The New Evangelism

The new evangelism" is the latest buzz word being used by the Pope, evangelicals and others. The meaning varies depending upon who is using the terminology.  I came across an interesting article posted at Leasershipjournal.net by Marshall Shelley entitled, "The New Evangelism." (11/22/0). This statement grabbed my attention, "Compassion is the new evangelism," said William Gutierrez, director of the Compassion office in Nicaragua. By that he did not mean that ministries of compassion are replacing ministries of evangelism. He meant that whereas in previous generations, the most prominent form of evangelism was a crusade in a stadium, or an efficient summary of Four Spiritual Laws, here the most prominent form of evangelism is one that offers compassion as well as the message of the gospel.

I believe this combination of compassionate service and the proclamation of the gospel can be a dynamic duo for reaching lost people.  My fear is that the actual proclamation of the gospel is often pushed aside or neglected altogether.  It is thrown in as an afterthought.  I remember visiting missionaries in the jungles of Borneo (Kalimantan, Indonesia) year as ago.  They had contacted a primitive tribe and now after years of arduous work a vibrant church had been planted.  They told stories of the tension they felt when confronted with overwhelming physical needs that could be "resolved" with very basic things like, better hygiene, water purification and improved agricultural techniques.  It would have been "easy" to set aside the work of Bible translation and evangelism to focus almost exclusively on the these compassionate ministries. Of course, it was not an either or situation, but the spiritual work never took a back seat to meeting the physical needs all around them.  I met a tribal leader who remarked, "Before the missionaries came, everybody died, now nobody dies!"  As a result of the gospel, their belief system changed, and their quality of life also improved. Admittedly, this tension between acts of compassion and proclamation is very real and will never be resolved unless we mistakenly adopt one approach to the exclusion of the other.  The danger I see is the tendency to focus all of our resources and energy on compassion, while setting aside or neglecting the proclamation of the gospel altogether.  I think for the most part the church gets it when it comes to works of compassion.  I don't think it gets it when it comes to equipping people to share their faith as a way of life. Maybe I'm missing something.

We must constantly ask ourselves:"Where in the ministry of compassion are people being trained to share the gospel? Is the gospel actually being shared? Are people actually coming to faith in Christ?"  I think a careful look at Jesus ministry helps us strike the right balance.

Glasses for Missions is a ministry of compassion that strikes the perfect balance. Check it out!  I'd also be interested in your comments about how this issue is working itself out in your life, in your church and in the mission organizations you support or are involved in.