KindiakMath

Without elaborating too much here, since there’s a far better context for that, the churches that I have attended have, in varying degrees, emphasised the need to evangelise. I have spent 17 years in Charismatic + Pentecostal circles who preach the need for evangelism, too often at the risk of being legalistic about it.

But we are going to need to discuss evangelism rightly, if we have any hope of actually carrying it out:

• Some picture evangelism as the obnoxious, loud-mouthed street preacher screaming some variant of “Repent or perish!”
• Others see the odd classmate whose only questionably value-adding contribution is religious mumbo-jumbo, and otherwise having basically zero to at most an epsilon of socio-emotional intelligence.
• Yet others see the neighbour who only engages them during Christian festivals like Christmas, Good Friday, or Easter, and ignore them otherwise.

The word evangelism, as discussed in this video by the Bible Project, is derived from two Greek words that mean ‘Good News’.

Definition 1. To evangelise means to communicate the Good News of the coming of a new kingdom. Evangelism is the noun that describes the act of evangelising.

Theorem 1. Evangelism began in the Garden of Eden, and continued even until Israel was exiled into evil nations.

Proof. In light of humanity’s rebellion against God’s good life (Genesis 3), God curses the serpent and proclaims that an offspring from the woman will destroy the serpent once-and-for-all.

I will put enmity between you (i.e. the serpent) and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.” [Genesis 3:15]

This promise gets refined when given to Abraham, through whom will come a life-giving nation that is blessed to be a blessing:

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” [Genesis 12:1–3]

This king will come from the tribe of Judah or Israel, Abraham’s descendant:

The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. [Genesis 49:10]

Judah has a son, Perez.

The sons of Judah: Er, Onan and Shelah; these three Bath-shua the Canaanite bore to him. Now Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the LORD, and he put him to death. His daughter-in-law Tamar also bore him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all. [1 Chronicles 2:3–4]

Perez has a great grandson, David:

Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David. [Ruth 4:18–22]

As this promise gets refined across generations, the offspring is said to be a King from David’s family line, whose kingdom will last forever:

When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. [2 Samuel 7:12–13]

Though none of David’s immediate descendants were this chosen King, and Israel remain rebellious unto exile, God evangelises to them to return to Him and hail Him as their rightful King, who will carry out His promise to bring their Saviour King:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: The LORD is our righteousness.’ [Jeremiah 23:5–6]

Even in exile, God still proclaims Good News to them:

How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” [Isaiah 52:7]

Theorem 2. Evangelism continued in Jesus’ day, before He was born, until He died, and even after He resurrected.

Proof. The first recorded instance of evangelism was by the angel Gabriel to the virgin Mary, in what Christians from some denominations derived (in King James Version) the “Hail Mary”:

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” [Luke 1:26–33]

Jesus evangelises the arrival of God’s kingdom from the very beginning of His ministry:

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel (i.e. good news) of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” [Mark 1:14–15]

Even the peoples proclaim Jesus as king:

And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” [Mark 11:9–10]

Though they would be utterly shocked that this king would need to suffer, die, and be resurrected:

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” [Mark 8:31–33]

And even in mockery, God sovereignly designed Jesus’ torturers to proclaim Him as king:

And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” [Mark 15:16–18]

Not all mocked, though. The first person to genuinely proclaim Jesus as the Son of God was a non-Jewish official:

And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” [Mark 15:39]

Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead, and two angels proclaimed the resurrection of the Son of Man whose kingdom is forever:

And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” [Luke 24:5–7]

Before Jesus ascends into the sky, He commissions His people with the unfinished task of proclaiming this Good News as the enthroned King of all creation, whose good commandments bring life and blessing as per Genesis 12:1–3:

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [Matthew 28:18–20]

Theorem 3. Jesus’ followers evangelised throughout the Roman Empire, beyond the confines of ethnic Judaism.

Proof. The Apostle Peter first preached the Good News, and 3000 Jews were saved:

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. [Acts 2:37–41]

After intense persecution by other religious Jews, the Good News spread to neighbouring Judea and even ‘treacherous’ Samaria:

Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city. [Acts 8:4–8]

Non-Jews were even affirmed by God Himself as welcomed into His kingdom-family through Jesus:

While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days. [Acts 10:44–48]

Even a terrorist against Christians, Saul of Tarsus, began to proclaim their cause—God’s kingdom on earth through Jesus Christ:

For some days he (Saul of Tarsus) was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. [Acts 9:19–22]

This same Saul, going by his Roman name Paul, evangelised the Roman Empire, going as far as the religious and commercial powerhouses Corinth and Ephesus:

And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples…On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all. [Acts 19:1; 5–7]

He even made it to its political centre, Rome, not without many mostly unjust trials and tribulations:

And so we came to Rome. And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage. And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him. [Acts 28:14–16]

Furthermore, the book of Acts does not technically end, hinting at the continuation of proclaiming God’s kingdom:

He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. [Acts 28:30–31]

It may surprise you to know that apart from this Great Commission, there are no direct commands in the rest of the New Testament for Christians today to evangelise. Why then, do churches preach relentlessly on end on the need to evangelise?

From a monetary perspective, the whole enterprise depends on evangelism. With fewer people contributing financially, how can one sustain a living by running a church? It’s basic economics. This would be one socio-economic accusation levelled by skeptics—church is nothing more than a foolishly over-glorified pyramid scheme.

Paradoxically, the Apostle Paul agrees:

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. [1 Corinthians 15:12–19]

He even rebukes false preachers who preach their brand of Christianity for material gain:

If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. [1 Timothy 6:3–5]

Why then, should Christians today evangelise?

Corollary 1. Christians today evangelise because:

• in Christ-likeness, they share the heart of Jesus their Savior, King, and God,
• to proclaim the Good News of His life-giving, sin-killing, and death-defeating kingdom,
• that will arrive when Jesus returns, and has its outposts now in the form of the Church.

In particular, when a Christian obeys the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18–20, he obeys it from the heart, then to the hands.

Proof Sketch. Theorems 1–3 lead to the ultimate coming of God’s kingdom-family:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” [Revelation 21:1–4]

—Joel Kindiak, 21 Dec 25, 1459H