Engaging Everyone: Making God Known in the World

By Howard A. Snyder and John Carter Adams

(Editor’s note: This article reflects dimensions of evangelism initially introduced in the authors’ previous articles, “Evangelism and God’s Kingdom on Earth” and “Truth, Justice, and the Way of Evangelism.” The Light + Life team encourages you to read those articles before reading this one.)

Conversion evangelism is the fundamental ministry of the church. It must be the daily intentional work of the universal Christian community, rather than the occasional efforts of specialized individuals or organizations. The mission of the church is to lift up Jesus Christ so that the unbelieving world might be convicted of their sins, repent, and receive the abundant life that He alone offers.

As the body of Christ, the church is a manifestation of Jesus’ presence on earth. By spreading the gospel, the church wins people to faith in Christ: to be co-heirs with Him and members of His body. The church, guided and led by the Spirit, therefore occupies the central role in conversion evangelism. It is duty bound to proclaim Jesus Christ, to manifest His truth in all its doings, and to be the community that welcomes and nurtures “those who [are] being saved” (Acts 2:47). More than duty: This is the church’s high privilege, its great opportunity.

Many Christians understand the term “evangelism” to mean only what has been described above — that is, conversion evangelism. Such a perspective is too narrow and fails to grasp the magnitude of the biblical vision.

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“The work of the Holy Spirit is to make Jesus Christ and His kingdom known and visible in the world.”

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A Different Worldview/Story

The Bible presents a picture of reality (worldview) and a narrative (world story) that is distinctly different from all the world’s philosophies, myths, religions, and ideologies. Scripture reveals God’s truth, demonstrated supremely in Jesus Christ and in His reign. So culture evangelism is essential if societies are going to be transformed to reflect the reality of the kingdom of God.

An important aspect of this biblical picture of evangelism is that it engages everyone in the Christian community — every believer and disciple. The priesthood of believers and the diversity of spiritual gifts are key here. Within the church, the Spirit gifts believers to be witnesses and evangelists in different ways. 1 Corinthians 12 thus takes on added meaning. We learn practically that there are “different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work” (1 Corinthians 12:4–6).

The work of the Holy Spirit is to make Jesus Christ and His kingdom known and visible in the world. Holistic mission recognizes this broader biblical understanding of evangelism, and the essential role of God’s particular gifts and callings that Jesus Christ may be exalted and His kingdom made visible.

Since all other alienations flow from our separation from God, reconciliation with God through Jesus by the power of the Spirit is the central truth of the gospel. With the Apostle Paul, we celebrate the good news that God “chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as His children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace that He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us” (Ephesians 1:4-8 NRSV). All this is “to the praise of [God’s] glory” (Ephesians 1:14). Our one overriding need — in fact, the greatest need of all creation — is for people to be reconciled to God.

The good news of Jesus and His kingdom must be lived out and proclaimed “to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15 NRSV), “to every creature” (Colossians 1:23), so that people everywhere may “repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance” (Acts 26:20 NRSV).

Since in Christ God is “reconciling the world to himself” and is “entrusting the message of reconciliation to us” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19 NIV, NRSV), we all are involved in reconciliation, in the restoration of community, and in the healing of creation. Through Jesus Christ, God “was pleased to reconcile to himself all things [not just some things], whether on earth or in heaven [not just one or the other], by making peace through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20 NRSV). And so Christian community in some sense involves “all things in heaven and on earth” (Ephesians 1:10).

Since this is the central fact of the gospel, it is the center (though not the circumference) of the church’s mission. It is also the springboard, and it empowers the church to continue in the reconciliation process with God in the continuation of His reconciliation acts for His purposes. This God-ward reconciliation equally involves mission because, having been reconciled to God, we are now entrusted with the “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18).

A Community of Disciples

Discipleship evangelism is the internal education or formation program of the church. It is the making of mere members of a congregation into actual disciples of Christ.

After all, Jesus’ commission is to “make disciples … teaching them to obey everything” that He commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). In its broader sense, discipleship evangelism is calling people everywhere to become Jesus’ disciples; in its narrower and more specific sense, it is the building up of the Christian community into the character of and fidelity to Jesus Christ.

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“Jesus Christ made known the kingdom of God, and the people marveled.”

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The true church is a community of disciples, not mere believers. A disciple testifies to authentic belief through active obedience. The church cannot fulfill its outward mission without careful attention to inner discipleship.

The goal of discipleship is the formation of a body whose members look and act like Jesus Christ, showing forth His character in their social context. The church accomplishes this by being a community already reconciled and still reconciling. Its witness is most effective when fruit of reconciliation appears in typically troublesome soil — common socioeconomic divisions between rich and poor, men and women, and people of different racial and ethnic identities.

Discipleship as a process is difficult to define, but its result should be “fullness in Christ.” This fullness, according to Paul, is measured in the “riches of complete understanding” of Christ, the mystery of God (Colossians 2:2). Jesus Christ made known the kingdom of God, and the people marveled: “The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as teachers of the law” (Mark 1:22).

He revealed the profound mysteries of the kingdom to His disciples, and charged them with teaching others all that He had taught them. That responsibility passed from the original Twelve to all who have received the gospel, as Paul wrote to Timothy, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2).

The goal is fullness in Christ:

“So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me. I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other believers who have never met me personally. I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 1:28-2:3 NLT)

“You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. (2 Timothy 2:2 NLT).

According to “Decision to Discipleship,”  2 Corinthians 5:16-6:2 could be rewritten like this:

Disciples of Jesus Christ should be:

Redemptive in Thought

Redemptive in Purpose

for

Redemptive Results.

Evangelism is all about the kingdom of God. It is doctrine, and it is practice.

But it is more than mere proselytizing. It is the church making God and His kingdom known in the world by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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