No problem…we can catch up by phone at some point.

As a follow-up to your point about personal “deliberate” evangelism and discipleship…. It seems amazing that among Pastors…. that evangelism would be debated. The “go-tell” aspect of the gospel is a simple reality. The most common mistake I have found among Baptist church goers is the approach of “live the life” without speaking the message.

All disciples take up this pronouncement of the “stumbling stone”. That is why Jesus made it clear that his disciples speak. “Making Disciples” is not a spectator sport. Pastors that have allowed or ones that have led their congregations to believe that they are “gatherer’s” and not “proclaimer’s” have got the message and the mission completely backward. Believer “proclaim and disciple” while God calls and gathers! That truth will never change.

1Peter 2:6-10 For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” (7) This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,” (8) and, “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. (9) But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (10) for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.

Pastors that have been duped into thinking that discipleship or evangelism is anything short of proclaiming (vocally with clarity and accuracy) need to find another line of work and allow that flock to be shepherded by a faithful shepherd.

Blessings,
Chris

Sorry I haven’t called. We had to put Gail’s mother in the hospital yesterday. Too many medical issues to discuss. Suffice it to say that we need everyone’s prayers.

Will call you when I get the chance.

Blessings,
Tim

Your question has been accurately answered by Brother Chris. I cannot add anything to what he has stated other than give you an example from a personal experience.

I was in a pastor’s gathering in a recent ministry and this very subject came up. The discussion centered around churches have an active visitation outreach ministry. There were 12 pastors as this gathering and the question was asked how many led their churches in an active outreach ministry. Only me and another pastor answered in the affirmative. I was truly shocked as I figured that all pastors struggled with equipping people through an active outreach ministry. I stated that I was amazed that they did not equip their people in witnessing. One pastor then condescendingly explained to me the meaning of the Greek word was “as you are going” make disciples. He went on to express how churches that do have these “fire insurance salesman” going door to door do more harm to the Kingdom. His argument was that most of the times someone prays to receive Christ in their home they never go any further and we have given that person a false hope they are now going to heaven. He went on to express the reason the other pastor and myself were seeing converts through FAITH was due to our “charismatic personalities”.

You talking about being floored. I was stunned. We sat there with 12 Baptist preachers and only 2 of us had a deliberate outreach visitation while the rest did nothing to deliberately share the gospel. The other pastors chimed in, in agreement, with the first pastor. The Bible, they said, does not tell us to deliberately steer a conversation toward salvation. The ones, they all agreed, that did these things make it harder for those that merely try to live out their Christ life. I asked for a reason they would make such a statement. They told me it was because by the time their life brought them to a gospel presentation, they were being told that they had already done that and it did not work.

As convoluted as it sounds that is what I found out from a personal discussion with other pastors. Does that mean that those who do not see witnessing as a deliberate act feel the same way? No! But I would not think they would be far off from the arguments presented.

Blessings,
Tim

I can unequivocally answer your question with a “yes”. I don’t think if “confronted” that any Baptist would “not” claim to deliberately preach the gospel, but the past forty years are a testimony to the fact that it has not been deliberate. It is possible that it is just simple ignorance. It appears to me, since there is a great number of Baptist church attendees that cannot define the gospel, those folks would have a hard time conveying what they can’t define. The ignorance problem is larger than those that would give lip service.

Some do actually believe that they have shared the gospel if they invite someone to a church service. I have even seen some church members get excited and angry if the Pastor preaches on hell, sin and the gospel, because their friends were somehow offended.

Blessings,
Chris

I want to throw a question out to you and the others on this site. It plays off your post and I want to hear other’s opinions. As we all know, the Great Commission tells us to “GO and make disciples.” Do our people equate “inviting to church” as an act of sharing the Gospel? While we all affirm “go and tell” in our head, our practice contradicts this by often using the slogan “come and hear.” Is this why our preaching is so shallow today? We have to serve milk rather than meat because of people from the outside (non-believers) coming in? Is it why Sunday School lessons are geared toward the lowest common denominator because of non-believers? Is this why our churches are so weak (theologically and even membership) because we focus to much on the outside rather than our members?

My latest soap box has been this issue. We exchange the meat for milk because we try to cater to the world and not to the members of the church. The church is for believers. It is where we grow our people so that they “go and tell”. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks,
Adam

I’m new here, and I assure you I’m not looking for trouble, but I do have a question: Has anyone (OK. any Baptist) ever seriously claimed that making disciples is NOT a deliberate act or effort?

I found your website…. thx,

-Chris

Please let me know how I can get access to the teaching you have mentioned….

Thanks,

email: chris.johnson@fmc-na.com

One definition of insanity is doing the same things we’ve always done and expecting a different result. Godly pastors have faithfully exhorted their people to witness, but most still aren’t. If we continue using the same methods we will continue to get the same results.

That is why we developed Every Believer a Witness. It is designed to motivate and train Sunday morning attenders to begin actively sharing their faith. It is a return to the “simple evangelism” of the New Testament.

We are seeing God greatly bless and use it. I can give the names and numbers/emails of many pastors who can attest to this. We have one of our Certified Trainers teach it in our “Revival” format, or we train the pastor to teach it over 6 Sunday mornings in our “6 Weeks of Witnessing’ format.

With either format, more than just getting large numbers of believers involved in witnessing, we train the staff in Follow-Up so they can “create and maintain an on-going culture of witnessing and evangelism”. Churches that implement our Follow-Up Plan see their churches changed.

If any pastors truly want to see a GRC in their churches, I would love to talk with them and share some of the things that make Every Believer a Witness so powerful and effective.

Dennis Nunn