Evangelism is the promulgation or the preaching of the gospel. A practice done by the evangelist with only but one mission-to spread the word of the lord. In this study I am going to talk about the methods of evangelism: one of the intellectual methods, relation methods and confrontational methods. Later in a nutshell, choose the method that suits me most and explain why.
Evangelistic method#1
The Romans road is one of the intellectual evangelistic methods which use the book of Romans to pass the gospel by coming up with strategies of salvation through the book of Romans bible verses. According to (Early et al 2010) the verses are arranged into simple teaching which is easy to give a rough idea who wants salvation, why salvation is important to man, how God gives that salvation, how man can react to God’s terms of salvation and finally what outcome is of man’s reaction to God’s salvation. First the case is recognized that everyone is unrighteous before the creator, all have committed sin and there is need for salvation (Romans 3:10-12, 23). We deserve death penalty for our sins –unrighteousness (Romans 6:23). God provided a solution, making Jesus die for man’s salvation (Romans 5:8). If man will acknowledge as Lord and have faith He was resurrected then salvation will be given and the liability of sin forgiven (Romans 10:9-10, 13). ). Upon this submission man is considered born again (Romans 5:1; 8:1, 38-39).
This method has merits in that it applies a biblically based means and introduces the non-Christian to scripture (Early et al 2010). This aims at understanding of scriptural logic rather than man’s reasoning.
In this line the non-Christian is met head on with his knowledge of how God sees mankind and his state of sin. The Romans Road can be a very efficient method of reaching an individual who acknowledges the Bible as God’s word and is willing to believe its teaching.
The demerit to this method emerges when the non-Christian is nonchalant to accept that the Bible is God’s word or questions Gods existence. In this case they are not open to the logic given in the Bible and may oppose each claim (Early et al 2010). This situation can be tackled by the Christian in either opting to pray discretely for the non-Christians that God may soften their heart and render them more open to His word or try a more polite approach in opposing the doubting claims. Both of these reactions are honorable to God.
Evangelistic#2
Door-to-door evangelism has been a way used by churches for many years. Normally, churches have "visitations" night scheduled on a customary basis (Early et al 2010). It may be weekly, every two weeks, or monthly. An announcement is made in church prior to visitation and all are invited to participate. Typically, the numbers of the participants are very few. On a typical visitation, usually, we have three to four people. People pray before leaving and then they go spread the gospel to people in their homes.
Door to door is advantageous because it works easy; depending on what you ask people to do. There are no special skills needed (Early et al 2010). Moreover, it has flexibility in timing of the practice that people can fit in around other engagements.
It also reaches out to whole community since there are no specifications. This makes a very efficient way of spreading the gospel.
Nevertheless it has some limitations; it is always done in a group of three to four that gender equality must observed thus, difficult to create (Early et al 2010). Some of its forms are not suitable for young people. In addition, it is difficult to encourage people to start this. These are the reasons limiting the door to door evangelism.
Evangelistic#3
Evangelism Explosion is a highly arranged training method made to reach non-Christians with the Christian Gospel. The aim of this is “training believe in the Lord to win, and then tutor, others”. Evangelism Explosion gives an on-the-job training move to bring people one on one with non-Christians in spreading the Christian gospel. In this method the non-Christian is presented with a string of questions that highlight the vital points of the word and then they are challenged to react (Early et al 2010). .
The merit to this line can be two-fold. To begin with, in that it makes the Christian to talk to non-Christians and become effective in evangelizing their community. This is a very positive attribute of Evangelism Explosion because it causes the Christians to have to understand and be able to communicate effectively the Gospel (Early et al 2010). Secondly, it confronts the non-Christian in the believing judgment of the Gospel and declines to allow them to assume the message of God’s salvation. When confronted with the ways of Evangelism Explosion, the non-Christian cannot reject Jesus as a good teacher but must opt whether they recognize him as their savior.
The demerit to this method is a two-fold issue. To begin with, the teaching methods can become too man-made. The Christian remembers quizzes, reaction, and statements and begins to perceive from a rehearsed script rather than indulging in interested dialogue with an individual. This can make the person feeling more like a testing of the Christian and reject the message, not out of refusal to the Gospel but rather in refusing the Christian(Early et al 2010). Secondly, it can create fake converts. When using this means as high pressure sales customary, the non-believer may surrender to tactics because they feel pressured but not because they are condemned in their heart. While the reason of the Evangelism Explosion method is impressive, the procedure of simply going through dialogue can leave much to be criticized.
Evangelistic#4
In all the three evangelism I have mentioned, I have only used two. I found the door to door very efficient. We went throughout the neighborhood pick up kids for Sunday school thanks to our church administration that availed the bus for us. However, I vividly remember some doors being slammed on our faces but most of them were smiling faces. Every Sunday we were picking up kids to spread the gospel, surprisingly enough, parents started attending our sessions. We saw many souls through salvation some that later joined the door to door gospel campaign.
The door to door was easy to practice because it required no special skills, besides, its timing is flexible and people can fit in and around other engagements. It also had no specifications; we knocked each and every door pagans, atheists, Muslims, Hindus and Christians
References
Mark, M. (2011). Reason why. Tyndale House Publisher, Inc.
Early, D., & Wheelers, D. (2010). Evangelism Is. Bel Air, MD: Academx Publishing.
John, R. (2011). Pastor's Handbook. B&H Publishing Group
The Holy Bible, New International Version.
