The Serious Error of Decisional Evangelism
The more I study God’s word and the more I seek to know Him more, the more I am so burdened for the church in America. We have become so man centered and so activity focused in our churches that we have all but left the glorious gospel of God behind or set the gospel up on a shelf for all to admire from a distance only to be shadowed by “bigger and more important things.”Over twenty years ago I went through the motions of repeating a prayer from a pastor as I walked a long isle. Like a magic mantra, I repeated the words of my preacher, was baptized shortly after, and was told subsequently that I was saved. I had no understanding of sin, repentance, the holiness of God, the justice of God or my condition as a sinner. I was told to simply repeat a prayer. While it was an emotional experience it was not one that was wrought by the Spirit of God through repentance and faith. I am so grateful that my God did later save me. He transformed by heart of stone to a heart of flesh and my faith is not in a decision. My faith is not even in my faith. My faith is an ongoing faith in the person and work of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And that faith is a precious gift from my God - the God that for most of my life I lived in horrendous rebellion. Despite that hellish rebellion, He saved me. That my friend is amazing grace.
13 Evangelist Phrases That Produce False Converts
Churches divide over carpet color, building additions and budgets. In the meantime, our fellow church members are going to hell by the boat load.
A.W. Tozer said, “It is my opinion that tens of thousands of people, if not millions, have been brought into some kind of religious experience by accepting Christ, and they have not been saved.”
D. James Kennedy said, “The vast majority of people who are members of churches in America today are not Christians. I say that without the slightest contradiction. I base it on empirical evidence of twenty-four years of examining thousands of people.”
Friend, we argue over so many petty things. May I suggest we have lost sight of the most important debate of all, “What is salvation?” My theology teaches that salvation happens when a man repents and places his trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21).
I would like to present thirteen ways that we have re-defined how a person becomes a true convert. Have we done this intentionally? Certainly not. We have simply created lingo that has a grain of truth in Scripture, but it is so open to interpretation that the un-converted understand it in ways that lead to false conversions.
1. “Make Jesus your Lord and Savior.” We cannot make Jesus our Lord and Savior, He is our Lord and Savior. We are living in rebellion to Him and He commands us to repent and trust Him.
2. “Ask Jesus into your heart.” Does Jesus come into our hearts? Yes He does. The question is, “How does He get in there?” It is not by simply asking Him in; it is by repentance and faith.
3. “Just believe in Jesus.” The demons believe and they tremble. We must repent and trust.
4. “You have a God-shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it.” We have far more than a hole that needs to be filled so we can feel complete; we have a wretched, deceitful, sinful heart that needs cleansing. Repentance and faith applies the blood of the lamb for that cleansing.
5. “Accept Jesus.” Whoa. We need to accept Jesus? This is entirely backward. We need Jesus to accept us–and He will, if we repent and trust.
6. “Make a decision for Jesus.” Decisional regeneration puts man in the driver’s seat of salvation. When we repent and trust, Jesus decides to save us. That puts Him in the driver’s seat…where He demands.
7. “It is easy to believe.” While the formula of repentance and faith sounds simple, a complete surrendering of self in repentance is anything but easy. It’s hard.
8. “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” The only promises for the convert are trials, temptation and persecution. If that is how you define a wonderful life, fine. Otherwise we must command all men everywhere to repent and trust.
9. “Come to Jesus just as you are.” We should come to Jesus just as the sinners we are, but He also expects a broken heart and contrite spirit demonstrated in repentance and faith.
10. “Come to Jesus and you will receive forgiveness of sins and ________________ (fill in the blank with money, health, a healed marriage).” Jesus didn’t promise healed marriages; in fact He promised broken homes because we would divide when one member repents and trusts.
11. “Come to Jesus and experience love, joy, peace.” Do we get the fruit of the Spirit upon conversion? Yes. But if we come seeking the gifts and not the giver, we will receive neither. Instead, we must repent and trust.
12. “Jesus is the missing piece.” Um, no, the God of the universe is not the missing piece, He demands that He is the center of our lives when we repent and trust.
13. “Jesus is better than fame and fortune.” That is an understatement, and frankly, it is insulting. Saying Jesus is better than money is like saying that a steak dinner is better than eating a dung hill. He defies comparison and we trivialize the Son of God. Instead, we should be pleading with all men everywhere to repent and trust.
If I showed up at your door with a can of grapefruit juice and a roll of paper towels and offered to change your oil, you would say, “No thanks.” If we wouldn’t let someone mess with our car using the wrong method, why do we allow the Gospel to be presented so ambiguously?
Would you let a doctor operate on your child who was “sort of” accurate? The salvation of men is far more important than an appendix.
I beg you to consider how you share the Gospel. You and I know what we are talking about when we use these phrases, but do the unregenerate? Is it possible that we have so many backsliders today because they never slid forward in the first place? Is it because they were never told that they must repent and trust?
If we are willing to debate shag verse plush in the fellowship hall, shouldn’t we be more concerned about an issue that has eternal consequences?
Author: Todd Friel
We are Ambassadors, Not Diplomats!
“We are not sent to preach sociology but salvation; not economics but evangelism; not reform but redemption; not culture but conversion; not progress but pardon; not a new social order but a new birth; not revolution but regeneration; not renovation but revival; not resuscitation but resurrection; not a new organization but a new creation; not democracy but the gospel; not civilization but Christ; we are ambassadors, not diplomats.”
— Hugh Thomson Kerr
Pathetic Theology, Pathetic Preaching
OK… I’ve gone quote “happy” here on the blog this week (first Spurgeon, now Washer) but as I continue to hear and run across statements from men of God I can’t help but to post them here. Paul Washer of HeartCry Missionary Society is one passionate man of God and he hits the nail right on the head…
“There are so many people, especially in my own denomination . . . because of the pathetic theology and pathetic preaching . . . on church membership rolls—and they are as lost as they can be. Because we have forgotten that salvation does not cometh by praying and asking Jesus to come into your heart; salvation does not come by going through four spiritual laws and saying a prayer at the end; salvation does not come by all these silly little mechanisms we’ve developed. It comes as a supernatural work of God through which God regenerates, makes the heart alive, He gives the man repentance, He gives the man faith, the man repents, he believes and is saved. And it is a supernatural work of God that manifests as much if not more of the power of God than when God stood on the first day and said, “Let there be light.” - Paul Washer
What Has Happened to the American Church?
The more I watch American churches the more I am convinced that we are losing the essential focus - the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe this is a two-fold problem and one that is creating false converts who are saturating American churches. We should be concerned about this and our passion as Christians should be to proclaim with boldness the full Gospel of Christ, not some watered down version!
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