The Ministry of Reconciliation

This may seem obvious to you, but I will ask the question anyway: what is the endpoint of evangelism? I would like to suggest a few possible endpoints to evangelism that seem unBiblical, and then suggest an explanation that better encompasses God’s master plan. The endpoint to evangelism is not growing the church numerically. I am incredibly thankful that when God examines our works at the final judgment, as Paul describes in I Corinthians 3, He will not judge us by the notches in our salvation stick. As easy as it is to get confused, the number of souls saved through our ministry has very little to do with us. God will always provide the increase.

Though a true outcome of salvation involves another soul bound for Heaven, selling “fire insurance” is an unBiblical and hollow way to look at evangelism, as well. Immediately after Jesus’ ascension, some of His followers apparently hoped following Him had gotten that simple, but they were given a gentle hint when the angel asked them in Acts 1:11 what they were doing staring into the sky. I am understating greatly when I say that the Christian just waiting to meet his purpose in Heaven is missing out! The endpoint to effective evangelism is also not (nor should it ever appear to be) easier lives.

This may seem to conflict with my recommendation below, but I hope you will see there is a marked difference between reconciliation and a world or a life being “fixed.” Though I have been walking with Jesus for most of my life, and so do not really know life without Him, I would be hard-pressed to name a way in which He has made my life easier. Instead, I would say He makes my life livable. In responding to critics and skeptics to ridicule the concept of God as a crutch, I would agree with a pastor who said God is not a crutch but a pacemaker.

As an English teacher, I’ve seen plenty of horrible analogies, especially those trying to explain God and His inscrutable purposes. The following illustration, from James Choung’s compelling book True Story: A Christianity Worth Believing In, may not encompass the whole of the mission that Jesus has entrusted to us, but it goes deeper than other similar illustrations and I believe is timeless, though it may especially resonate with my generation. The undertones of social justice may turn some off, but in one of the clearest mission statements in the New Testament besides the Great Commission, II Corinthians 5, Paul makes it clear that the desire of God’s heart is to reconcile the entire world to Himself, and that He has a part for us to play in this redemptive work. The link for the illustration is below.

The starting point in the illustration is labeled “Designed for Good,” most directly referring to God’s good creation. After the fall of man, everything was broken and perverted for the Devil’s purposes, or “Damaged by Evil.” The crooked lines represent the brokenness in our relationship to the physical world, the brokenness in relationships with our fellow man, and the brokenness between us and God. The way that our Savior provided is represented by the two diagonal lines in the center of the illustration pointing toward the realization that we have been “Reclaimed For Better.” The last circle, which may makes us wince if we have experienced the apostasy of social gospel, nonetheless fits into God’s purpose for His kingdom on earth: “Sent Together to Heal.”

As we endeavor to follow our Master together, I exhort you to abandon all fixation on numerical growth, “fire insurance,” and easier lives. Every single one of these pitfalls may result in false converts, disillusioned evangelists, and believers who will neither mature nor experience the divine, abundant adventure for which we were created.