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The author is pastor of a baptist church in California. His church website has one of the most detailed statements of faith we have ever read. From it we were attempting to ascertain the author's doctrinal perspective, and it is definitely Calvinistic. From the statement of faith:
Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.
This is textbook Calvinistic jargon, with their typical emphasis on Election. So the reader knows, this is the doctrine that God long ago chose who He would save.
Why is this relevant? It's simple.
First, the author writes about the need for effective evangelism, which suggests that evangelism techniques are somehow relevant to people getting properly saved. Yet the church he pastors believes that God has already chosen the saved.
We acknowledge the commands of Scripture regarding preaching the Gospel. Nevertheless, we simply note the obvious: Evangelism, whether properly done, done poorly, or not done at all, has no effect on who will get saved. If God has chosen, then nothing will change that.
Second, the author bemoans his altar call experiences as if they were not genuine in some way. He doesn't really tell us at what point he was saved, but it seems that at least one of these experiences was real.
He acknowledges that salvation is "the miraculous work of God’s Spirit," but seems certain he is saved. And this is crucial. He doesn't know. No one knows, only God. The author may be a false convert even now.
Many Christians who persevered for decades and bore much fruit of the Spirit have fallen away. Many mature believers, theologians, and pastors have stumbled or wandered and have never returned. Probably every one of them thought of themselves as certainly saved. But apparently they were false converts. The fact of the matter is, no one can be secure, simply by thinking he's been properly evangelized, discipled, or has a long history in the church.
This of course means the author's presentation is entirely irrelevent if he were to be consistent with his doctines.
Lastly, the author does quote snippets of several Scriptures, but none of them are about evangelism. None of them are illustrative of "clear conversions."
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Editor’s Note: This article is taken from Church Matters, the 9Marks journal for pastors, in the issue titled Conversion.
Maybe you’re like me and you grew up in a church that did altar calls. My church’s zeal for evangelism was real, and I can still tell you the names of individuals who came to know the Lord through those gospel presentations.
But like me, you may also have walked down the aisle to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior at least five times. The thing is, I believe I was sincere every time I walked the aisle. So why do it over and over again? There was clearly a misunderstanding, despite my church’s good intentions—and my own.
The methodology of our ministry affects the fruit of our ministry. Or as Mark Dever has put it, “What you win them with is what you win them to.” Unclear invitations often lead to confused converts. Below I want to consider three different ways this lack of clarity in our evangelism manifests itself and how this can lead to conversions that, in time, prove themselves false.
Unclear Urgency
I was a disobedient kid. When my mother was particularly exasperated, she’d count down from ten. I had a choice: either obey or dig my heels in and rebel. But as I grew older, I became immune to her shot clock and more accustomed to her threats. My mom’s words fell on deaf ears.
Bad evangelism capitalizes on this kind of “countdown” strategy. It puts eternity in the balance based on a singular moment and a one-time decision to follow God—or abandon him forever. And while unbelievers may initially respond positively, their “faith” often doesn’t last. As a result, they may become immune to the gospel because they assume they’ve already tried it.
“But,” you might say, “isn’t conversion an urgent matter? Do we not care about people’s eternal destiny?” Absolutely! But we want to place appropriate pressure on their conscience, not just on their choice. Unbelievers need to make a thoughtful decision rather than simply meeting our demands in a singular moment in time. Panic urges them to turn off their critical thinking for the sake of survival. The focus is on an immediate decision rather than the weight of God’s eternal judgment.
Unclear Cost
At the same time, panicked evangelism is sometimes replaced with what we might call chill evangelism. Chill evangelism attempts to downplay urgency in order to make the decision to follow Jesus more palatable. To take one example, some recent invitations have defined following Jesus as “doing as he did.” The call is to adopt his behavior, particularly his compassion toward the brokenhearted.
But following Jesus is about more than adopting a certain kind of spirituality and lifestyle; it’s also about salvation from the judgment of a holy God. Nor is it something you can dabble in; it requires real sacrifice. Jesus says in Matthew 10:38, “Whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” As Bonhoeffer famously said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”1 Conversion costs something. Saying yes to Jesus means saying no to sin, to our own passions, and to our former life.
1 .Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (Simon Schuster, 1959), 89.
The question is: Does our evangelism draw attention to what people must give up? Conversion doesn’t propel us further toward our goals. Rather, it fundamentally reframes our goals in light of God’s kingdom. When we appeal to people’s carnal desires, we should not be surprised when our “converts” are more in love with the world than with our Savior.
Unclear Accountability
Rather than focusing solely on the moment of decision, we also need to think about what happens afterward. Many receive some initial encouragement, but they aren’t helped to grow in their faith. This kind of shallow evangelism leaves people stranded. It also makes it difficult to determine if someone has truly been converted.
Some who have always professed faith in Christ and always been in church assume they have checked the box of salvation without realizing that they are walking in darkness. No one has taught them what it means to follow Jesus; no one has held them accountable. When decisions are the metric of success, discipleship becomes an afterthought.
But conversion isn’t the end goal of the Christian life: it’s the starting line. Jesus has told us to “make disciples,” which involves “teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19–20). Jesus expects his disciples to disciple. When that doesn’t happen, false converts are never confronted in their sin.
A Clear Gospel
The work of conversion isn’t ultimately about a particular methodology. It’s about the miraculous work of God’s Spirit. It is God who has “shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). So what’s our job? Simply to make an “open statement of the truth” to people’s conscience (2 Cor. 4:2). For those who respond in repentance and faith, God provides means of discipleship. And this discipleship takes place primarily through the church.
In my case, I walked down the aisle many times. But what I needed was someone to walk with me—to clearly explain the gospel and then to disciple and encourage me as I sought to follow Christ.
John Lee is a pastor of First Baptist Church in Artesia, CA. You can follow him on Twitter @JohnHBLee.
Editor’s Note: This article is taken from Church Matters, the 9Marks journal for pastors, in the issue titled Conversion.
Maybe you’re like me and you grew up in a church that did altar calls. My church’s zeal for evangelism was real, and I can still tell you the names of individuals who came to know the Lord through those gospel presentations.
But like me, you may also have walked down the aisle to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior at least five times. The thing is, I believe I was sincere every time I walked the aisle. So why do it over and over again? There was clearly a misunderstanding, despite my church’s good intentions—and my own.
The methodology of our ministry affects the fruit of our ministry. Or as Mark Dever has put it, “What you win them with is what you win them to.” Unclear invitations often lead to confused converts. Below I want to consider three different ways this lack of clarity in our evangelism manifests itself and how this can lead to conversions that, in time, prove themselves false.
Unclear Urgency
I was a disobedient kid. When my mother was particularly exasperated, she’d count down from ten. I had a choice: either obey or dig my heels in and rebel. But as I grew older, I became immune to her shot clock and more accustomed to her threats. My mom’s words fell on deaf ears.
Bad evangelism capitalizes on this kind of “countdown” strategy. It puts eternity in the balance based on a singular moment and a one-time decision to follow God—or abandon him forever. And while unbelievers may initially respond positively, their “faith” often doesn’t last. As a result, they may become immune to the gospel because they assume they’ve already tried it.
“But,” you might say, “isn’t conversion an urgent matter? Do we not care about people’s eternal destiny?” Absolutely! But we want to place appropriate pressure on their conscience, not just on their choice. Unbelievers need to make a thoughtful decision rather than simply meeting our demands in a singular moment in time. Panic urges them to turn off their critical thinking for the sake of survival. The focus is on an immediate decision rather than the weight of God’s eternal judgment.
Unclear Cost
At the same time, panicked evangelism is sometimes replaced with what we might call chill evangelism. Chill evangelism attempts to downplay urgency in order to make the decision to follow Jesus more palatable. To take one example, some recent invitations have defined following Jesus as “doing as he did.” The call is to adopt his behavior, particularly his compassion toward the brokenhearted.
But following Jesus is about more than adopting a certain kind of spirituality and lifestyle; it’s also about salvation from the judgment of a holy God. Nor is it something you can dabble in; it requires real sacrifice. Jesus says in Matthew 10:38, “Whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” As Bonhoeffer famously said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”1 Conversion costs something. Saying yes to Jesus means saying no to sin, to our own passions, and to our former life.
1 .Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (Simon Schuster, 1959), 89.
The question is: Does our evangelism draw attention to what people must give up? Conversion doesn’t propel us further toward our goals. Rather, it fundamentally reframes our goals in light of God’s kingdom. When we appeal to people’s carnal desires, we should not be surprised when our “converts” are more in love with the world than with our Savior.
Unclear Accountability
Rather than focusing solely on the moment of decision, we also need to think about what happens afterward. Many receive some initial encouragement, but they aren’t helped to grow in their faith. This kind of shallow evangelism leaves people stranded. It also makes it difficult to determine if someone has truly been converted.
Some who have always professed faith in Christ and always been in church assume they have checked the box of salvation without realizing that they are walking in darkness. No one has taught them what it means to follow Jesus; no one has held them accountable. When decisions are the metric of success, discipleship becomes an afterthought.
But conversion isn’t the end goal of the Christian life: it’s the starting line. Jesus has told us to “make disciples,” which involves “teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19–20). Jesus expects his disciples to disciple. When that doesn’t happen, false converts are never confronted in their sin.
A Clear Gospel
The work of conversion isn’t ultimately about a particular methodology. It’s about the miraculous work of God’s Spirit. It is God who has “shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). So what’s our job? Simply to make an “open statement of the truth” to people’s conscience (2 Cor. 4:2). For those who respond in repentance and faith, God provides means of discipleship. And this discipleship takes place primarily through the church.
In my case, I walked down the aisle many times. But what I needed was someone to walk with me—to clearly explain the gospel and then to disciple and encourage me as I sought to follow Christ.
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