There is no such thing as a bad evangelist—at least not among those who would give a truthful presentation of the Gospel. No matter how unskillfully someone explains the “good news” of salvation, Jesus gives commendation to anyone who publicly identifies with him. He promises that “everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.”
Anytime someone explains the means through which people can enter into conciliatory relationship with God, the unredeemed hearer has a new opportunity to bypass damnation and receive restoration for his soul. This is always a gracious act. Although the evangelist might not always dispatch the message in a graceful way, one who is enlightened enough to obey the Gospel will no doubt forgive the person who cared enough to “save his soul from death.”2 Yet there are some within Christendom who would stanch all but the most organically-relational methods of broaching the Gospel with its non-adherents. There are even Christians who are skeptical of evangelistic methods used by the very people whose boldness in declaring the preeminence of Jesus built the Church—the apostles of Christ. That skepticism is rooted in a desire to avoid offending the unconverted. Yet the Lord himself constantly offended the unconverted. People were offended when he told them that they were slaves to sin and he was their sole (and soul) liberator.
They took offense at the authoritative nature of his teaching.4 When Jesus’ parents brought him in infancy to Jerusalem to be dedicated to God, one of his first believers, Simeon, prophesied that Jesus would be “a sign that is opposed.”5 Hundreds of years before his birth, the prophet Isaiah quoted God as saying the Messiah would be “a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling.”6 Peter, the apostle, explains this Scripture by telling us that nonbelievers “stumble because they disobey the word.”7 Indeed, those who are living in rebellion against God will react in a hostile manner to anyone who presents the Gospel in the direct, uncompromising manner that its content warrants.
It should come as no surprise when those who resist this message respond negatively to it. To them, it is “a fragrance from death, to death.”8 By no means am I saying we shouldn’t be conscientious about how we evangelize—of course we should be. The Apostle Peter admonishes us to explain our faith in Christ “with gentleness and respect.”9 Paul says that our conversations with non-Christians should always be “gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” You can no more make an unappealing message acceptable by rewording it than you can make a dish that is distasteful become delicious by adding salt. The Gospel is distasteful to some people, but I assume that when the Apostle Paul says our speech should be “seasoned with salt,” he means that we ought to make the Gospel as palatable as possible. However, in our efforts to present the Gospel with tact, we should never be so presumptuous as to think we can improve upon the methods used by those who Christ appointed to pioneer the Church.
1. Matthew 10:32-40
2. James 5:20
3. John 8:34-36
4. Matthew 13:55-57
5. Luke 2:34
6. Isaiah 8:14
7. 1 Peter 2:8
8. 2 Corinthians 2:16
9. 1 Peter 3:15
10. Colossians 4:6
Raymond Billy is a discipleship mentor for Youth With A Mission.
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