In 1 Peter 3:15, we are exhorted to “always
be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for
the hope that you have” (1Pe 3:15 NIV). Although apologetics should never be
the main focus in evangelism, nonetheless, anti-intellectualism has adversely
impacted the church’s evangelistic effort in a number of ways:
Anti-intellectualism results in a compromised evangelism
When the church is unable to an intelligent
response to doubts raised by unbelievers, the church may compromise by substituting
it with personal testimony sharing as a way to evade intellectual questions.
While personal testimonies may be a great addition to gospel sharing (an
example of a great testimony would be in John 9:25), it should never be a
standalone strategy in evangelism because it is not the gospel message of Jesus
Christ. Furthermore, not every Christian would have a great testimony to tell
but that does not excuse anyone from playing a role in evangelism.
Mark Dever, in his article What Evangelism Isn't (Christianity
Today, Dec 2007) says:
“An account
of a changed life is wonderful and inspiring thing, but it's the gospel of
Jesus Christ that explains what it's all about and how it happened.”
Anti-intellectualism results in a canned evangelism
Lack of intellectual preparation in
evangelism may also lead to the church to resort to a canned strategy, i.e. a
“memorized steps” approach to evangelism.
Unfortunately, such approach is impersonal, mechanical and even foolish.
To quote Jonathan Dodson:
“These
approaches are foolish because they treat people like projects to be completed,
not persons to be loved…Paul says “know how you ought to answer each person.”
(1 Pe 3:15). This means that most of your gospel explanations will be
different, not canned. It also implies a listening evangelism. How can we know
how to respond to each person if we don’t know each person…Rehearsing a
memorized fact, “Jesus died on the cross for your sins,” isn’t walking in
wisdom. Many people don’t know what we mean when we say “Jesus,” “sin” or
“cross.
Anti-intellectualism results in a “can’t” evangelism
The worst-case scenario is a complete
paralysis of any evangelistic effort. The fear of sharing and the fear of not
knowing what to say may overwhelm a Christian brought in an anti-intellectual
church environment. This phobia may be especially strong for a Christian who
believes in the misconception that the success of evangelism is dependent on
the number of soul conversions, forgetting that while it is our job to bring
Christ to the lost, it is only God’s job to the lost to Christ.
To quote Mark Dever again:
“The
Christian call to evangelism is a call not simply to persuade people to make
decisions but rather to proclaim to them the good news of salvation in Christ,
to call them to repentance, and to give God the glory for regeneration and
conversion. We don't fail in our evangelism if we faithfully tell the gospel to
someone who is not converted; we fail only if we don't faithfully tell the
gospel at all. Evangelism itself isn't converting people; it's telling them
that they need to be converted and telling them how they can be.”
1.
Dever, Mark. What Evangelism Isn't.
Christianity Today, Dec 2007.
2.
Dodson, Jonathan. Two Big Reasons
Evangelism Isn't Working. In ChurchLeaders.com Available at URL: http://tinyurl.com/kwqkxae Accessed 26
Oct 2014
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