The Ethics of Evangelism
By Paul Griffin Jones, II, Executive Director
Mississippi Religious Leadership Conference

      The last earthly words of the Lord were the command to his disciples to take the message of redemption to all the world. Thus, evangelism has been the compelling imperative that has driven the work of the church and dictated its message and mission. Yet, much of Christian history has witnessed the alienation of people from the church because of evangelistic methods that do not reflect an understanding of the biblical ethic.

       Much of the history of the church is the history of human attempts to develop strategies for world evangelism and plans for personal witness. The crusades by the western Church reflected the misguided notion that people, even entire nations, could be coerced at the threat of death to accept the Christian faith. Each “great awakening” during the past three centuries dwindled when conformity to one standard of theological and ecclesiastical “correctness” was imposed on evangelistic zeal.

      During the last half of the twentieth century, a call for a new awakening motivated the Christian community to a new examination of its purpose and to the development of new methods and tools. The emphasis has been on producing and packaging new models of training with the disciples of each new “method” declaring that theirs is the most acceptable. The emphasis has been on marketing a product and the production of evangelistic materials has become a profitable new business.

      In the midst of a new awareness of our evangelistic purpose, is it time to examine the ethics of our humanly defined methods and message? The ethics of evangelism demands an examination of the intention, the recipient, the content, the presentation, and the invitation of evangelism. Evangelism will always be ethical or it will not be evangelistic.

      For some the intention of evangelism has not been to restore the lost but to build personal reputations. Too often reports of evangelistic activities focus on the communicator with numbers being tauted as evidence of God’s special anointing on a particular person or group. Brochures and advertisements pander “souls saved” as apparent justification for continued support. Many have forgotten that ego has no role in Christian witness.

      Moreover, there is a threat that the recent emphasis on rebaptism has degenerated into mere spiritual “scalp hunting.” When people are led to doubt their conversion experience instead of reexamining the act of grace in their lives, the doctrine of eternal security is blatantly challenged. Once a believer has accepted the notion that a person cannot be secure in his/her salvation, guilt and doubt will plague a believer throughout life. Since baptism does not save, why is there the emphasis by some on rebaptism? Surely the Holy Spirit can confront and call out those whose faith is not authentic without challenging the security of whole bodies of believers.

      Christian ethics also demands a reexamination of the attitude of the witness to the recipients. People are lost, but they are not worthless. The redemption of humanity was the purpose of the cross. In the New Testament, the word lost is used of those who do not know Christ. In Luke 15, the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son all signify something of value worth recovering. Christ taught us to love people in the context of their sin. Humanity is estranged from God by sin, but God’s activity of redemption in Christ makes it clear that all persons are the focus of salvation.

      A theological or evangelistic system that dismisses some of God’s creation because of their race, gender, ethnic, or national background cannot surely be rooted in scripture. The unwillingness of many to take the gospel to people whose lives have been wrecked by certain “types” of sin reflects an unethical response predicated upon fear, hate, and prejudice. People apart from Christ are lost (Luke 15), under sin (Romans 3:9) and condemnation (John 3:18), but they are the ones for whom Christ died. They are the creation to be restored, not trash to be rejected.

       The content of evangelism must likewise be ethically developed and ethically presented. The Bible clearly sets forth the parameters of salvation. Redemption must be understood biblically without added social and religious demands. Adding additional requirements or expectations such as baptism for salvation deny the fullness of God’s work in Christ. The content of evangelism must be biblical truth and not personal preferences.

      Moreover, the presentation of the gospel must be in a form to which a person can freely respond and must never involve emotional, intellectual, or physical manipulation. Decisions made in retreat settings by youth or adults after hours or days of physical depravation and emotional bombardment deny the free will of the individual and the work of the Holy Spirit. Preaching that employs histrionics, personal evangelism that intentionally harangues, and a witness that intentionally manipulates a person into a decision cannot reflect the purpose and the practices of the Lord.

      Finally, the invitation to repentance must reflect the convicting work of the Spirit of God and not the convincing words of an evangelist. In many evangelistic activities, the pleading preacher has replaced the leading of the Spirit. When the message has been clearly proclaimed, why is there need for cajoling pleas and homiletical pressure? If we really believe that through the Holy Spirit, Christ will draw all unto himself, then the invitation is in the hands of God and not the mouth of ministers. Is it possible that a prolonged invitation can sometimes be an indication that we are attempting to do what the Holy Spirit is not doing at that time? If it is really true that “whosoever will may come,” then perhaps the invitation is the time to give whosever that freedom and privilege uncoerced.

       True evangelism is ethical just as true ethics is evangelistic. To make known the eternal plan of God is the high privilege given to us all. To attempt evangelism in any manner but the most ethical is an affront to the gospel and a diluting of the fullness of the message of redemption. Ethical evangelism protects the integrity of the method, the messenger, and the message.

Updated Saturday, May 01, 2004