How to Evangelize in the Modern World if You Are a Minister Literature Review

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Travis Collins finds in his study of the Declaration of Ibadan that missions and national churches can partner effectively to establish a level of world evangelization that can fulfill the target objectives and aims of successful saturation evangelism. The study examines the relationship between the missions and the unions, which function together to establish the "role of the mission, joint decision making" and personnel deployment.[footnoteRef:1] This source is relevant to the thesis of this study because it highlights some possible strategies that missions and national churches can coordinate between themselves in order to better effect the level of saturation evangelism that they strive to maintain. The idea behind the strategy is that the network of churches can support the needs of the missions and that the missions in turn can reach and attract otherwise hard-to-reach persons and bring them into the fold of the national churches, whereby they can grow the support network, which in turn can facilitate the missions. Thus it is a mutually beneficial system. [1: Collins, T. "Missions and Churches in Partnership for Evangelism: A Study of the Declaration of Ibadan." Missiology. Vo. 23 No. 3 (July 1995), 331.]

Likwise, Jackson Wu's study on evangelism finds that biblical exegesis must be linked to missions and their methods. The two are, in other words, not exclusive but rather inclusive. Wu's qualitative assessment of biblical scholarship finds that Sacred Scripture does not support a notion of having just a policy of establishing churches but rather than the missionary spirit is what compels the churches to grow and, similarly to what Collins finds, the two -- the churches and the missions -- feed one another, both of which are fostered by the spirit of saturation evangelism. Therefore, the study by Wu is relevant to this thesis because it signifies how the Bible itself supports a framework of saturation evangelism through the linkage of churches established by the various missionaries and the fostering of new missionaries from within those established communities, which then send forth more disciples to spread the evangel.[footnoteRef:2] [2: Jackson Wu, "There are No Church Planting Movements in the Bible: Why Biblical Exegesis and Missiological Methods Cannot be Separated," Global Missiology English, vol. 1, no. 12 (2014), 1.]

Ed Matthews provides a study of the effects of "mass evangelism" and finds that "many people have been brought to a saving faith" by way of mass evangelism.[footnoteRef:3] His findings support the ideas of ministers like Jerry Falwell. Indeed, it is the claim of Matthews that mass evangelism is what "gave birth to the New Testament."[footnoteRef:4] Yet one of the drawbacks of mass evangelism that Matthews notes is that it requires mass efforts in terms of organization, which may not be available to all ministers and missionaries. It can also be confused among peoples as something that is defined as a "special" event, when in reality is not a once-in-a-lifetime moment but rather a moment that one should be experiencing all one's life. Matthews' study is relevant to this thesis because it shows how mass evangelism is important and the good that it can do, but it also is helpful because it addresses specific problems that mass evangelists can encounter in practical terms, such as organization principles and reception/reaction hazards. [3: Ed Mathews, "Mass Evangelism: Problems and Potentials," Journal of Applied Missiology, Vol. 4. No. 1 (1993), 3.] [4: Ibid, 4.]

Rod Dempsey studies the strategies of Falwell in his thesis, which is relevant to this one because it highlights the essential elements critical to a saturation evangelist.[footnoteRef:5] In this study Dempsey emphasizes the importance of God's plan for everyone and how responding to that plan is what is critical in the lives of God's missionaries -- which should be everyone who hears God's call. Essentially, the study underlines the most important aspect of being a disciple of Christ, which is that no matter who you are or where you, you are always connected to Christ through faith, and that this connection establishes you as a speakerphone for the Lord, who wants His plan communicated to all, as stated in the Bible. This study is important and helpful because it draws attention to the most basic idea of saturation evangelism, which is the idea that by overflowing the glass, so to speak, the liquid -- the spirit of God -- will run over and spread everywhere: so that means that all who hear should allow their glass to overflow so that the Word of God can fill them up to the brim and then spread out on its own to others.

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This means, of course, that one must empty out the self in order to let the light of God inside -- and as this study emphasizes this point, it is particularly relevant to the thesis of the study of this paper. [5: Rod Dempsey, "The Ministry Methods of Jerry Falwell." Eruditio Ardescens. Vol. 1 Issue 1 (2013), 4. ]

Like the study by Matthews, the study by Cassidy focuses on the positives and negatives of mass evangelism and shows how the strategy can be implemented effectively so as to achieve the best results. Cassidy himself acknowledges that he is a "product of evangelism" and therefore can testify to its power.[footnoteRef:6] His study is relevant to the thesis of this study because it illustrates how mass evangelism can be effective when it comes upon no resistance in terms of culture or organization. It also is helpful in that it uncovers some limitations of the evangelical strategy and offers points on how these limitations might be dealt with. [6: Michael Cassidy. "Limitations of Mass Evangelism and its Potentialities." International Review of Missions, Vol. 65, No. 258 (April 1976), 202.]

Guthrie's study is relevant to this thesis because it emphasizes the importance of visitation -- that is, continually returning to the laity and keeping up with individual members so that they do not fall away. In other words, according to the findings of Guthrie, evangelism is not simply a matter of spreading the Word of God, but also a matter of keeping the faithful together so that they are united as one and can, as part of the spiritual vine that attaches them to Christ, support the saturation of more and more individuals, till the message is heard by all. Should visitation not be a part of the evangelical's aim, then the support structure falls apart, just as if nails in the framework of a house suddenly started disappearing, there would be nothing to hold the boards together. In this same way, Guthrie suggests that visitations can act as nails, binding the community together in a spirit of fellowship. Again, this is important to this study's thesis because it addresses another aspect of saturation evangelism, illustrating why it is essential to the strategy.[footnoteRef:7] [7: Guthrie, Stan 1. Outreach in Mexico City district is a big deal to its evangelicals, World Pulse, Vol. 27, No. 3 (February 7, 1992), 3.]

Luter's study also discusses the essence of saturation evangelism and shows how the strategy worked in terms of Paul's missionary activity. The study is relevant to this thesis because it roots the theory of saturation evangelism in a biblical context, specifically as it relates to the Apostle Paul and what he did to spread the Word of God. The study is particularly helpful because it shows what happens when a "half-baked" evangel replaces the one that is inspired by God (as is Paul's). The half-baked evangel refers to the "new evangelist" who appeared in Ephesus in Paul's absence and spread a message that was tolerable but that was not nearly as effective as Paul's because it did not "lay out the finished work of Jesus Christ."[footnoteRef:8] [8: A. Luter, "Deep and Wide: Education Overflowing as Evangelism from Ephesus" (2001). Faculty Publications and Presentations. Paper 285, 38.]

Slate's study finds there is a need to seriously scrutinize the work of the "mass evangelists" in order to ensure that they are not practicing the same sort of "half-baked" evangelism that sprang up in Ephesus in Paul's absence. Slate suggests that just as Paul took measures to make certain the followers of Christ were not waylaid by the weak evangelism of the "half-baked," so too should modern evangelists sincerely strive to embody the discipleship that Paul pressed upon all his followers in Christ. This will spare the saturation evangelist from overflowing with modern ridiculousness as can often be the case with widespread missionaries whose popularity does not match their spirituality or vice versa. This study is relevant to the thesis in that it discloses another pitfall regarding the implementation of saturation evangelism, which is that the evangelist must guard against improprieties and adulterated messages.[footnoteRef:9] [9: Philip Slate, "Missions Professor Critiques Methods Used in Eastern Europe." Christian Chronicle, Vol. 49, No. 7 (July 1992), 15.]

Underwood's study on evangelism is relevant to this study's thesis in that it addresses the benefits of evangelism as being two-fold: first, it finds that the.....

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