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Lifestyle Evangelism Refuted
by *Curtis Hutson
Introduction:
There is a teaching abroad today called "lifestyle evangelism." This
false philosophy teaches that we witness with our life rather than
our lips.
In one article the author contrasted lifestyle evangelism with
confrontational evangelism. For the most part those who teach
lifestyle evangelism speak critically of aggressive soul winners. In
his book on the subject, Joseph Aldrich said, "Sometimes the only
exposure to evangelism for believers is being part of a weekly task
force on a 'spiritual safari' into enemy territory. On such forays
total strangers are confronted with a verbal message said to be the
Gospel."
We suppose he had reference to a weekly visitation program which is
conducted in most independent, Bible-believing, soul winning
churches. We have preached in some of the greatest soul winning
churches in America, and we don't know of any preacher or Christian
who sees soul winning visitation as a "weekly task force on a
'spiritual safari' into enemy territory." Rather, they feel they are
simply obeying the Great Commission, "Go ye into all the world, and
preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).
Mr. Aldrich makes a difference between what he calls "the
verbalization and the incarnation of the Gospel." Nowhere in
Scripture is the Christian told to incarnate the Gospel. Rather, he
is commanded to preach the Gospel. That is a verbal message.
Aldrich further criticizes personal soul winning by referring to it
as "button-holing and evangelical mugging." It may be true that some
soul winners could improve their approach, but I don't know of any
soul winner that I would accuse of "evangelical mugging."
The lifestyle evangelist says, "We need only to live a good,
consistent Christian life before the unsaved, and eventually he will
notice in us something that will cause him to want to trust Christ
as Saviour." No such teaching is found in the Bible. A good,
consistent Christian life gives credibility to the witness but, in
and of itself, is not a witness and was never intended to lead a
soul to Christ.
We are aware that some people attach a different definition to
lifestyle evangelism, saying only that soul winning should be a way
of life for the Christian. Now we are for that kind of lifestyle
evangelism where soul winning is a way of life.
But we are opposed to teaching that discourages personal soul
winning. The emphasis of THE SWORD OF THE LORD and Sword of the Lord
Conferences has always been revival and soul winning.
Are men won to Christ by one's lifestyle?
1. Lifestyle Evangelism Refuted by the
Scriptures
The Scriptures make it clear that one is saved by the Word of God
and not a Christian's lifestyle. The Bible says in I Peter 1:23,
"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by
the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." In verse 25 of
the same chapter, Peter says, "But the word of the Lord endureth for
ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto
you."
Nowhere does the Bible teach that one is won to the Saviour simply
by observing the life of a dedicated Christian. The Bible plainly
states in Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God."
Notice, the Scripture does not say, 'Faith cometh by observation,
and observation by a good lifestyle.' Paul said in I Corinthians
1:21, " ... it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe." Here again the Scriptures say nothing about
God's being pleased to save people through someone's lifestyle. No,
no! "It pleased God by the foolishness of PREACHING to save them
that believe."
The Great Commission is found five times in the New Testament. In
Mark 16:15 the Lord commissioned us, "Go ye into all the world, and
preach the gospel to every creature." Notice again, He does not say,
'Go ye into all the world and live a good Christian life before
every creature, and I will save those who believe.'
Now, I am for living a good Christian life. And a good testimony
makes us a more effective soul winner. But I do not personally know
of anyone who has ever been led to Christ simply by observing
someone's good life.
Verse after verse throughout the Bible makes it plain that men are
to be confronted with the Gospel. Proverbs 29:1 says, "He, that
being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be
destroyed, and that without remedy."
The last invitation of the Bible is found in Revelation 22:17: "And
the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say,
Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him
take the water of life freely."
Notice the words in this great invitation, "And the Spirit and the
bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come."
This is a verbal message that is heard - not a so-called "incarnated
Gospel" that is observed.
Romans 10 gives the whole machinery of salvation: "For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall
they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they
believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear
without a preacher?" (vss. 13,14).
Notice here that a man is saved by believing on the Lord Jesus
Christ.
But the Bible raises a question: "And how shall they believe in him
of whom they have not heard?" It does not say, 'How shall they
believe unless someone lives a good Christian life before them?'
That is simply not in the Bible.
Notice again, " ... and how shall they hear without a preacher?" It
doesn't say, 'How shall they hear without someone to live it before
them?'
The Bible is as plain as day. No one need misunderstand it. It is
impossible to find so-called lifestyle evangelism in this clear
passage which gives the whole machinery of salvation. Those who make
fun of confrontational evangelism make fun of the Bible because the
Bible knows no other kind of evangelism.
II. Lifestyle Evangelism Refuted by the
Saviour
If anyone was ever able to lead a soul to salvation by His
lifestyle, it would have certainly been the Lord Jesus Christ. He
was righteousness personified. He was perfection in a human body. He
never sinned.
The Bible says in Hebrews 4:16, "For we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was
in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." When Pilate
turned Him over to the angry mob, He said, "I find no fault in him"
(John 19:6). The Bible states in II Corinthians 5:21, "For he hath
made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ... "
Though Jesus was perfect, there is no account in the Scripture where
anyone was ever saved by observing His lifestyle. Jesus was the
greatest personal soul winner who ever lived. In John chapter 4 He
went by the well of Samaria while His disciples went to town to buy
meat. In the words of Scripture, "he must needs go through Samaria"
(vs. 4). Those familiar with the Bible know that He went to this
well to create an opportunity to tell a fallen woman about the
living water.
One needs only to read this passage to see that Jesus confronted the
woman. He even confronted her with her sin, saying that she had had
five husbands and the man with whom she was living was not her
husband. He went on to say in verse l0, "If thou knewest the gift of
God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink: thou
wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living
water." There is no way to read lifestyle evangelism into the story
of the wonderful conversion of the woman at the well.
In the conversion of Zacchaeus recorded in Luke 19, Jesus said unto
Zacchaeus in verse 5, " ... make haste, and come down; for to day I
must abide at thy house." That's confrontational evangelism.
In the case of Matthew, Jesus said, "Follow me." And the Bible says,
"And he arose and followed him" (Mark 2:14). That's confrontational
evangelism.
We do not know of one single case in all the Bible where anyone was
ever saved by observing the lifestyle of Jesus. And even if that
were the case, that would not be an argument for lifestyle
evangelism because Jesus Christ was God in human flesh. He was
perfection personified, and no human being can ever attain to that
lifestyle.
In praying for future generations who would be saved, Jesus said in
John 17:20, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which
shall believe on me through their word." Jesus knew that all who
would believe on Christ, would do so because of a verbal message.
That is why He prayed for those who would believe on Him THROUGH THE
WORD of other Christians, not through the lifestyle of other
Christians.
III. Lifestyle Evangelism Refuted by the
Saints
The New Testament is filled with soul winning examples. But every
soul was won through confrontational evangelism.
Let's take the woman at the well in John 4, who may have been the
greatest soul winner in the New Testament other than Jesus Himself.
The Bible says in verse 39, "And many of the Samaritans of that city
believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He
told me all that ever I did."
This poor, fallen woman could not have possibly witnessed with her
lifestyle. She had been married five times and was living with a man
who was not her husband. Perhaps everyone in town knew her sinful
lifestyle. But when she told them about Jesus, many believed.
The Scriptures plainly say that many "believed on him for the saying
of the woman which testified ... " They did not believe because of
her lifestyle but because of her saying - that is, a verbal message.
John the Baptist was a witness. The Bible says in John 1:6-8: "There
was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a
witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him
might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness
of that Light."
Now how did John witness, with his lifestyle or with his lips? In
verse 23 of the same chapter, he said, "I am the voice of one crying
in the wilderness." Notice, he did not say, 'I am the life of one
demonstrating in the wilderness.'
Now again we must say that a good, consistent Christian life backs
up the verbal witness, but the life itself is not a witness. John
was the voice of one, and every believer is the voice of one. Are we
using our voice to tell others about the Saviour?
The book of Acts tells of multitudes who believed on the Lord Jesus
Christ. And how did these early disciples witness? The Bible says in
Acts 8:4, "Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every
where preaching the word." That is confrontational evangelism. That
is verbalizing the Gospel.
Acts 5:42 says, "And daily in the temple, and in every house, they
ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." Notice again, they
were teaching and preaching. No lifestyle evangelism here. As a
matter of fact, this was aggressive New Testament soul winning. They
did not wait for people to come to them; they were going from house
to house teaching and preaching Jesus Christ.
We wonder if those who teach lifestyle evangelism would say these
early Christians were "part of a daily task force on a 'spiritual
safari' into enemy territory confronting total strangers with a
verbal message said to be the Gospel." Or would they accuse them of
"button-holing and evangelical mugging"?
John 1 records how Andrew led his brother Simon Peter to Christ.
Verses 40 through 42 say:
"One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother
Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is,
being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when
Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou
shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone."
There is no lifestyle evangelism here; this is confrontational: "He
findeth his brother". "He ... saith unto him."
He found him and confronted him with a verbal message. While some
may make fun of and laugh at that kind of evangelism, it is the only
kind the Bible knows anything about.
IV. Lifestyle Evangelism Refuted by Sinners
Luke 16 records the account of the rich man and Lazarus:
"There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine
linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain
beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And
desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's
table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to
pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into
Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell
he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off,
and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham,
have mercy on me and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this
flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime
receivest thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now
he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this,
between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which
would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us,
that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore,
father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have
five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come
into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses
and the prophets: let them hear them. And he said. Nay. father
Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." -
Luke 16:19-31.
You will notice in this passage that the rich man asked father
Abraham to send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in
water and cool his tongue. But Abraham reminded the rich man that a
gulf was fixed and no one could pass over the great gulf.
Then the rich man said in verses 27,28, "I pray thee therefore,
father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have
five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come
into this place of torment."
The rich man did not ask Abraham to send Lazarus back so that he may
incarnate the Gospel but rather that he could verbalize the Gospel.
In the rich man's words, "that he may testify unto them." Abraham
answered in verse 29, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them
hear them."
The rich man did not ask Abraham to send Lazarus back to live a good
Christian life before his five brothers. The fact of the matter is,
Lazarus was a good Christian, but the rich man was not saved as a
result of Lazarus' lifestyle; and neither would his five brothers be
saved unless Lazarus testified to them. "So then faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17).
We have had the opportunity of leading thousands of souls to Christ,
but I have never had one person say to me, "I am trusting Christ
because of the way you live." However, I have had many say to me,
"Thanks for telling me about Christ," or "I never really understood
how to be saved until you explained it."
V. Lifestyle Evangelism Refuted by Sensible
Logic
The Bible emphasizes the urgency of salvation. Second Corinthians
6:2 says, "Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of
salvation." And Hebrews 4:7 says, "To day if ye will hear his voice,
harden not your hearts."
Since the matter of salvation is urgent, why should we wait several
weeks or even months to witness to a friend or even a stranger?
Those who teach lifestyle evangelism say that we should live it
before the individual perhaps weeks, or even months, before we
present a verbal witness. In the words of lifestyle evangelists, we
should "incarnate" the Gospel before we verbalize it. To do
otherwise is so-called "evangelical mugging."
If salvation is the most important thing in the world - and it is -
then why should we run the risk of a man's dying and going to Hell
before we finally get around to a verbal witness?
I remember being called to the hospital in the middle of the night
by a dear lady whose sister was dying. She said, "Pastor, I hate to
bother you in the middle of the night, but the doctor says my sister
has only a few hours to live. She has never trusted Christ as
Saviour. Won't you please come and see if you can talk with her
before she dies."
So in the middle of the night I dressed and drove to the hospital.
The family was there, and this dear lady took me into the room where
her sister was dying. I was not sure the lady could understand me,
so I asked if she could hear me to let me know by moving a finger.
And she did.
I told her the old, old story of Jesus and His love. And though she
was unable to speak, she trusted Christ as Saviour. I remember
saying, "Dear lady, if you will trust Christ as Saviour, would you
let me know it by simply moving your right hand?" I placed my hand
near hers, and very weakly she took my hand and squeezed it as hard
as she could.
Her sister, who was watching, began to weep with joy. There was a
holy presence in the room as this lady went out to meet the Saviour.
There was no time here for me to witness with my lifestyle. I had
only a few minutes with this dear lady before she died and went to
Heaven.
Just this week I boarded a plane to fly to New Jersey for a Bible
conference. Every seat was filled, and I had a window seat. Sitting
next to me was a young engineer. We had not been flying very long
before he asked me if my trip was business or pleasure. Smiling, I
said, "Business. I wouldn't be flying to New Jersey this time of
year on a pleasure trip!"
Then he inquired, "What kind of business are you in?" I explained
that I was a preacher and was going to speak in a conference. The
gentleman was very friendly, and we talked about his new home in
Atlanta.
After a few minutes I handed him a gospel tract entitled, How to
Know You Are Going to Heaven. I said, "Read this and tell me what
you think about it." Things were quiet for a few moments as he read
the tract.
When he finished he said, "It makes sense." I reviewed the tract
asking if he understood that he was a sinner. "Yes," he replied.
I said, "Do you understand that sinners owe a penalty? The Bible
says in Romans 6:23, 'The wages of sin is death.' Do you understand
that, if we pay what we owe, we must go into Hell and stay there
forever and ever?"
"Yes," he replied.
Third, I asked, "Do you really believe that Jesus Christ died on the
cross to pay for your sins? Do you believe that all your sins were
laid on Jesus two thousand years ago, just as the Bible says in I
Peter 2:24?"
"Yes," he replied.
Then, using his name, I said, "Mr. ________, will you trust Jesus
Christ as your Saviour?"
And he replied, "Yes, I will." In a few moments he had prayed and
told the Lord he would trust Him. I got his name and address and
have written to him since to send some literature for follow up, and
I have sent him a gift subscription to THE SWORD OF THE LORD.
Now here is an instance where I could not have lived the Christian
life before the man several weeks or months before witnessing to
him. The flight was only an hour and a half, and I had less than two
hours to witness to him.
By the way, the last thing I prayed on Sunday night before going to
sleep was, "Dear Lord, tomorrow let me sit next to some one on the
plane to whom I can witness." And the Lord put me next to a man who
opened the conversation and was ready to hear the Gospel.
A preacher told me that he was standing in an airport and passing
out tracts. As he offered one man a tract, the man smiled and said,
"I already have one." And reaching in his pocket, he showed the
preacher a tract identical to the ones he was distributing. It was
Dr. Rice's tract, "What Must I Do to Be Saved?" The man was a
soldier, and he said to the preacher, "The wife of the man who wrote
this tract just led me to Christ on the plane and gave me the
tract." Mrs. John R. Rice had led this soldier boy to Christ. She
had probably never seen him before and would never see him again.
But in the short time they had together on the plane, she won him to
the Saviour.
No time here for so-called "incarnating" the Gospel-only time for
verbalizing the message.
A few evenings ago while traveling, I stopped at a service station
to get gas for my automobile. While the man was pumping the gas, I
handed him a tract and said, "Here is something that will tell you
how to go to Heaven when you die. Will you promise me you'll read
it?"
Accepting the tract he said, "Yes, I will."
"By the way, what's your name?" I asked.
"Tom," he replied.
I said, "Tom, I can tell you what is in that tract in just a few
minutes." And I began, "All men are sinners." Going through the plan
of salvation I explained how that sinners owe a penalty and told him
that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay our sin debt. After
explaining the plan of salvation, I asked, "Tom, wouldn't you really
like to trust Christ as your Saviour?"
And he said, "Yes."
I said, "If you really mean that, let's shake on it." And he reached
out and shook my hand. I then asked him if he would pray and tell
Jesus Christ that he was trusting Him as Saviour.
And the dear man prayed, "Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner.
I believe that Jesus Christ died for me. And here and now I trust
Him as my Saviour." I then asked if I could pray, and I prayed that
God would give him assurance of salvation and that he would live for
Christ and be a good Christian.
Now some may call this kind of soul winning "evangelical mugging,"
and I may be accused of being on a "spiritual safari"; but the truth
of the matter is, I simply felt that I should witness to the man. I
had never seen him before, and I will probably never see him again.
Since I was traveling to another state to preach the Gospel, the
chances are I will probably never stop at that same service station
again.
If it were necessary for me to live the Christian life before the
man several weeks or months before witnessing to him, then I could
have never led him to Christ.
In closing, let me say that I believe in living a consistent, godly
Christian life; and a good testimony makes the soul winner more
effective and productive. But there is no teaching in the Bible that
we should demonstrate Christianity several months before trying to
lead a soul to Christ.
It is important that soul winners be careful in their approach. I
have often said, "The way to a man's heart is not down his throat."
I am convinced that some soul winners could improve their approach.
The soul winner must learn to be sensitive. Unless you get the
individual's attention and unless he is listening, it is not likely
that you will win him to Christ. There have been occasions when I
felt that I was not getting through to the person; and so I changed
the conversation and talked about something else and went back
later.
Soul winning is like many other things: the more you do it, the
better you can do it. You learn to do by doing.
In trying to lead a soul to Christ, we must be careful not to offend
the individual. The Bible says, "A brother offended is harder to be
won than a strong city" (Prov. 18:19). But there is no teaching in
the Bible that one must live the Christian life before an individual
several weeks or months before witnessing to him, that he must
befriend him and be sure that he "incarnates" the Gospel before he
verbalizes it.
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