“You shall be my witnesses…” – Jesus (Acts 1:8)

All Christians agree that they are called to bear witness of the life and love of Jesus to the world. However, Christians radically disagree on what this witness should look like.

Those who grew up in fundamentalist or evangelical churches most likely equate Christian “witness” with a bold recounting of a few select facts in the hearing of an unbeliever in order that the unbeliever might admit his or her sinfulness and receive Christ as his or her “personal Lord and Savior.”

I call this model, evangelism-by-the-numbers. It is a pre-packaged, pre-scripted, and practically guaranteed to get results. When the script is delivered with bold confidence and unflinching determination, the converts should come pouring in. How could they possibly resist the one-two punch of effective marketing and powerful personality?

Following is the strategy of evangelism-by-the-numbers (with a little tongue-in-cheek light-heartedness thrown in for good measure):

1. Memorize a canned presentation of the gospel. The simpler, the better – God knows that the gospel should not be awe-inspiring, mysterious, paradoxical, or profound. It should be relatively easy to reduce the vast complexity of the Bible to three to four simple “principles,” “laws,” or “statements.”
2. Approach strangers who “look” like unbelievers (or, if you have any left, non-Christian friends – however, if you have been a committed believer for over two years you probably don’t have any).
3. Dispense the necessary gospel information in the form of brief propositional statements for your victim, er, person. This information must be about ultimate issues like heaven and hell, and not about issues relevant to your audience, or it does not count as evangelism.
4. Pressure the individual to make an immediate faith commitment (usually in the form of the evangelically-canonized “sinner’s prayer” – one of the few extra-biblical traditions, along with the altar call, allowed in most “free” churches).
5. Send the “convert” on his or her merry (read: relieved) way and chalk up another conversion on your belt. Tell them to never doubt their salvation (you don’t want to be known as someone who only got the job half-done, do you?)
6. If you are really spiritual, send the “convert” away with a few bits of advice like read your Bible and find a good Bible-believing church.
7. If you are really, really spiritual, immediately induct your “convert” into a pre-packaged, pre-scripted, discipleship-by-the-numbers “follow-up” program.
8. Pick up at step 2 and repeat. There are a lot of lost people in the world and God knows without your steadfast commitment they will never be reached!

On the surface, this strategy seems to make sense. It is simple, direct, and offers a clear way to measure results.

There would be no reason to criticize this strategy if it were not for one simple fact: this form of evangelism rarely, if ever, works.

Most people on the receiving end of evangelism-by-the-numbers see through the simplistic formulas and bold personalities. They either walk away in disgust or give in to the evangelist’s pressure to “close the deal” in order to make the over-zealous evangelist go away. They become a notch on the evangelist’s gospel-belt but they do not enter Jesus’ kingdom.

Problems with Evangelism-By-The-Numbers

Why am I so critical of evangelism-by-the-numbers?

It is reductionistic. It does not reflect the fullness of gospel witness. Believers witness of the life and love of Jesus in ways that far surpass a canned presentation of straightforward facts. Simple gospel formulas reduce salvation to mental assent to a few facts rather than a living relationship with Christ, his church, and his kingdom.

It has little biblical or historical basis. The truth is that most aspects of evangelism-by-the-numbers simply do not have precedent in the sacred scriptures or church history:

Do you realize that Paul never shared “the Four Spiritual Laws,” John never invited anyone to come forward a say a sinner’s prayer so they could have a born-again experience, Peter never explained the four or five simple “steps to peace with God,” St. Augustine never invited anyone to pray with him to receive Christ as personal Savior, Martin Luther never issued an altar call, Jesus himself never told anyone how to “become a Christian”?[1]

It limits who is qualified to witness. This form of evangelism only appeals to a limited personality type – bold, brash extroverts unafraid of rejection. This is the reason that its biggest appeal is to new converts. Their uncontainable exuberance to share their faith finds a sympathetic outlet in the simple, bold, confrontational strategy of evangelism-by-the-numbers. The longer one walks with Christ, the less one is satisfied with one-size-fits-all formulas and a form of witness that denies the full scope of human personality. As the cliché goes, there are no “old, bold pilots” for a reason. Bold pilots usually spiral down in flames before their time. Old pilots are “old” because of their attentive caution and careful flying. They realize that long-term effectiveness and short-term recklessness do not mix well.

If evangelism-by-the-numbers does not work, why does it continue to be so popular, especially in evangelical circles? Why does it continue to be the most prevalent expression of Christian witness? The greatest strength of evangelism-by-the-numbers is that it is clear, concise, and packaged well. It reduces “the very messy process of spiritual birth into a sanitized, tightly scripted experience.”[2] This is also its greatest weakness. There is no wonder or mystery in evangelism-by-the-numbers – only a transaction.

Perhaps the worst consequence of evangelism-by-the-numbers is that it provides us with a tool that gives the appearance of caring for unbelievers while actually giving us an excuse to keep our distance. Like a strategic military raid, we can “get in” and “get out” quickly. If people resist, we wipe our feet and talk about the persecution we’ve experienced. If they do not resist, we add another mark to the fuselage of our gospel stealth bomber. The one thing we definitely don’t have to do is spend time getting to know others, listening to them to find out their real needs and concerns, and personally responding to them as individuals rather than targets.

In short, even though evangelism-by-the-numbers is the most popular form of “witness” and sometimes appears the most successful, it radically reduces Christian witness to canned presentations for people with aggressive personalities.

What Does It Mean To Be a Witness?

Christian witness is so much larger than evangelism-by-the-numbers. Is Christian witness really limited to bold extroverts unafraid of rejection? Does it always involve “closing the deal” by forcing a decision? Must it always involve discussion concerning “ultimate issues” like heaven and hell? Does Christian “witness” necessarily mean that we must be overconfident, argumentative, insensitive, and manipulative? Do any of these things characterize Jesus’ way of evangelism in the Gospels? If not, where did we get the idea that we have not “witnessed” unless we have done all of the above – boldly told people they are headed to hell unless they pray the “sinner’s prayer”?

At the heart of all these concerns is the fundamental question: What does it mean to be a “witness”?

What if, instead of being brash and bold, we treated others with gentleness and respect? What if, instead of always talking, we listened for awhile – to the concerns, hopes, wishes, dreams, and disappointments of others? What if, instead of seeking to pass on information, we sought to show compassion, empathy, and love? What if, instead of satisfying our need to chalk up another “conversion,” we sought to serve the needs of others in the spirit of Christ? What if, instead of seeking to manipulate others, we gave them space to go at their own pace? What if, instead of condemning others, we sought to build them up?

After all, where did we ever get the idea that if we begin by condemning people they will want to listen to us, much less believe what we believe? We know from our own experience that we do not respond well to hard-sell tactics. There is a reason that millions sign up for do-not-call telemarketing lists! We also know how difficult it is to admit we are wrong. McLaren is right: “In my experience, if you begin by condemning people, it doesn’t normally make them want to believe what you believe. It makes them feel intimidated, rejected, insulted, and dehumanized.”[3]

In upcoming sessions we will reject the trappings of traditional evangelism by changing our perspectives on the “lost” and expanding our understanding of Christian witness. We will learn to see Christian “witness” in the ordinary aspects of life such as attentive listening, small acts of kindness, and selfless service. We will discover that there is no one “mold” to Christian witness. We will learn that the types and styles of Christian witness are as plentiful as the different personalities God uses.

Believe it or not, you have countless opportunities to witness in your own way to the people God places in your life. You already possess all it takes to witness; you simply need to see that it is alright to witness in the way God has wired you in your own personal sphere of influence. You need to trash the canned presentations, embrace your uniqueness, cut the drama, lose the romance, accept your opportunities, see the wealth of possibilities that surround you, learn to listen, nurture empathy and compassion, and share the love of Christ in word and deed without an agenda, expecting nothing in return.

Oftentimes the Christian community has sent the message that we love people and build relationships in order to convert them to the Christian faith. So there is an agenda. And when there is an agenda, it isn't really love, is it? It's something else. We have to rediscover love, period. Love that loves because it is what Jesus teaches us to do. We have to surrender our agendas. Because some people aren't going to become Christians like us no matter how hard we push. They just aren't. And at some point we have to commit them to God, trusting that God loves them more than we ever could.[4]

Boldness, salesmanship, and closing the deal are overrated! They carry little weight when set against the call to share the heart of God for all people. You can be a witness without evangelism-by-the-numbers. In fact, this is the only way to truly reflect the witness of Christ!

In upcoming articles we will consider how everyday people can share the heart of God in ordinary life. But prior to this, we will reflect upon how the language we use concerning unbelievers affects our view of them. We will seek to change our perspective on “the lost” in order to love as God loves.

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© Richard J. Vincent, 2005