• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Christians: Do you believe in evangelism?

Tzeitel

Member
I do not believe that a person needs to speak to people in order to evangelise. You need not ask a person if he or she is saved.
How can a person get Born-again if he doesn't know what he has to do to get saved? So you're just walking around being the "light of the world" and watching people accept Jesus Christ as their saviour left and right?

Jesus DOES tell us to be the light of the world- that is because the world is darkness and we are to have no part in darkness. We are to be separate- this is a completely different concept than preaching and truly giving the gospel to people. They are to see that we are different yes, but they are still condemned unless they accept Jesus Christ as their saviour- if they don't know that they NEED to admit they are a sinner, ask Jesus personally into their heart and be changed with the holy spirit- they are going to hell- HOW can you think that you "don't need to ask people if they're saved?" Don't their souls MATTER? We are to have compassion-

if your sister or brother looks green in the face and is throwing up- do you just "act healthy" in the hope that they wil automatically get better? NO! you give them medicine and ask them how they're feeling and ask them what ails them!
 

No*s

Captain Obvious
may said:
It was because someone did what Jesus commanded them at matthew 28;19-20 and came to my door, that i now have the hope from the bible, so i would have to say that i dont think going from door to door is no use , i think it is just how jesus told his followers to tell others about the kingdom message

I'm sorry I missed this May. It's been a while since you posted it :).

The verse doesn't carry much weight to me, because it is habitually mistranslated. "Go" is a participle just like "baptizing" and "teaching," and as such, is not a command. This is one of those one learns about in a Greek class with the explanation that it will never make it into a Bible translated in a more accurate fashion :).

The command in the verse is "make disciples." All the other verbs are part of it, but describe it. "As you go," for instance, is a valid translation. That, in its turn doesn't forbid door-to-door, but it also can't be used to establish it either.
 

Tzeitel

Member
how else do you "make disciples" (which are followers of Jesus Christ) unless you tell them that they need to be saved, how to be saved, and how to follow Jesus? They MUST be shown scripture (that is called preaching).

you don't make disciples of Jesus by acting like a good Christian and hoping that everyone will sort of figure it out by the way you act.
 

No*s

Captain Obvious
Tzeitel said:
how else do you "make disciples" (which are followers of Jesus Christ) unless you tell them that they need to be saved, how to be saved, and how to follow Jesus? They MUST be shown scripture (that is called preaching).

you don't make disciples of Jesus by acting like a good Christian and hoping that everyone will sort of figure it out by the way you act.

If one is humble and kind, the topic will come up, and then, your words will have more force than any sermon could ever have. So, basically, I concern myself with my own salvation principally, and as I work out my salvation, others will see what I say and what I do.
 

Scuba Pete

Le plongeur avec attitude...
Evangelism can be done with or without words:

I Peter 3:1 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

Actions ALWAYS speak louder than words!!!
 

No*s

Captain Obvious
NetDoc said:
Evangelism can be done with or without words:

I Peter 3:1 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

Actions ALWAYS speak louder than words!!!

Your head is going to hurt for that after about two hours ;).
 

Tzeitel

Member
this is referring to the submissive position that wives have to their husbands. 1 Tim 2:9-15:In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

How do you expect a person to know how to be saved if you just act good? In the case of preaching, actions do NOT speak louder than words? No one who justifies "lifestyle evangelism" can come up with supportable scripture.
 

Melody

Well-Known Member
Tzeitel said:
how else do you "make disciples" (which are followers of Jesus Christ) unless you tell them that they need to be saved, how to be saved, and how to follow Jesus? They MUST be shown scripture (that is called preaching).

you don't make disciples of Jesus by acting like a good Christian and hoping that everyone will sort of figure it out by the way you act.
It's not that they will "sort of figure it out", but that your behavior creates a curiousity that leads them to ask questions.

I was (and still am) totally turned off by hardcore evangelists. I was attracted to Christianity first by the behavior of my Christian acquaintances. The evangelists drove me away. I doubt I am the only person this has happened to.
 

Melody

Well-Known Member
Tzeitel said:
Please, find some scripture to support this.
Go back and read some earlier posts. Others have already posted information. I believe Netdoc gave a valid answer. It's all in your interpretation.
 

No*s

Captain Obvious
Tzeitel said:
this is referring to the submissive position that wives have to their husbands. 1 Tim 2:9-15:In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

How do you expect a person to know how to be saved if you just act good? In the case of preaching, actions do NOT speak louder than words? No one who justifies "lifestyle evangelism" can come up with supportable scripture.

You have more of the same problem than you think. You don't have a single Scriptural evidence of preaching taking place without it being in a church/synagogue (an assembly), or some other group of people who gathered specifically to hear it (such as the philosophers on Aeropagus or the natives Paul and Silas preached to). There are no instances of going door-to-door simply to proclaim something to someone.

However, there are ample evidences on how we are to live:

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven
Mt. 5.13-16

Christ explicitly states that the "saltiness" and the "light" refer to our works and life, and as such, they are to change the people around us. It's a pretty good Scripture to me. Your mileage, though, may vary.
 

Scuba Pete

Le plongeur avec attitude...
How do you expect a person to know how to be saved
Don't put the cart before the horse here. ONCE a person decides they WANT to be saved they will readily and hungrily figure out the mechanics.
 

Scuba Pete

Le plongeur avec attitude...
Going door to door is just as valid as preaching to the whole crowd.

Look at the Ethiopian Eunuch:

Acts 8:29 The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it." 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked. 31 "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth." 34 The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.

One on one evangelism works too! :D
 

No*s

Captain Obvious
NetDoc said:
Going door to door is just as valid as preaching to the whole crowd.

Look at the Ethiopian Eunuch:

Acts 8:29 The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it." 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked. 31 "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth." 34 The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.

One on one evangelism works too! :D

That's not exactly going door to door. Philip, with knowledge from the Spirit, asked him about what he was reading, and then proceded to discuss with him. It's a lot different than just knocking on someone's house out of the blue, who is almost certainly not concerned with the Scripture at the time. :D

My biggest objection to door-to-door evangelism isn't that it's unscriptural (you know me on that...it's not too big a problem). It's that it almost invariably produces shallowness. I became opposed as an evangelical, when I noticed how much effort is done to "evangelize" them, but when it came to something beyond that first bit, the massive manpower behind door to door evangelism left them cold and dry. There wasn't enough manpower left. That, in its turn, led me to realize that helping twelve people in depth is better than helping a hundred pray a prayer, and it takes oh so much time just to get that hundred that could be used in so many other places. I imagine society would be a lot different if churches put the effort from door to door evangelism into feeding the poor.
 

Tzeitel

Member
And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them,Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.

(Acts 4:1-4)

Notice that FIVE THOUSAND people got saved that day due to the PREACHING of God's word. It was NOT the apostles acting like good Christians, hoping to get some interested.

But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.

(Acts 13:45-52)

The apostles were bold in preaching amongst the public, and this obviously raised anger against them. Still, when those listening heard the gospel- they believed it and were saved. Still, some rejected them and forced them out of the city- but God brought judgement against those who rejected the gospel, the apostles "shook the dust off their feet" and continued to do God's work.
 

Tzeitel

Member
No, maybe you don't understand how we go door to door- we knock a door, introduce ourselves, and ask simply have you accepted Jesus Christ as your saviour, or are you sure if you were to die today where you would go?- If people reject our invitation, say I'm all set, we tell them to have a nice day, and leave.- There is no forcefulness, because we gave them an opportunity. Jesus will DEFINITELY remember that opportunity- he put us on their doorstep. They rejected it, they are going to hell.

If they are not given that opportunity, how can they go to heaven?
 

No*s

Captain Obvious
Tzeitel said:
And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them,Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.

(Acts 4:1-4)

Notice that FIVE THOUSAND people got saved that day due to the PREACHING of God's word. It was NOT the apostles acting like good Christians, hoping to get some interested.

But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.

(Acts 13:45-52)

The apostles were bold in preaching amongst the public, and this obviously raised anger against them. Still, when those listening heard the gospel- they believed it and were saved. Still, some rejected them and forced them out of the city- but God brought judgement against those who rejected the gospel, the apostles "shook the dust off their feet" and continued to do God's work.

And there is no indication in any place that the Apostles preached in a place where people were unaccustomed to religious services or addresses. We have the Temple in the first, and a simple reference to "amongst the public" in the latter. Most cities in the ancient world had areas where people could publically address the people. We have no such thing, so these practices aren't exactly portable, but must be altered to suit our situation because we lack the agoras, and the only public places we have like the Temple and Jewish synagogues are churches.
 

Tzeitel

Member
How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me
this scripture that NetDoc presented is precisely why we actively tell people about Jesus. They can't get saved unless they know how to get saved, and that they NEED to be saved. Lost people are just set fine and dandy with their lifestyle- they like sin and it suits them. It is not until they are presented with the gospel and they are convicted by the holy spirit- THROUGH GOD's WORD that they know they need to be saved.
 

No*s

Captain Obvious
Tzeitel said:
No, maybe you don't understand how we go door to door- we knock a door, introduce ourselves, and ask simply have you accepted Jesus Christ as your saviour, or are you sure if you were to die today where you would go?- If people reject our invitation, say I'm all set, we tell them to have a nice day, and leave.- There is no forcefulness, because we gave them an opportunity. Jesus will DEFINITELY remember that opportunity- he put us on their doorstep. They rejected it, they are going to hell.

If they are not given that opportunity, how can they go to heaven?

And all the manpower in that, how many houses must you visit to get someone to "accept Jesus?" How much more productive would it be, if the same manpower were poured into repairing homes for the needy, feeding those without food, sheltering battered women and children, and so on? The time spent on door to door evangelism could literally turn a town upside down.
 

Tzeitel

Member
You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
notice how Christ does not say we are the "sweetness of the world" but SALT- salt is more likely something to be spat out than savoured. It can be biting at times. So is the gospel- a two edged sword, brought to the world by the Lord's disciples.
 
Top