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Evangelism is Gospelism. But what is Gospelism?

By Jeremy Myers
7 Comments

Evangelism is Gospelism. But what is Gospelism?
http://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/533614833-redeeminggod-136-evangelism-is-gospelism-matthew-115-romans-115.mp3

What is evangelism? What needs to be said in evangelism? Who do you say it to? How long does evangelism take? What Scriptures should you use? How do you know when someone has been “evangelized”? Ask these questions to 10 people, and you will get 11 answers (because there’s always that one guy who gives two answers).

There is a lot of confusion today about how to evangelize and what to say and do in evangelism. I believe the primary problem lies in the word itself. The word proves the truth of the saying, “The translation is the traitor!” Let me show you what I mean.

Evangelism from the Greek

You would never know it in English, but in Greek, the words “gospel” (Gk. euangelion) and “evangelism” (Gk. euangelizomai) have the same root. In fact, the word “evangelism” isn’t really a translation of the Greek word at all, but is instead a transliteration. The translators, rather than translate euangelizomai, just changed the Greek letters into English, and left it:

euangelizomai
evangelism

evangelism is gospelismSometimes, the English translations use the phrase “preach the gospel” which is better than “evangelism” but tends to make us think that the gospel is spread only by preaching, which as we saw in a previous post, is simply not true.

Let me suggest a new term instead of evangelism.

How about “gospelism” (evangelizing = gospelizing)? This would help show a clearer connection between the gospel itself and the activity of spreading the gospel. This would really help clarify what gospelism is (i.e., what evangelism is) and how to carry it out.

What is Gospelism?

If (as we saw in a previous post) the gospel is more than a set of propositions which must be believed to receive eternal life, then gospelism is way more than just sharing a set of propositions to a person in the hopes that they will believe and receive eternal life.

Put another way, gospelism takes place whenever the gospel is revealed. 

And if the gospel contains all sorts of truths about the temporal and eternal benefits that are offered through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, then logically, any time we share (either by word or deed) any of the truths related to the gospel, we are gospelizing.

Since the gospel contains truths about how to live life in light of the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus, “gospelizing” is not only done with words, but with actions as well. Ideally, since the gospel is related to all aspects of life, our entire life – all we say and do – will be gospelizing.

Sermon Application

More concretely, since the gospel affects how we interact with others, how we spend our money, how we use our time, etc., we are gospelizing not only when we preach and teach about the gospel, but also when we treat others with kindness, fairness and honesty, when we show forgiveness and grace, when we stand up for the poor, the neglected, and the outcast, and any time we reveal the changes that the gospel has brought about in our own life.

When evangelism becomes gospelism, and we see that the gospel is for all of life, then gospelism is for all of life as well.

Gospelism is not just about eternal life, but about all of life … just like the gospel. 

Read these posts to learn more about gospelism:

Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 1)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 2)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 3)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 4)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 5)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 6)

The Gospel According to ScriptureWant to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

God is Redeeming God, Redeeming Theology, z Bible & Theology Topics: Discipleship, evangelism, good news, gospel, gospelism, One Verse Podcast

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“Jesus is Lord” is central to the Gospel

By Jeremy Myers
28 Comments

“Jesus is Lord” is central to the Gospel

evangelism is gospelismAs I continue this series of posts on gospelism (aka evangelism), I imagine this post will generate one of two reactions. Some will say “Duh! I’ve known that forever!” while others will say “Uhhhhh…I don’t like where you’re going with this as it could lead to compromising the simple message of faith alone in Christ alone.”

Anyway, here are four premise statements that this post is based on:

  1. The gospel contains truths for all aspects of life, both temporal and eternal.
  2. These gospel truths are centered around the person and work of Jesus Christ.
  3. Evangelism comes from the same word for “gospel” and so might better be termed “gospelism.”
  4. Gospelism is a way of living life under the truths of the gospel.

Based on these, I came to a startling conclusion (startling for me, anyway).

Since the gospel contains truths for BOTH temporal and eternal life, then a summary statement of the gospel must be related to BOTH the temporal and eternal truths of the gospel, and which focuses on Jesus. In Scripture, it appears that this summary statement of the gospel is this:

JESUS IS LORD.

Jesus is Lord

I know that for many of you, this is a “Duh” statement, but for me, it was staggering. I have spent most of my adult life arguing that the summary statement of the gospel was “Believe in Jesus for eternal life” and that believing in the Lordship of Jesus was not part of the Gospel.

But now I am seeing that the statement “Jesus is Lord” is actually central to the gospel!

To clarify, while I still believe that the only way to receive eternal life is to believe in Jesus for it, I do not believe that this is the summary of the gospel.

The gospel is good news for all aspects of life, not just good news about how to receive eternal life.

Therefore, the statement “Jesus is Lord” is the central claim of the gospel, because that claim alone touches all aspects of temporal and eternal life.

Jesus not only wants us to believe in Him for eternal life, but also to recognize His Lordship in all the other aspects of eternal and temporal life as well.

Only in this way can the gospel be fully believed and practiced.

The good news about Jesus is that He has come to set up His universal kingdom, by ruling and reigning in our lives and in this world. While this will never fully happen until He returns, He does want us to be moving in these kingdom directions now. And we do so by confessing and living under the central gospel claim that “Jesus is Lord.”

Interestingly, this week I was reading the new book by Frost and Hirsch called reJesus (I’ll post a review of it later), and they wrote about this idea as well. Here is what they said:

The church’s elemental confession that ‘Jesus is Lord’ captures all the meaning significance of the biblical teaching on the kingdom of God. …Our view of God is that Jesus is Lord, and the kingdom of God is the arena in which we respond to God’s sovereign rule over this world. All is included (and nothing is excluded) in this claim (p. 120).

The lordship of Jesus extends to our sexuality, our political life, our economic existence, our family, our play, and everything in between. There must be no limitation to the claim that Jesus makes over all of life. When we get this right, Jesus’ lordship takes on a missional edge. “Jesus is Lord” is more like a rallying war cry than a mere theological statement (p. 123).

I remember when I was a little ashamed to talk about the Lordship of Jesus because I didn’t want to be confused with people who taught “Lordship Salvation.”

I am now ashamed that I was ashamed. Who can be ashamed of the Lordship of Jesus?!?!

I now see that, ironically, it is only because of my belief that Jesus is Lord that I can trust His claim that anyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.

So why do I believe that eternal life is through faith alone in Christ alone? Because Jesus is Lord.
Why do I study, pray, and worship? Because Jesus is Lord.
Why do I seek to love and serve others? Because Jesus is Lord.
Why do I try to live honestly and with integrity? Because Jesus is Lord.
Why do I seek to see others come to faith in Jesus? Because Jesus is Lord.
Why do I attempt to learn and live the gospel? Because Jesus is Lord.

The gospel is that Jesus has something to do with all of reality, both temporal and eternal. There is no sacred-secular divide. It is all under Jesus, and we ignore Him at our own peril.

See more on this gospelism series:

Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 1)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 2)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 3)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 4)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 5)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 6)

The Gospel According to ScriptureWant to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

God is Redeeming Church, Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: Discipleship, evangelism, good news, gospel, gospelism, Jesus is Lord, Lordship salvation

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A Gospelism Story to help you understand what it is

By Jeremy Myers
1 Comment

A Gospelism Story to help you understand what it is

evangelism is gospelismBelow is a story I read on Alan Knox’s blog. I think it is a good example of one possible way to “gospelize.” (You will also like the blog series about Being the Church or the one about Loving your Neighbor.)

In November I heard Dino Rizzo speak in a workshop at the National Outreach Convention in San Diego. Dino talked about ways to serve the community. He said that if he were new in a city he would buy some garbage bags and volunteer at a community event to help do cleanup. If there was no community event, he said he would just go up and down the streets in his neighborhood and pick up trash.

I told this story to our little group that is trying to learn how to serve an inner city neighborhood in our city. We decided that we should try it the following Sunday morning, the second Sunday in December, and then do it every other Sunday morning. Our first Sunday out was a cold, windy day, but we met, prayed and then picked up trash in the neighborhood for about eighty to ninety minutes.

We skipped the fourth Sunday in December, since everyone in the group was out of town or occupied with visiting relatives. However, we resumed our trash pickup last Sunday, the second Sunday of January.

We met, prayed and started picking up trash. About two minutes after I started a car pulled up near me.

(Him) “What are you doing?”

(Me) “We’re picking up trash to make the neighborhood look nice”.

(Him) “Who are you people?”

(Me, while pointing to the yellow shirts we all wore that has our group’s name printed on it) “We’re a little group of Christians just trying to help out the neighborhood.”

(Him) “What church are you with?”

(Me) “We’re just a small group that meets here in the neighborhood.”

(Him) “I mean, where’s your church? The building?”

(Me) “We meet in cafes or the park. We don’t use a church building. We try to be out around people.”

(Him) “But are you part of some church, like the Catholic church, or something like that?”

(Me) “No. We’re just followers of Jesus, and every other Sunday morning this is how we do church. We go out in the neighborhood and pick up trash.”

Suddenly I was his good friend.

(Him) “My name is xxxxxxxx. I’m on the planning commission here, and I’ve never seen anything like this. I’m church way back, but I don’t go any more. (He gave me some reasons. He doesn’t think much of “religious people”.) Now this is real religion.”

He told me about the dislike the churches in the neighborhood and the people in the neighborhood have for each other, a story that I have heard several times from the neighborhood. (Most of the churches in the area are attended by people who drive into the neighborhood. The churches and their neighbors regularly complain to the city, the police and whomever will listen about each other.)

As we continued picking up trash, people watched. When cars drove by, I looked up. Several people smiled and waved. Some people came out of their houses and thanked us, after watching us from their windows. When we reached the end of our time, and turned around to go back to our cars, picking up a few bits of trash that we had missed on the first pass, more people came out of their houses and thanked us.

Several weeks earlier I walked these same streets trying to see what I could see, and prayed for the neighborhood. No one stopped to talk to me. No one smiled and waved as they drove by. No one came out of their house to talk to me. A couple of gang members asked me for money. That was it.

Oh yes, we do not hand out tracts or invite people to church. We’re just getting to know them and they’re getting to know us. They’re trying to figure out who we are. When they’ve got that figured out, perhaps, just perhaps, they’ll invite us into the spaces of their lives. That is where we will be allowed to hear each others stories. But for now, they’re just smiling, waving, coming out of their spaces to say hello or thank you or to ask who we are and what we’re doing.

After writing this, I thought about a group that is trying to start a new church. Twice they have walked through our neighborhood, hanging invitations to the new church on people’s doors. I watched them. No one smiled and waved at them as they drove by, no one stopped to talk to them, and no one came out of their house to talk to them. After the group had passed, I did see people open their doors to get the flyers, look at them a second or two and toss them in the trash. Hmmm!

I’m going to close out this series on gospelism with a post that might ruffle a few feathers.

See more on this gospelism series:

Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 1)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 2)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 3)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 4)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 5)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 6)

The Gospel According to ScriptureWant to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

God is Redeeming Church, Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: alan knox, Discipleship, evangelism, good news, gospel, gospelism

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Evangelism, Mission, and Gospelism with David Bosch

By Jeremy Myers
11 Comments

Evangelism, Mission, and Gospelism with David Bosch

We are in a series of posts about how it is better to think of gospelism than evangelism.

Transforming Mission
Boring book cover .. GREAT book

Much of my thinking in the areas of mission, evangelism, and discipleship has been reinforced by David Bosch, and his book, Transforming Mission. Below are a few pertinent quotes. Note that he doesn’t use the term “gospelize” but I have included it in brackets where his thinking helped my thinking in this area.

Later today, I will post a story about one group of people who decided to live the gospel in their community (gospelize), rather than just “evangelize.”

So here are the quotes from David Bosch:

We cannot capture the evangel and package it in four or five “principles.” There is no universally applicable master plan for evangelism, no definitive list of truths people only have to embrace in order to be saved. We may never limit the gospel to our understanding of God and of salvation (p. 420).

Evangelism [is] that dimension and activity of the church’s mission which, by word and deed and in the light of particular conditions and a particular context, offers every person and community, everywhere, a valid opportunity to be directly challenged to a radical reorientation of their lives, a reorientation which involves such things as deliverance from slavery to the world and its powers; embracing Christ as Savior and Lord; becoming a living member of his community, the church; being enlisted into his service of reconciliation, peace, and justice on earth; and being committed to God’s purpose of placing all things under the rule of Christ (p. 420).

Mission [or evangelism] is not narrowed down to an activity of making individuals new creatures, of providing them with “blessed assurance” so that, come what may, they will be “eternally saved.” Mission involves, from the beginning and as a matter of course, making new believers sensitive to the needs of others, opening their eyes and hearts to recognize injustice, suffering, oppression, and the plight of those who have fallen by the wayside (p. 81).

The primary responsibility of “ordinary” Christians is not to go out and preach, but to support the mission project [i.e., gospelizing] through their appealing conduct and by making “outsiders” feel welcome in their midst (p. 138).

The church is that community of people who are involved in creating new relationships among themselves and in society at large and, in doing this, bearing witness [i.e., gospelizing] to the lordship of Christ (p. 169).

The church is the only society in the world which exists for the sake of those who are not members of it. [Bonhoeffer said] “The church must share in the secular problems of ordinary human life, not dominating, but helping and serving” (p. 375).

Mission [gospelizing] is the church sent into the world, to love, to serve, to preach, to teach, to heal, to liberate. …Evangelism is integral to mission. …One may never isolate it and treat it as a completely separate activity of the church (p. 412).

Evangelism is only possible when the community that evangelizes – the church – is a radiating manifestation of the Christian faith and exhibits an attractive lifestyle. …If the church is to impart to the world a message of hope and love, of faith, justice, and peace, something of this should become visible, audible, and tangible in the church itself (p. 414).

A talk-alike, think-alike, look-alike congregation may reflect the prevailing culture and be a club for religious folklore rather than an alternative community in a hostile or compromised environment. …The focus in evangelism should, however, not be on the church but on the irrupting reign of God (p. 415).

[Mission] is the good news of god’s love, incarnated in the witness of a community, for the sake of the world (p. 519).

See more on this gospelism series:

evangelism is gospelismEvangelism is Gospelism (Part 1)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 2)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 3)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 4)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 5)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 6)

The Gospel According to ScriptureWant to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

God is Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: David Bosch, Discipleship, evangelism, good news, gospel, gospelism, mission, missional

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Is there a difference between gospelism and discipleship?

By Jeremy Myers
5 Comments

Is there a difference between gospelism and discipleship?

In previous posts (here and here) I suggested that since the gospel contains truths for all aspects of temporal and eternal life, then “gospelism” (aka evangelism), is anything we do, whether word or deed, which reveals these truths to others.

evangelism is gospelismBut the question may arise (at least, it did in my thinking), “If gospelism is basically just teaching and living the truths of the gospel, then what is the difference (if anything) between gospelism and discipleship?” After all, doesn’t discipleship take place when we reveal the truths of Scripture to others through word and deed? Isn’t this the same as gospelism?

Gospelism and Discipleship are Similar

I think the first thing to remember is that disciples are followers of Jesus, whether or not they have believed in Him for eternal life.

I find that a lot of people think that only believers in Jesus can be disciples of Jesus, but this is not supported by Scripture.

A cursory reading of the gospels reveal that there were many disciples of Jesus who were not believers in Jesus. People followed Jesus and learned from Jesus for many reasons, even though not all of them believed in Him for eternal life. Judas is the prime example.

So I take from this that discipleship is open to all people, whether they believe in Jesus for eternal life or not. This is true of gospelism as well, so at least in this regard, gospelism and discipleship are identical.

The Primary Difference between gospelism and discipleship

But there seems to be a few primary differences between gospelism and discipleship. As I read Scripture, it seems that discipleship is more intentional than gospelism.

That is, rather than simply living the gospel as a way of life before anybody and everybody, discipleship is when we live and reveal the gospel to a select group of individuals for an extended period of time so that they might learn to model their life after ours and ultimately, after Jesus.

So here are a few distinctives of discipleship which separate it from gospelism:

  1. While gospelism is somewhat random in who it touches, we either seek out others to disciple, or they seek us out. It is intentional in who it touches.
  2. Discipleship must be regular. It is for the same group of people, over an extended period of time, with a specific goal in mind.
  3. All who are discipling others must themselves be a disciple of someone else.

online discipleship groupSo while gospelism is for all people, discipleship is when we gospelize a select group of individuals.

Tomorrow, I will share a story showing how some of this looks in real life.

See more on this gospelism series:

Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 1)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 2)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 3)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 4)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 5)
Evangelism is Gospelism (Part 6)

The Gospel According to ScriptureWant to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

God is Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: Discipleship, evangelism, good news, gospel, gospelism

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