{"id":2742,"date":"2024-02-14T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theartofworship.net\/?p=2742"},"modified":"2024-02-14T04:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T04:00:00","slug":"evangelism-in-the-new-testament-what-is-contact-evangelism-pt-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/graceandtruthpress.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/14\/evangelism-in-the-new-testament-what-is-contact-evangelism-pt-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Evangelism in the New Testament: What is Contact Evangelism? Pt. 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Only God omniscient can accurately appraise the results of evangelism. Only He can count converts.”<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My wife and I went out one night to a bar district in Dallas, Texas, to have some good chicken wings and afterward do some evangelism. Truthfully, we went out to do evangelism and while we were there, we had wings. Growing up in Buffalo, New York, I am a bit of a critic of what makes a good wing. There are not many good ones south of East Aurora, New York.<\/span><\/p>\n

After we polished off the last wing, we walked around the bar district, and I ran into a bouncer named Michael. Like any good bouncer, Michael was big and bald. Intimidating. I got past my initial fear with a gospel tract and spoke with him about his religious background. He had one, and that was enough to talk about his own assessment of his standing with God. We went through some of the Ten Commandments, and I did something I do not usually do. I focused on the Fifth Commandment: \u201cHonor your father and your mother\u201d (Ex. 20:12).<\/span><\/p>\n

This really bothered Michael. He did not believe he was honoring his father and mother with his work as a bouncer. They taught him about the Bible and took him to church, but he had left the faith. We talked about false conversion as Jesus taught (Matt. 7:21-23).<\/span><\/p>\n

As we spoke, on a cool autumn night in North Texas, he began to sweat. He was not sweating figuratively. This was sweat pouring out from the top of his head and running down his face. I told him that breaking one commandment was the same as breaking all of them, that God is holy, and that God demands obedience. I told him about justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone (2 Cor. 5:21). I spoke of His death and resurrection and urged him to repent of his sins and trust in Jesus.\u00a0 I left him with a business card and my wife and I prayed for his salvation.<\/span><\/p>\n

About three weeks later, Michael called me to tell me that he could not stop thinking about our conversation. He had repented, come to Christ, and went back to church. He quit his job as a bouncer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Does \u201ccold contact\u201d street evangelism work? It just did.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Friendship vs. Contact Evangelism<\/h5>\n

The type of evangelism we are discussing is direct witnessing with strangers, sometimes called \u201cconfrontational evangelism.\u201d Many people consider anything \u201cconfrontational\u201d in a negative <\/span>sense, but the dictionary definition of the term is to simply have a conversation where we speak to the lost directly about their eternity, helping them to see their sin so they understand their need for a Savior. I prefer the term \u201ccontact evangelism,\u201d which Will Metzger uses in his book <\/span>Tell the Truth<\/span><\/i>. This kind of evangelism is seldom confrontational in the typical sense of the word, despite claims to the contrary.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most serious objections to contact evangelism is the claim that all evangelism must take place within the context of longstanding relationships. Christians often hear<\/span><\/a> that strangers \u201cdo not care how much you know until they know how much you care\u201d and are taught<\/span><\/a>\u00a0that we must \u201cearn the right\u201d to speak to the lost about Christ.<\/span> A whole body of literature arose within evangelical Christianity in the 1980s that fleshed out this concept with books and seminars promoting \u201cfriendship evangelism\u201d or \u201clifestyle evangelism.\u201d I am familiar with these works<\/span><\/a>, having read many of them during my days as a pastor and Bible college student in the late 1980s and early 1990s.<\/span><\/p>\n

In these books, the main argument against evangelism among strangers has to do with the \u201cfruit\u201d of such a method. In other words<\/span><\/a>, if this kind of evangelism is \u201ceffective,\u201d then where are the results?<\/span> Someone has said that when critics of contact evangelism mention the effectiveness factor, what they really mean is \u201cIt does not fill up my church.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Such \u201ceffectiveness\u201d has little to do with biblical evangelism and much to do with modern church growth strategies. Filling the church building is not necessarily indicative of true success. False teachers fill their churches every Sunday, tickling the ears of false converts. Religions like Islam have large followings in many parts of the world. Are they \u201csuccessful\u201d in the eyes of God? Cults are sometimes very successful in reaching the unaffiliated, and they seem to work harder at reaching their neighbors than we do. Are they \u201csuccessful\u201d before God?<\/span><\/p>\n

If \u201ceffectiveness\u201d is a major factor in evaluating evangelistic strategy, then we are in danger of falling into the same traps that the seeker-sensitive movement fell into long ago. The question is not first and foremost, \u201cIs it effective in filling our churches?\u201d The question is, \u201cIs it Biblical?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Effectiveness Defined<\/h5>\n

This is not to say that the question of effectiveness is totally irrelevant. But we must determine what we mean by \u201ceffective.\u201d True effectiveness can be measured, at least in part, by the following standards:<\/span><\/p>\n