing\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Evangelicals Stop Evangelizing?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\",\"name\":\"Faith Church Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/b83c7b6a62eab6b6e07c6659b204826c\",\"name\":\"Steve Viars\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200408121939\/ViarsSteve.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200408121939\/ViarsSteve.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Steve Viars\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Viars has served as a pastor and counselor at Faith since 1987. 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