Community Evangelism
Fall 2022
The history of the Free Presbyterian Church is entrenched in fervent evangelism. The early ministers were evangelists at heart, and the congregations they pastored had multiple evangelistic ministries: reaching children in the community; door-to-door outreach; open-air preaching with street evangelism and tract distribution; or annual multi-week gospel campaigns in which God’s people would exert themselves in prayer and invitations to nightly gospel preaching, often lasting from two to six weeks at a time. In short, the Free Presbyterian Church was brought from birth to maturity through intense community evangelism.
In light of that history, when the FPCNA was formed in 2005, a Statement of Purpose was approved which included the following aim: “To labor for the salvation of the lost by the preaching of the gospel of Christ and calling them to repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
While this is an important part of pulpit ministry, and while we must support foreign missionaries engaged in such work, this “labor” for the salvation of souls must begin at home. Since the providence of God governs where we are located, it also commands where we must primarily engage in evangelism.
It is extremely easy to lose this kind of zeal and our flesh loves to lean upon excuses to justify anything that would cause it to diminish. Not to mention our adversary, Satan, who uses what he can to hinder us (1 Thessalonians 2:18).
I consider this subject a matter of urgency for every Christian. Oswald J. Smith said, “The church that does not evangelize will fossilize.” If we fail in evangelism, we communicate a message of irrelevance. How can we justify our existence by claiming to be entrusted with the gospel (or good news) but we do not share it with our community? Even the lepers outside Samaria concluded that their silence was not justified, “We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace” (2 Kings 7:9).
1. Evangelism is Christ-like.
Evangelism is the eternal purpose of God and highest calling of the Christian to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-29). While a list of attributes—referred to by theologians as communicable attributes—may be given to reflect Christ-likeness, few things exhibit Christ-likeness like a love for sinners that moves us to seek them in order to see them reconciled to God.
This is the entire mission of the Son of God. Jesus said, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Paul summarized the mission when he declared, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).
Even if there were no imperative to evangelize, it would be logical to conclude by implication that those with “good news” must share it with those that need it. Since Jesus sought out sinners, so must His people.
2. Evangelism is Loving.
It is basic Christianity to endeavor to love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18; Mark 12:31). Although there is more involved in this commandment than sharing the gospel, it would be hard to say we love our neighbor rightly by neglecting to share the gospel. If we fail to see evangelism in the law of God, then it is easy to argue against it, for there is no sin if the law is not broken.
The reality is, if we find a reluctance in our hearts to share the gospel with our neighbors, it exposes a lack of love and evidences blatant sin. Without love, there is no profit in anything (1 Corinthians 13:3). So what can be done? Since love is an attribute of God (1 John 4:8), we do not look inside ourselves for more of it. Nor do we guilt ourselves into duty. We go to God and confess that it is a lack of His love in us that is the problem, and plead with Him to remedy the coldness of our hearts. A lack of love for my neighbor that withholds the gospel from him is not just a tragic treatment of my neighbor, but a sin against God that must be confessed and forsaken by His grace.
3. Evangelism is Obedience.
In Luke 14, our Lord Jesus speaks of a man that made a great supper inviting many people. When some of those originally bidden make excuses for their absence, the servant is sent to gather “the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.” Because there is still more room, he is sent out “into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” Many comments could be made about this passage, but at the least we see that our Lord won’t stop until there is no more room, the servants are sent to bid them come to the supper, and the servants are sent to all types of people.
The application is obvious. First, the Church must not stop seeking to reach people until all the elect are gathered. Second, that the Church is sent to reach sinners, i.e. we don’t just pray, we must go. Third, there may be demographics we are not naturally inclined to reach that we must go to.
We are commanded, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). This is not just for the apostles. We are told that the persecuted Christians in Acts 8:4, “went every where preaching the word.” The imagery of the language is that they “gossiped” the gospel everywhere they went. This is obedience.
4. Evangelism is Attractive.
One of the easiest ways to lose a generation in a local church is to ignore the concerns of young people. Youth and activism go hand in hand. Part of the reason for this is not just due to targeted messaging, but because young people are drawn to energy. Whether it is social justice, climate change, or something else, it is likely that the bulk of the activists are young. Young people long to be inspired and feel compelled to make a difference, and there is no better way to disciple that energy than evangelism.
For this reason, a church that lacks any meaningful energy for evangelism will always struggle to keep or attract young people. If there is nothing of the power of the Holy Ghost in our worship, and no passion for lost souls in the life of a congregation, a local church that is otherwise biblical will die. There is nothing attractive about a lack of evangelism.
Sometimes I wonder if we removed from reformed churches those brought to faith in Christ by the instrumentality of Arminianism would there be anyone left? This phenomenon is an indictment against reformed churches, and it was not true of the best of our forefathers.
5. Evangelism is Honest.
If we really believe that men and women spend eternity in God’s hell, suffering endlessly without reprieve or hope of deliverance, it is impossible to be an honest Christian and neglect evangelism. Either we admit we don’t actually believe what we claim to believe, or our knowledge that Christ is the answer drives us to witness to souls.
One of the most impressing aspects of the life of Robert Murray M’Cheyne was his emphasis on eternal matters. Though he died at 29, he left a legacy of a man that lived on the brink of eternity, writing the well-known words of “When This Passing World is Done.” It is said that he sealed most of his letters with words from John 9:4, “The night cometh.” This kind of spirit drove him into his community to win souls. After he died, it was said of him in a local newspaper that in M’Cheyne “Jesus Christ walked the streets of Dundee.” Can this be said of anyone unless they evangelize?
And this is what Jesus wants for us. The woman Jesus spoke to in John 4 immediately returned to her community and said, “Come, see a man…” (John 4:29). To the demoniac, Jesus instructed, “Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee” (Mark 5:19).
So what must we do? Preach on the streets, knock doors in your community, conduct a Bible study in your neighborhood, visit the local senior care facilities, juvenile detention centers, or other community programs and ask if they would like a Sunday afternoon worship service. The point is, have a regular ministry of getting the good news out.
I know a man that felt a burden for souls, but being introverted, he felt he could not talk to people. But he did not let it stop him. Instead, each Saturday he would take a bundle of gospel tracts to the center of his town and give them out.
If the Free Presbyterian Church loses its evangelistic zeal for the communities into which God has placed us, then we have no right to exist at all. Some measure the health of the church by its giving. It would be wiser to measure the health of a church by its going. May God help you and me to be goers.
Rev. Armen Thomassian
Minister, Faith FPC, Greenville SC