Balancing Evangelism and Discipleship

A quote from a 1914 book by L. R. Scarborough has intrigued me for many years. I have used it in my evangelism notes to demonstrate how various individuals approached the concept of evangelism in history. In this quote Scarborough discussed the interrelationship between evangelism and discipleship, or using the terminology of his day, soul-winning and soul-building:

“It is not wise to say that soul winning is the main thing or that soul building is the main thing. They are Siamese twins of God’s gospel, going hand in hand, and they ought to keep up with each other.... And this leads me to say that the main thing in the Kingdom of God is the evangelistic spirit, the martial note and conquest tread.” (L. R. Scarborough, Recruits for World Conquest [New York: Revell, 1914], 58.)

In this quote, Scarborough answered an unspoken question about the primacy of evangelism and/or discipleship by noting that both are of equal priority. One reason that this quote intrigued me was that I had wrestled with this same issue when attending seminary in the early 1980s. In my case I placed evangelism above discipleship as it concerns the Great Commission. So, Scarborough’s wise comment gave me warning not to overstate my case for evangelism!

While teaching on follow-up and discipleship several years ago, I was struck with some unexpected biblical insight in answer to this question. It struck me that Ezekiel 3 provides the answer to this age-old enigma. Ezekiel 3:15-21 both affirms the statement of Brother Scarborough, and brings harmony between those who emphasize evangelism and those who emphasize discipleship:

“Then I came to the captives at Tel Abib, who dwelt by the River Chebar; and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.

“Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me:

“‘When I say to the wicked, “You shall surely die,” and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.

“‘Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul.’”

Since the late 1980s, I have used Ezekiel 3:16-19 to teach the urgency of evangelism. Likewise, in the past three or four years, I have required my Basic Evangelism students to memorize verses 18-19. But it had never crossed my mind that the interrelationship between the warning of the wicked and the warning of the righteous in Ezekiel 3 proved the validity of Scarborough’s quote.

What do I mean? The same command and the same terminology in verse 17, which precedes both the warning of the wicked and the righteous, applies both to warning of the wicked and the righteous in verses 18-21. So, we find

• The same message: “a word from My mouth”;
• The same command: “to warn”;
• The same responsibility: “to warn”;
• The same judgment: “bloodguilty” for failing to warn either one; and
• The same “deliverance” for warning them [paralleling Paul’s thrice repeated repetition of “every man” in Col 1:28].

So in essence, Ezekiel 3:17-21 answers the age-old question (“Which is more important, evangelism or discipleship?”) with the answer: “Neither, they are both equally important”! So this application, if it is valid, renders the timeless question—which was clearly an issue in the time of Scarborough in 1914—a mute point. Neither side wins the debate!

Therefore there is no need for competition between our areas of ministry. Both evangelism and discipleship are equally important. Both church planting and evangelism have their place. It’s not an issue of either/or but both/and. Now isn’t that a freeing thought!

The ramifications of this thought may take a while to sink in. If both evangelism and discipleship are equally important in the ministry of the local church, then many of our churches need either to ratchet up their evangelism programs or to rethink the effectiveness of their discipleship methods! If both are equally important in church planting, the ramifications are pretty intense as to how we teach and practice urgent evangelism, as well as life-on-life discipleship. If evangelism and discipleship are equally important in Christ’s Great Commission, what then are the ramifications for seminary education? The implications are serious and ought to be pondered at all levels.

Furthermore, let’s apply Ezekiel 3 to Matthew’s Great Commission:

1. Matthew 28 addresses both ministry to the wicked and to the righteous. While preaching or testifying is the main concept in the Great Commissions of Mark, Luke, and Acts, in Matthew 28 ministry to the wicked is included in the words “make/win disciples” to Jesus (cf. Matt 27:57).
2. Our main spiritual responsibility is to warn lost people, seeking to win them to Christ, and to become His disciples. Notice that warning is more than just informing. It is informing about Christ with the purpose of winning, while warning them of the consequences of rejection. “Warning” is definitely the end-game of a Gospel conversation.
3. If they refuse to take warning, and to become His disciples, then according to Ezekiel 3 our responsibility is complete. We have warned them. We have fulfilled our obligation to them.
4. If they do take warning, and they do become disciples of Christ, then not only are we delivered, but they are made righteous by the blood of Christ, and our responsibility continues. We are then commanded to baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And once that command is fulfilled, we are commanded to teach them to observe all that Christ has commanded. And in these last two commands we find the glue between evangelism and the local church, baptism, as well as the purpose for the local church, teaching them to observe all that Christ commanded.

So in the words “Go and win disciples” we have our responsibility to warn the wicked. And in the words “baptizing them … and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” we have our responsibility to the righteous who take warning, to give them further warning.

Notice also that the so-called righteous ones who do not take warning in Ezek 3:20, will not be saved by their good works: “his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered.” Yes, for good works do not save anyone (Rom 3:19-20). But what does save the righteous is found in verse 21—that is, he takes warning. It seems like Jesus built on this idea when He said:

“When Jesus heard it, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance’” (Mar 2:17; cf. Matt 9:12-13; Luke 5:31-32).

Ezekiel 3 is a very potent passage indeed!

Further, those emphasizing church planting are not incorrect in their interest in assessing the spiritual condition of others. Notice that in verse 15 the prophet Ezekiel “sits” for seven days in consternation, brooding or brewing. By the way, the Hebrew verb for “sit” (yashab) is found 4 times in this verse—Incredible repetition! Finally, at the end of seven days, verse 16 says that the word of the Lord came to the prophet. So the prophet waited one full week before God commanded him to warn all men. Therefore, while Ezekiel 3 clearly teaches urgent evangelism, it does not teach rash, judgmental, dismissive, or aloof evangelism. Rather it teaches urgent evangelism with God-given conviction, insight, and humility.

The power of this passage is amazing. While it so clearly teaches urgent evangelism, it also includes several other vital lessons. Clearly this passage motivated the Apostle Paul in his evangelism efforts (cf. Acts 18:6; 20:24-27). May this passage also motivate us to obey and teach obedience to the Great Commission, and may it also bring us to new levels of unity in our evangelism, discipleship, and church planting. So, L. R. Scarborough was right after all, soul-winning and soul-building are Siamese twins of God’s Gospel. Let’s teach, preach, administer, and work so that these Siamese twins can keep up with each other!

Balanced Church Leadership—the Evangelist and the Pastor

I have spent much time considering the purpose of and reason for the five leaders that are listed in Ephesians 4:11

Eph 4:11, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.”

Because I am presently serving as Interim Pastor, and have invited Evangelist Eric Fuller to preach a revival at the church where I am serving, my thoughts have been focusing on the difference between the roles and responsibilities of a pastor and that of an evangelist.

First of all, it is amazing that both are included as leaders in Christ’s church according to Ephesians 4. But equally interesting is how they compliment each other in the work of the local church.

The pastor’s primary call is to pastor or shepherd his flock. His ministry is therefore first to the people and second to the lost. The evangelist’s primary call is to evangelize the lost outside the church. His ministry is therefore first to the lost and second to the people within the church. Implications of the differences are remarkable to consider.

Both come at the Great Commission from two different sides of the equation. The pastor comes at his task looking at the church members first. The evangelist comes at his calling looking at the lost outside the church first. Yet even so, neither is exonerated from exercising aspects of the other’s ministry.

The pastor is called to “Do the work of an evangelist” in 2 Timothy 4:5, even though he may not feel like evangelism is in his gift set. The New Testament is not so direct with the follow-up ministry of the evangelist. There are instances where there is no possible follow-up between the evangelist and the new convert in the New Testament. However, the many churches that were established through the ministry of the Apostle Paul should encourage the evangelist to work with those that are saved as much as possible beyond their conversion to Christ. The fact that Paul returned to those places where the gospel was received in Acts 14 provides the evangelist an example of the priority of follow-up ministry after his work.

Christ in His foreknowledge and divine insight gave two leaders within His local church that look at the Great Commission from two separate angles. Their approach comes with their unique gifting and with different roles within the church.

Both pastors and evangelists are needed for a well-balanced church—Christ knew this! Neither pastor nor evangelist should look down upon the ministry focus of the other. Both are needed for a balanced church.

Already in the New Testament the ministry of the pastor and that of the evangelist led to a schism. Whereas Paul wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered” (1 Cor 3 6), it was not long before there were several subgroups of people in conflict over the priority of their roles:

1 Cor 1:12, “Now I say this, that each of you says, ‘I am of Paul,’ or ‘I am of Apollos,’ or ‘I am of Cephas,’ or ‘I am of Christ.’”

While this schism is inevitable, it is not necessary to encourage it or to nurture it. Each is a valid part of the Great Commission mandate, and each has a place in the leadership gifts of Jesus Christ to His church. Paul showed that both evangelists and pastors work as one, and should be content with their roles according to their own labor:

1 Cor 3:6-8, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.”

“After Grace Has Been Received Through Baptism”?

With this 6^th Century phrase the veil of the human sacraments descended upon the Western Church. The saving work of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God was limited to a priest saying a series of words over the water: “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The need for hearing the gospel and responding by repentance and faith was eliminated from the order of salvation. Evangelism and the work of the Evangelist were rendered useless. And from that time on in the state-endorsed Western Church, Evangelicalism no longer found a home.

These words belong to the second paragraph of the conclusion of what is called “The Second Council of Orange” (3 July 529). The original wording of the conclusion is ascribed to Archbishop Césaire d’Arles. He took the teaching of the 25 preceding Canons and added the chronological sentiment of this clause. It may be helpful to share the entire sentence from which proceeds this phrase:

“According to the catholic faith we also believe that after grace has been received through baptism, all baptized persons have the ability and responsibility, if they desire to labor faithfully, to perform with the aid and cooperation of Christ what is of essential importance in regard to the salvation of their soul”

Through this statement, Baptism—most commonly practiced as Infant Baptism—was made the very time of receiving the grace of God. Consider then, that if grace is received through the rite of Baptism, it is not received by the exercise of personal faith:

Eph 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Nor is grace received after hearing the gospel, as is clearly stated in the Bible:

Rom 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Eph 1:13, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”

In this last verse, Paul’s use of the word “after” directly contradicts the use of the same preposition as above used by Césaire d’Arles. Persons must first hear so that afterwards they may believe and be sealed by the Spirit of promise.

Thus the need for a hearing of faith is necessary, as affirmed in Galatians:

Gal 3:2, “This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

Jesus Himself taught the need for hearing His words followed by belief in the same unto eternal salvation:

John 5:24, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”

In fact, the verses directly teaching the need to hear the gospel prior to faith and receiving grace are many. The plenary teaching of New Testament salvation hinges upon this one concept.

But through one phrase in the 6^th Century Second Council of Orange the Western Church system was ushered into a very long era of sacramental salvation. The impact of this one phrase cannot be overestimated.

“After grace has been received through baptism.”

This phrase shaped how salvation was conceived in the state-church after that time. Those who did not hold to this exact view of Baptism as the reception of divine grace were framed as heretical and were anathematized as such.

Centuries of doctrinal education and theological categories were strained through the filter of that phrase. The Evangelical view was framed out of doctrinal consideration. Evangelicals and Evangelicalism were scrubbed from the pages of church histories.

On a practical front, Evangelists and evangelism were pushed outside the periphery of the church and its activities. Evangelical churches and their activities became incognito. It still took another 500 years before the fires of persecution burned at the center of European town squares.

Eventually a theologian was found who fitfully framed Evangelicalism out of the question. Lombard’s Four Books of Sentences became the only standard for Western theological education for over a half a millennium. Not long after him another prominent Doctor of the Church, “that great Angelic Doctor,” applied the work of his predecessor to the cultural conditions of dealing with presumptuous heretics. Western Europe was ushered into a time of extreme spiritual darkness. Great persecution ensued.

“quod post acceptam per baptismum gratiam”

[“After grace has been received through baptism”]

With six Latin words, New Testament evangelism was almost extinguished from Western Christianity. It took the publishing of the Greek New Testament almost a thousand years later to shake Western European Christianity from its darkness and slumber.

400 years after the Protestant Reformation evangelism was birthed within theological education. In 1901 L. R. Scarborough founded and chaired the first seminary department of evangelism at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. 100 years later evangelism continues on in theological education, both in teaching and practice. My prayer is for a bright future for evangelism in theological education!