Rabid Dogs for Evangelism

Danny Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in North Carolina (who once had an extended conversation with me while we peed in neighboring urinals in an SBTS bathroom, the topic was his seminary ethics class with Paige Patterson), is rightfully bemoaning the news that the stats show the conservative resurgence of the SBC has not made us more evangelistic. 

Unfortunately, his answer to the problem will never fix anything.  According to the ABP article on a talk from Akin, "In light of the downward evangelism trends, Akin urged North Carolina Baptists to become 'rabid dogs for evangelism' and defend 'the exclusivity of the gospel,' which contends that salvation comes only through Jesus."

While on the surface these things seem fine and all, I'm afraid it's just more of the same.  Don't you think the SBC President's bus ride for the cause of gaining like a zillion new baptisms should do the trick?  Maybe we need more SBC leaders to take more tours of the country in more unique vehicles.  Like Mohler in a new H3 looking for "Deeper Theology by 2133" and Akin on a train with his campaign "Riding Along Till Marriages are Strong." 

Sorry, I'm just a little frustrated.  Akin's a great bathroom conversationalist, a passionate guy, and a man of God.  But once the "rabid dogs" line doesn't really make a difference (like all the other lines before it) someone will just think of another, like "Let's crap the truth like a diarrhetic goose!"  You get the picture.

Hey SBC'rs!  How about this.  Maybe we need to be more missional.  Maybe our problem isn't that we should say the gospel more (and more like sick dogs), but that we should say it better.  Not with better words, but in better ways, like people and families and churches that are incarnated in the culture.  Healing and suffering and loving speaks!  We have too long divorced the spoken gospel from the lived gospel in the SBC.  That's the real key to fixing our statistical nightmare.  And that means we should just admit our cute sayings and bolder thrusts and clever tricks and canned evangelism just isn't good enough and actually encourage our people to live out the gospel.  We need to live redemptively, missionally, incarnationally.

Maybe we need more thoroughly missional people who live and breathe and eat the gospel.  Maybe we need more people joining book clubs or bowling leagues or knitting classes and building relationships there that will lead to helping and serving and loving and redeeming.

Comments

[joe kennedy]

hey steve, paige patterson took over SWBTS last year.

[Steve McCoy]

Um...what's your point?

[daverudd]

do you have a copyright on the diarrhetic goose line? can i use that in my next sermon? :)
nice post.

[Jeffrey]

Good thought Steve. I agree. We can scream and shout and act like various animals if we like, but in doing so, we would just fulfill the negative stereotype of the "church" that culture posseses. We'd prove that we're just dogmatic, Bible thumping, "Christians" who really don't give a _____.

Instead let us love people unconditionally and meet the needs of our neighbors, communities, nation, and world and SHOW them the gospel...not just beat them with it. I wonder how long it's been since our "Evangelical Leaders" have read the first 4 chapters of Acts...hmmm...

Heading to the EC in dowtown Nash (thought its only 30 miles from my house! Lol) so I'll be out of pocket for a few days..ttyl.

[James]

Steve:
Just wrote a letter to the editor of The Baptist Messenger (OK) yesterday in relation to Rainer's recent research. Stated that the problem was not a lack of zeal for evangelism ("being a rabid dog"), but a lack of comprehending the Great Commission. The imperative in Mt. 28:19 is not to "baptize," but rather, to "make disciples." We as SBCers have divorced discipleship from evangelism, repentance from faith, sanctification from justification. That is the real problem. That is why Rainer's research shows that nearly one-half of our church members are unconverted.

Why should people want to live for Jesus when living for Him doesn't make any difference in one's life?

[James]

Here is an article from NC related to Akin / Rainer's article. http://www.biblicalrecorder.org/content/news/2005/5_13_2005/ne310505akin.shtml

Have to give Akin credit for what he said, including the need for standing for the "Lordship" of Christ.

[Joe Thorn]

Great words Steve. You know I agree with you (I always agree with the pretty people), but I also think this is the hardest tarnsition to imagine for most churches. It is almost, to use Welch's line from last year, "the most unthinkable thing imagineable!" :) That's why most wont do it/will be slow to do it. Serisouly, since being missional is not about a program, but about identity, it will require a major shift in our churches in thought, structure, and activity. It will ammount to the need to repent and admit our theology - to some degree - has been wrong.

[tom]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding. Akin is a godly man, no doubt. But it sounds like he's trying to rally the troops to a more 'bunker mentality' of Bible thumpers. Not to re-hash what Jeffrey, James, and Daverudd have said, but it sounds like he wants us/them to do 'more of the same' but with greater intensity. Isn't that the clinical definition of insanity? ...doing the same thing but expecting different results?

His comments almost have the fragrance of something I can't quite put my finger on...We've drunk from the well of Bible-thumping, hellfire-and-damnation preaching, etc.....and maybe that well has run dry. Our culture is cynical and skewed and maybe a newer (or more ancient) approach is needed.

Never compromising the authority of Scripture or our God. I'm just not sure that passion alone (especially in a deranged dog) is what 'makes disciples'......

[Rodney McCarty]

The pastor who preceeded me in this church was a rabid dog (from all descriptions - I never met him or talked to him). Got lots of "baptisms" but I've never met any of those he baptized - they're nowhere to be found. I really like what James brought out - "make disciples" is the verb in the command, all the others are participles - still important, but they are all part of the verb.

Had the opportunity to present somewhere around $5000 worth of scholarships to High School students last night as a representative of the Rotary Club. This morning the father of one of the recipients was working next to our house and initiated the conversation with me. He already knew that I was a pastor (how he knew, I don't know - small town!) but we were able to talk about things in our lives that we never would have if I had not had the opportunity to help his son go to Technical School (he received a $500 scholarship).

Most of the time rabid dogs are avoided by normal people.........

[shawn]

I couldn't agree more. With your thoughts and the comments above me. I nearly fell out of my chair when I read the diarrethic goose line.

[Steve McCoy]

The goose line falls under my "some rights reserved" part of the site, so I will have to contact my lawyers on that one. ;^) I expect that will be the most copied saying of the year in pulpits across the country.

Good comments all.

[joe kennedy]

sorry steve, must have misread... i could swear i read,
"paige patterson, president of southeastern...". i apologize.

[Steve McCoy]

After our comments, I noticed you read my parenthetical statement wrong. It had an awkward placement. I rearranged the first paragraph so that the same mistake wouldn't be made again. Thanks man.

[Pat A]

Steve -
GREAT POST! Rarely is it about the words we use, people are more impressed and inspired with actions that come from heart. Thanks for the reminder of what we should be doing and being.

[kyle]

thanks for that Steve. We just had a mini conference in Canada about the same thing...and all the leaders could say is the same thing. A few of us share about being missional and the final speaker comes up and says we just need to preach hell more. No wonder churches in Canada have been steadily declining for so long.

[rabid dog]

thanks steve, for defending us. i don't much like being tied evangelism either.

[Tim]

When I bought my iBook, I drove everyone at work nuts talking about it. I was just so tickled to have such a cool computer. When I got to seminary and had it opened working on something, people would stop by and comment on how great looking it is. The screen saver help people mesmerized. The small size was great for hauling around.

See, there I go again. :)

So why aren't more evangelicals (beyond just the SBC) more evangelistic? Why do we have to have classes on how to evangelize? Why do we have to talk people into doing it?

I think we need to help our people fall in love with Jesus even more. Self-help sermons about "Moses' 7 Keys to A Happy Family" or "Samson's Example of Biblical Masculinity" entertain, may even convict, but they ultimatley point us inward, away from the world and fail to remind us how HUGE and GLORIOUS God really is. Insert head in navel. Wrestle with shame of not "living up". Why would you want to tell anyone about becoming a Christian? Well, unless the preacher shamed you into it.

We need more of Christ in our churches. Get the people enamoured of their First Love once more and evangelism will begin to take care of itself. Their lives will once again be filled with joy. Be "prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you" (1Pt 3:15). Is that a problem for us, that we're not ready? Or is it a problem that no on asks. Why don't they? Is the hope visible? If not, why not?

Evangelism is important and we need to be doing it. But, to paraphrase Piper, evangelism isn't the ultimate end of the church, worship is. Evangelism will end one day, worship will continue forever. Badgering the flock into evangelism will, as you've indicated Steve, need to be repeated and reinvented every few years. Get them fired up about who Jesus is and they're fueled for a good long while.

[Steve McCoy]

I'm pretty sure that first paragraph was AppleSpam, but I'll let it slide. :)

[Richard Bailey]

mmmmmm...AppleSpam. Slice me off a piece of that, Tim. Heck, I'll even eat Steve's portion if he doesn't want it or can't handle it.

[Steve McCoy]

Hey, I'm already thinking about an iBook when I need a replacement. Give me a chance! :)

[Jay H]

OK, I shall now begin rambling. :)

I'm beginning to believe that part of the reason modern-day evangelism efforts are failing, having little to no long-term effects beyond countable baptisms, is because Christians are misrepresenting the church.

I don't mean in terms of the "rabid dog" stuff, although I'll agree with Steve (and Michael "iMonk" Spencer) that "a mob of foaming at the mouth Christians" is a troubling image to perpetuate.

What I mean is I see a lot of Christians engaging in what I can only call false advertising for the Gospel. For instance, in my girlfriend's church, in one of the kids' classrooms, a miniature poster features two faces. The top one is a sad face, with the caption "Before I Knew Christ," and the bottom one is a happy face, with the caption, "Now That I Know Christ." (Not the exact wording -- I'm paraphrasing. Memory's not at its best because I was at the midnight "Revenge of the Sith" show. ;) )

Anyway, that strikes me as a load of hooey. I think your average unsaved or unchurched John and Jane Doe can see pretty clearly that Christians in the USA aren't a happy bunch; in fact, we seem to be pretty angry a lot of the time, if Fred Phelps and James Dobson are any indication. For my part, I'm not happier since I became a Christian -- I find myself instead filled more and more with a great sorrow at the sufferings, death, misunderstandings, and general lost state of this world. I can take some comfort in knowing that at the end-that-isn't-an-end I will be with the Lord, but I'm certainly not going to try to force that piece of security to transmute into a day-to-day constant happiness; that's called denial, or maybe even using religion as a drug. No, every day I have to interact with the world as I'm commanded to.

False advertising #2: that Christians, because they have access to God, have access to the wisdom to solve all their problems. Well, we may have access to an infinitely wise God, but seeing as how the rates of divorce, cheating, suicide, and the like are roughly the same within American Christianity as within the USA as a whole, one has to forgive John and Jane Doe for wondering if we're imagining our communion with the Divine. Add to that the growing number of churches where the experience of God comes in the form of blatantly phony faith healing or falling on the floor and convulsing, and Christians begin to look positively delusional.

False advertising #3: that true Christians, by virtue of the influence of the Holy Spirit, don't sin. This may seem very much like the previous point, except that it seems to achieve a whole new level of arrogance. I hear a guy every Sunday morning on the radio who espouses this claim. Mind you, in the grandest good ol' boy tradition, his definition of "sin" seems to be cheatin', drinkin', smokin', and doin' drugs.

It seems to me that the only real reason to become a Christian is the promise, understood by faith, that one day we will be reunited with God and stand in his presence. With that knowledge there is, perhaps, a certain inner peace, though not continual bliss. Our efforts to sell the public anything more than that have, I think, come home to roost.

[Tim Sweatman]

Tim~
I agree that many of our problems stem from the fact that we're really not in love with Jesus. I would guess that most Christians have never even thought about their faith in such terms. A pastor in our city, Steve Ayers, has written a book (I think the title is Igniting Passion in Your Church) that uses courtship and marriage as a picture of what it means to be a Christian. His point is that as Christians we are to continue falling more deeply in love with Jesus. Incidentally, in 1991 Steve became pastor of a traditional church with 12 in attendance; today they have over 4000 in attendance (many of whom were previously not connected with any church) and are leading the state in baptisms. They don't follow any evangelistic program; they go out to where people are (many of whom are people that most Christians are unwilling to associate with) and love them. Steve has set the example for his church, going into BARS and POOL HALLS (gasp!) to get to know people. He and his church are willing to step out of their comfort zone because they love Jesus so much. To me this is what it means to be missional.

[Tim]

Other Tim, I would have to say that is missional! A foreign missionary in the culture of their own country.

[Tim]

Oh, by the way, the "AppleSpam" was what we in the preaching business as an "illustration." Perhaps you've heard of it? ;0)

[Amy]

I totally agree, Steve. Though I currently am not attending a Baptist church (due to my longstanding disagreement with the "conservative resurgence") my I agree that evangelism should be a matter of relationships. There's a quote somewhere, that says "Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary use words." In my current denomination- Presbyterian USA- I think they could improve on reaching unsaved people but they sure do a thorough job of discipleship, more than many Baptist churches.

[Phil in CA]

Speaking of "divorc[ing] discipleship from evangelism"... nearly 1 in 3 adults are/were divorced [Barna, 2004]. SBC missional efforts are pointless given their vociferous and rabid commitment to the 2nd class status of that 1/3rd of the population. They can't be pastors, elders, or even missionaries (the great commission must be carried out unofficially by such pariahs). Recently, the SBC missions extended the ban to missionaries who have never been divorced themselves but chose to marry a spouse that is, or ever was, divorced. So while the world has "no fault" divorce, so does SBC: the circumstances of the divorce, whether or not they were unwillingly divorced, or even if the divorce occurred prior to becoming a Christian, makes no difference in their fault-finding shame-a-thon --- lifetime ban is lifetime ban for both spouses. An abused and abandoned single mom has no hope of finding a loving husband in the SBC, unless she finds a man willing to live as "pew warmer" status for life. While God is busy imputing righteousness, the SBC is imputing shame on the redeemed. Needless to say, the message of a Redeemer who sanctifies His bride with His perfect righteousness is lost in the face of such elitism. No missional effort ever will experience success or the blessing of a Holy God who is divorced God [Jer. 3:8]. Talk of a renewed commitment to being even more "rabid" just don't give me much hope either.