Posted on 05/05/2018 5:32:23 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
If you are actually reading this — yet another article about evangelism — you must at least have a divinely inspired interest in spreading the gospel. Some of you in your capacity as a church leader also feel an obligation as part of your calling to be obedient to the call to evangelize.
When we say "the biggest myth" we are referring to a phenomenon that has only presented itself to the church of Jesus Christ in the last three or four generations — in the latter half of the 20th century. For almost 2000 years of Christianity from the time of Jesus to the mid-20th century this myth did not exist.
This newly emerged myth is peculiar to the West — North America, Mid & South America, and the European nations. If you are an active Christian or church leader in the West I am almost positive you have bought into this myth. But this myth really doesn't exist among Christians in the rest of the world.
This myth has effectively crippled much evangelism in the West in our time because we actually believe it and operate as if it were true. And it is not.
Anyone in church leadership in the West knows that to a great extent, the growth of active Christians in a Christian community (of whatever sort- big church, little church, home church, store front church, etc) has diminished and flattened out.
The reason is that we in the Western body of Christ have passed a tipping point:
There are now more dropout (or disconnected) believers in society than active Christians!
A dropout believer is one who has willfully disconnected him/herself from any meaningful relationship with the church — the body of Christ.
The milestone 2016 study by the Barna Group in North America has revealed that of all adults over 21, only three in ten are in a church community. Of the other seven not in church, four used to be in church!
The last revealing number in the study is that only three in ten profess no faith or other beliefs (nones).
So, let's first clarify the current state of Western society based on these stark revelations.
Ok — so yeah that's unfortunate — so let's go evangelize! :)
We embark on our favorite "evangelistic thing": Let's invite to church. Or how about a concert. Or walking the streets. Pass out tracts. Pay it forward at Starbucks. Thank visitors who came thru our church. Tent meetings. And on and on.
Hey, there is nothing wrong with the above — all good stuff if you want to sincerely do something; oh, and feel pretty good about it too..
But much of the above is nonproductive in the West because of the big myth.
Now you are ready for the exposure of the big myth.
The myth is that evangelism is simply about the "lost." Now, up until mid-20th century in America this was true. That's because the vast majority of Christians were active to a degree in a church body. And the ones outside fell into the "lost" group. But now, the biggest part of the church body is made up of dropout believers! And now, the "lost" are only the remaining 30% in Barna's study who are indeed without faith in Jesus Christ.
What is the significance of this societal spiritual shift to our evangelism efforts?
Well, if you have ever tried to evangelize (via the methods above — especially church invitations) you have experienced the following responses:
The people whom you are approaching (57% of the time on average) are not "lost."
They are dropout believers.
Dropout believers generally do not respond to evangelism approaches that are divinely effective on unbelievers: a focus on hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
You see, dropout believers have literally "been there done that" and are generally not open to such invitations and methods. "I know the gospel, I know Jesus, I just don't need or want the church."
Whatever the excuse is, it is the result of a stronghold that the enemy has planted in their minds which they believe and operate by. These strongholds keep the dropout believer disconnected from the body of Christ. And these strongholds must be demolished spiritually before a dropout will want to return to the church community. The evangelism outreach methods to the lost generally will not work with dropouts.
Herein lies the myth we are operating under to this day: we assume all outside are lost and evangelize accordingly. We gather and preach the gospel — which impacts only 3 of those seven out of ten not in church today. If we also desire to pursue the remaining 4 of seven — dropout believers — we need to understand the Lord has a divine strategy that is powerful and effective in restoring those to the church. And it's not preaching the gospel to them.
Anyone seriously pursuing evangelism in the 21st century in the Western church should recognize and adopt the biblical strategy that is divinely ordained to restore dropout believers to the church — the body of Christ; as well as pursuing the lost.
You see, in these latter days, just as God desires the unsaved to turn to the kingdom, He desires the dropout believer to return to the kingdom.
Fishers fish for the lost.
Hunters hunt for the dropout believer.
And, Love Never Fails.
Perhaps it would be better to consider that *dropout* believers were never genuine believers in the first place.
The other thing is, and I will probably catch some flack for this, we are not called to evangelize and get people to pray a sinners prayer and then tell them they are saved for doing it.
Jesus told us to *Go and make disciples*.
While some have the gift of evangelism, we are ALL called to make disciples.
Lost means never having been a Christian.
Backsliding means being a Christian who has returned to a sinful lifestyle.
Now, one can argue that someone who does that never was saved in the first place, but that's a different topic.
“There are more dropout Christians today (4 of 7) than there are active Christians (3 of 7)! This means that over 57% of those who profess Christianity are dropouts!”
Bummer, but what did Christians EXPECT, when they sent their kids off to the Christianity-hating public schools?
They got back just what any reasonable person would expect, kids who HATE Christianity.
No surprise here.
I would say, for the most part, that is probably true. I had about a 3 year long wayward dry spell in my Christian life, but I eventually bounced back. Maybe those who never bounce back, were never genuine believers in the first place.
I think maybe there’s no clear line between backsliders and people who have lost their faith entirely. There are different degrees of procrastination in reforming one’s life. Although if you are saved and you willfully reject God, he will do something you will not like at all to bring you back. Not saved in the first place is a whole different thing. Am I making any sense?
That’s why the best remedy for all of it is to convince people that prophecy is being fulfilled in our lifetime. It’s a final call. It is intriguing to almost everyone that present things have been foretold.
“Backsliding means being a Christian who has returned to a sinful lifestyle.”
A problem is many of the active Christians have returned to a more sinful lifestyle than the backsliding Christians.
“The people whom you are approaching (57% of the time on average) are not “lost.” They are dropout believers.”
No, If they believed and repented and wanted the Holy Spirit to transform them, the Holy Spirit would bring them in.
You cannot believe in Jesus and reject the Body of Christ. You might, for a year. I’ve done that. Or you might find yourself living where there are no other believers that you know. That happens.
But to permanently reject associating with the Body of Christ while pretending one is part of it? Not buying what this article is selling!
Saving belief is not believing in the idea of Jesus. The demons know who God is, and tremble. Salvation comes with repentance and submitting yourself to God so He can change you and make you into the person He desires. And that includes, when possible, being part of the church.
I would not be so quick to assume that the dropouts are weak in the faith of were never believers to begin with. I have dropped out because churches cannot satisfy my thirst for more. When the same themes are constantly rehashed to reach the lost, whether it is in the sermon, the music, Sunday School, small groups, or any other activity, it just gets old in a hurry.
Just what is this “more” you can’t find anywhere?
I would guess solid teaching and not just shallow, emotional *worship* services and feel good preaching.
I found the deliverance ministry to be helpful. What if the problem is in the church?
1168: Occult Psychology in the Church
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYnZgZvp_Ys
This is an old vid (about 1980) by Pastor Win Worley, Hegewisch Church, Highland Indiana. Worth viewing.
That wss alluded to a day or so ago in a response to metmom's posting of John MacArthur's 1993meditation "Chosen To Be Sent":
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3652528/posts?page=3#3
George Barna has brought this general failure of churches to their attention more than once, but few will hear, let alone practice the Great Commission (Mt. 28:16-20) as instituted by Jesus The Messiah and Master in and through His selected devotees.
You might want to take note that This subject has been treated, sometimes obtusely:
Gary Derickson and Earl Radmacher, "THE DISCIPLEMAKER: What Matters Most to Jesus." Charis Press, Salem OR (2001) 476 pages
Dennis McCallum and Jessica Lowery, "Organic Disciplemaking: Mentoring Others into Spiritual Maturity and Leadership," Touch Publications, Houston TX (2006) 343 pages
Charley Bing, "Are Disciples Born or Made" (click here" GraceLife, Nov. 2007. 27 pages (PDF)
Jeremy Pryor, "Church-Planting vs. Training Disciples,"(click here) From Eden to Zion blog (2008)
Paul J. Bucknell, "DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING OVERVIEW: Thoughts on Making Disciples and on Christian Spiritual Growth," (click here) Biblical Foundations for Freedom blog
Fred Wittman, "NOTES ON DISCIPLESHIP: The Life That Counts, The Life Of A Disciple," (click here) Happy Heralds, Inc., A comlete system that teaches how to become a discipler by first becoming a disciple supervised by another
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I am not at all ashamed to recruit a disciple from a church assembly that is not doing its duty; not with the idea of being a "sheep-stealer," but with the purpose of seeing that one who is a "convert" has been Spiritually regenerated, then training him/her to be functional as a contributor growing to maturity in the current local assembly of which he/she is a constituent.
The institutional church is not the church. Some groups have higher or lesser proportions of believers who are part of the body of Christ; some have a lot, some have none.
No where in scripture are we told to get people “to come to church.” In the NT, no one anywhere is a member of “a church” - there are only members of the body of Christ - and one is born into that when saved. You cannot join it - you cannot become a member except by spiritual birth.
You cannot leave it any more than you can genetically leave you natural family.
If you are in Christ, walking with God - you will be in active fellowship with other believers who share the same life of Christ that you have, you will love them, lay down your life for them, grow in Christ with them.
That may or may not be in the context of an institutional Church.
Read “Finding Church” and “Beyond Sundays” by Wayne Jacobsen.
“What if the problem is in the church?”
Leave and seek out another. There are places without a solid church. I’ve been in that situation. But it is rare. And those in that situation don’t respond by rejecting going to church as a concept, but by refusing to go to specific churches in that area.
The excuses used in the article are:
I believe in Jesus just not church.
There are too many hypocrites.
They hurt me — never again.
It’s just me and Jesus.
Nature is my church.
Its not a priority.
What those excuses have in common is a belief that the church isn’t necessary or worthwhile, that someone can function as a believer in Christ just fine without ANY church. No one who accepts the Bible as the Word of God can believe that. Far too much of the NT is about the value of hte church and how the church needs to function. There is no scriptural basis for believing the church is worthless.
It is not rare.
The problems, for the most part, are doctrinal issues. The one I have found without doctrinal issues I find, for some reason, an absolute misery to even walk into the building.
I’m a Baptist. It is rare, based on my experiences moving around the country a lot over the last 40+ years of being a Christian.
Not sure what doctrinal issues you are encountering.
Same here, for the most part. IDF.
Not happy with the B churches here. They are almost all using neutered Bibles.
There is one IDF that we have not tried, but the “Hyles-Anderson” influence is a problem. (We attend another HA-influenced one here, when we go.) Also, most Southern Baptist (along with many others) have practicing Freemasons (Luciferians) in authority, and see nothing wrong with this.
So we attend one online. Every Sunday morning, 11am Missouri time, we watch www.pastormikeonline.com
(Bethel Baptist Church, Festus MO, Pastor Mike Hoggard)
Or, on Tues/Th noon-2pm MO time, same address, current events in light of Bible prophecy “The Talk Show Hell Hates”.
These can be accessed on YouTube as well, under Michael Hoggard.
This is in no way the most desirable solution, but it works for now. Much Bible teaching.
“Also, most Southern Baptist (along with many others) have practicing Freemasons (Luciferians) in authority, and see nothing wrong with this.”
Never been in a SBC with Freemasons anywhere. Not in 40 years of roaming.
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