Green, Michael. Evangelism in the Early Church.

Green, Michael. Evangelism in the Early Church. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub, 2004.

Michael Green's book "Evangelism in the Early Church," is a well written and multifaceted study of Christian evangelism in the remarkable period between Apostle Paul and Origen. Green, who is conscious of God's role and wonderful intentions for bringing individuals to Christ, is reluctant in his book to assert negatively that the early church successfully completed its mission[footnoteRef:2]. I agree with the author on that point and the fact that his book empowers the reader with a deep understanding and appreciation for the sophistication and energy that the early church contributed to the task of spreading the gospel of Christ. Green largely cites from quite a number of sources in his book to back his arguments. In fact a minimum of 55 pages of endnotes accompany his work. However, most of this information he derives from works which came into existence in the first two centuries of Christianity. He mainly uses the New Testament in combination with works from the Apologists, Apostolic Fathers, Apocryphal literature, and the likes. Green's writing structure entails first choosing a facet of evangelism, e.g. missionizing among Gentiles, and then proceeding to present approaches or comments that were used with Jesus Christ Himself and recorded in the Gospels. He then moves further to Apostle Paul or his accounts in the book of Acts. And if pertinent, he further considers comments that were made by, Justin, Hermes and Ignatius and the likes. He generally parallels the expansion of Christianity; the comments he makes repeatedly sway from those that were made by Jesus to the various apostles and to Gentile Christians. This gives Green's book an evangelical perspective or quality. In fact the whole of the third chapter, "The Evangel," is composed of New Testament word studies[footnoteRef:3]. [2:

Michael Green, Evangelism in the Early Church, Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub, 2004, 274.] [3:

Douglas, In Green, Michael. Evangelism in the Early Church. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub, 1970, 1]

None of this is to propose a tedious or inflexible model which is built entirely on citations from Jesus, Paul, Clement and so on. In fact several sections of the book draw from quite a number of non-Christian sources. The last chapter of the book, in which Green expounds on how the gospel and faith spread in towns and along the busy roads, is a fine example. Nevertheless, comments from the New Testament dominate Green's work. This leaves the reader with a unique sense of the natural unity between the scriptures and the energy and expansion of the faith that followed[footnoteRef:4]. Evangelism in the Early Church's most convincing challenge comes with its documentation of the ingenuity through which the early Christians delivered the gospel in thought patterns that their neighbors could comprehend. I disagree with the author, that it was the ingenuity of man that catapulted the spread of gospel; rather I think it was the power of the Holy Spirit. [4:

Douglas, In Green, Michael. Evangelism in the Early Church. 2]

However what has changed my perspective for this book is the outstanding manner in which the early church's Christians evangelized to fellow Jews. The fact that Jesus and a handful of disciples managed to transcend both the theology and exegetical conventions of their day, and at the same time preserve Israel's faith as the foundation of Christianity is amazing. For this push by Jesus and his followers to endure resulted into the growth of Christianity into the largest religion in the World, which is a remarkable feat. The same sentiments could be said of the Gentile mission. The early evangelists' readiness to comprehend the thinking of the day and then to package the gospel 'delivery' accordingly, is probably what rescued the Gentile mission from the fate of the Jewish one[footnoteRef:5]. [5:

Douglas, In Green, Michael. Evangelism in the Early Church. 15-16]

Malphurs, Aubrey. Advanced Strategic Planning: A New Model for Church and Ministry Leaders. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Books, 1999.

Malphurs in his work, 'Advanced Strategic Planning', notes how North America, along with much of the rest of the world, is exploding with fast and frightening change. He refers to this as 'megachange'. He further notes that it has affected almost every institution, including governments, businesses, churches, and schools -- and it is occurring across different levels-individual, corporate, and national. I agree with the author that the result of this kind of change is a revolution occurring all around us that is likely to have a huge impact, like any other revolution in the past[footnoteRef:6]. Based on his studies and consultations with churches that have ministries, Malphurs was convinced that the typical church does not fully understand the all the implications of megachange. Even in cases where a church has some understanding of these implications, it does not have any idea of how to respond using effective ministry to the people being affected by this post-modern paradigm. Statistics indicate that the North American church is not in a plateau as many thought but in a decline. I disagree with him that the North American church is on a decline. That it is facing a huge growth challenge. That it has passed through the life cycle hump and is now on a steady downward trend[footnoteRef:7]. [6:

Aubrey Malphurs, Advanced Strategic Planning: A New Model for Church and Ministry Leaders, Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Books, 1999, 7] [7:

Aubrey Malphurs, Advanced Strategic Planning: A New Model for Church and Ministry Leaders, 8]

The sigmoid's curve represents normal development of an individual life cycle and relationships. It also represents the normal development of biological systems, worldviews, civilizations, institutions, and organizations such as the church. In terms of the church, the sigmoid curve basically represents its lifecycle trend. Similar to human beings, churches have lifecycles too. Essentially a church is founded and/or 'born', and it grows over time. In the end it reaches a plateau and then it begins to decline. If no action is taken to stop the decline the church dies. This analogy using the's curve helps show that all good and bad things come to an end. In a world of constant and often turbulent change many organizations and relationships do not last. The trend is that they wax and eventually wane.

What has changed my perspective on his statement that even institutions such as churches will, in due time, plateau and die, is that a church is not a normal institution. Though it physically exists in our world, it supersedes our physical world and is anchored on a spiritual foundation. Thus, the power of God, through the Holy Spirit can sustain churches, since it was God's pledge that His Gospel shall reach all corners of the world. While it is important to study specific factors causing the downward trend in churches, the main point is, it will happen anyway. This was what exactly happened in the spiritually strong, but not so strong early churches in the first century. The S curve thus causes an important point for the North American church to ponder. Malphurs in his work notes that a 21st century church can at least put off or circumvent their eventual death. First, gifted church leaders and denominations ought to start their own new S curves. Secondly, these churches need a strategic planning approach that will enable them to initiate new sigmoid curves. These churches need 21st century thought processes and actions[footnoteRef:8]. [8:

Aubrey Malphurs, Advanced Strategic Planning: A New Model for Church and Ministry Leaders, 10-11]

Reid, Alvin L., Larry S. McDonald, and Matt Queen. A Passion for the Great Commission: Essays in Honor of Alvin L. Reid. Bloomington, IN: Cross Books Publishers, 2013.

In today's environment of a never ending darkness, no challenge is more important than that of Jesus compelling Christians forward to take the good news to all corners of our lost and dying world. This continues to be the purpose and burning passion of professor and evangelist Alvin Reid. This moving festschrift that was written in Reid's honor details and explores subjects that were related to personal ministry, as a motivation to ignite within God's people the duty and responsibility to carry out Christ's great commission. Within 'A Passion for the Great Commission', acclaimed Christian scholars and leaders tackle issues related to the Great Commission's history, strategy, visions, and leadership which have characterized Professors Reid's lifework. I slightly disagree with the authors that this book fully captures the legacy of Reid's lifework, for it fails to capture the souls he ministered to and the way he impacted on individuals' lives. However, I agree with the authors that this collection of writings continues to ignite the flame of conquest for minds and hearts of an unbelieving world. And that the theme of these writings is of critical at this time. The book is divided into four major sections. The first addresses the resurgence of the Great Commission; the second deals with spiritual resurgence in a historical perspective; the third focuses on strategy; and the last addresses the present challenge[footnoteRef:9]. [9:

Alvin Reid, McDonald Larry S, and Queen Matt. A Passion for the Great Commission: Essays in Honor of Alvin L. Reid. Bloomington, IN: Cross Books Publishers, 2013, xvi]

According to Reid, Matt and Larry, individuals participating in the great commission form a critical part of the overall program of the Great Commission. This enabled me to change my perspective since, if evangelizers lose their commitment to integrity they will eventually lose their commitment and dedication to the Great Commission. Put in another way, integrity is the key to doing the work of the Lord. If obedience to the Lord's instructions pertaining evangelism is assumed, evangelism and mission will also likely be ignored[footnoteRef:10]. [10:

Alvin Reid, McDonald Larry S, and Queen Matt. A Passion for the Great Commission: Essays in Honor of Alvin L. Reid 3-5]

Packer, J.I. Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2012.

The mystery and apparent paradox between God's sovereignty and evangelism has been causing confusion and disagreement among Christians since the start of the 20th century. In J.I Parker's 'Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God', he notes that a faulty comprehension of The Bible results in the conclusion that these two doctrines are incompatible. According to the author, there is an erroneous assumption that strong faith in the complete sovereignty of God will support man's responsibility towards evangelism[footnoteRef:11]. I slightly disagree with him on this point. Even as Parker adeptly addresses tricky theological issues with much ease and grace, allowing the reader a deeper and fuller understanding of the paradox and mystery of salvation. And manages to address a key issue of doctrinal truth, and tackles it within the limits of evangelism by describing precisely what evangelism is and is not. Evangelism is often described erroneously, in terms of the effect produced on the hearers, rather than the message delivered to them. This error is remedied when an individual is reminded of their knowledge about the Sovereignty of God. Obviously there is also a negative on the other side, where those individuals are so caught up in their commitment to God's sovereignty that they are heavy footed in obeying and implementing the Lord's command to spread the Gospel. [11:

J. I, Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2012, 14.]

Parker's book is a piece of scriptural and theological reasoning that is aimed at clarifying the link between three realities: the sovereignty of God; Christian's evangelical duty; and man's responsibility. I do agree with the author that there is a widespread suspicion that strong faith in the complete sovereignty of God will undermine any sufficient sense of man's responsibility towards evangelism. This kind of truth is thought of as being dangerous to an individual's spiritual health since it breeds a habit of complacency. Specifically, it is thought to paralyze evangelism by removing the message and motive to evangelize. The supposition appears to be that an individual cannot effectively evangelize, if he or she is not prepared to pretend while evangelizing, that the doctrine of God's sovereignty is not true. Parker's work attempts to make it as clear as possible that this is nonsense. What changed my perspective is that the author shows that far from stopping evangelism, faith and grace in God's government is the only thing that can sustain and improve it. For faith is the only thing that can give us the resilience required, if we were to boldly and persistently evangelize, and not to be daunted by temporary challenges. Evangelism will therefore not be weakened but rather it will be weak and lack a sustaining power without it[footnoteRef:12]. [12:

J. I, Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, 12-14.]

Piper, John, David Mathis, David Platt, Ed Stetzer, Louie Giglio, Michael Oh, and Michael Ramsden. Finish the Mission Bringing the Gospel to the Unreached and Unengaged. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012.

As a prelude to his Great Commission, Christ stated that all the authority on earth and up in heaven has been handed to him (Matt. 28:18). I do agree with the author that having become human and taken our flesh and blood, along with his sacrificial act (Ps. 8:3-8; Heb. 225-10), Jesus Christ now rules over the whole universe, with the very sovereignty of God, enabling the success of Christ's global mission[footnoteRef:13]. Against all doubts that are to the contrary, Christ who is sovereign cannot and will not be stopped in carrying out his promise; that he will build his church and the gates of hell would not be able to prevail against the church (Matt. 16:18). The God-man, who rose and is now reigning, will make good of his promise that his gospel shall be proclaimed to all corners of the globe as a testimony to all countries, and then the end will come (Matt. 24:14). Wielding the unconquerable strength of His divinity, Christ is poised to guarantee the fulfillment of Habakkuk 2:14: that the world will be filled with the glory of God in the same way waters cover the sea[footnoteRef:14]. [13:

John Piper, Mathis David, Platt David, Stetzer Ed, Giglio, Louie, Michael Oh, and Michael Ramsden. Finish the Mission Bringing the Gospel to the Unreached and Unengaged. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012. 13] [14:

John Piper, Mathis David, Platt David, Stetzer Ed, Giglio, Louie, Michael Oh, and Michael Ramsden. Finish the Mission Bringing the Gospel to the Unreached and Unengaged. 14]

I disagreed with the author that global missions are all about this spectacular Jesus, rather I think they are about God and his relationship to man through Jesus. The objective of all global missions is the worship of God by his redeemed people from every tribe and nation. And then my perspective changed when I realized that what is at stake in evangelisms and missions is the universal honor of God in the worldwide glory of his Son Jesus, in the joy all people. Missions are about Christ's global glory. Derived from Latin word Mitto, which means to send-missions represent the sending of Christ's followers into the worldwide harvest of souls of all peoples[footnoteRef:15]. [15:

John Piper, Mathis David, Platt David, Stetzer Ed, Giglio, Louie, Michael Oh, and Michael Ramsden. Finish the Mission Bringing the Gospel to the Unreached and Unengaged. 14-15]

Robinson, Darrell W. Total Church Life: How to Be a First Century Church in a 21st Century World. Nashville, Tenn: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997.

Most preachers want their church to have success in reaching the individuals who live nearby with the gospel. Some churches are able to accomplish this through intermittent revivals and many other planned evangelistic events. However, the number of preachers who are motivating and planning for their congregants to evangelize to the many lost people is in their neighborhoods is even smaller. I agree with the author that consistent success in evangelism in local churches can only be achieved by planning, vision, effective leadership, discipleship, faithful work and ultimately, intercessory prayer. Dr. Darrell Robinson's work, Total Church Life (TCL), delivers in carefully thought-out writing, proven techniques that enable preachers to guide their members in the worship of God, in growing spiritually and finally in building a fellowship that aims to evangelize to the non-believers. Once the Messiah is exalted, saints can then be equipped and the lost can be evangelized to. The pastor and congregants will through reading this work, get to better understand how to come up with a specific strategy for their local church[footnoteRef:16]. The fact that Dr. Robinson's work is based on scripture enables it to easily be transferred across cultures. I slightly disagree with the author on this. For at times when the Gospel is preached to different cultures people feel they are left out and there is need to repackage it and present it in a manner that can suit their context. Furthermore, it must be noted that the work of evangelism is not a preserve of the Western civilization. TCL enables church leaders to come up with a visionary framework that brings about mobilization of God's people for the fulfillment of His purpose. What changed my perspective is that in truth, as the biblical focus of TCL, the work of evangelism is the essence of the Great Commission, and the key to this is the biblical obligation of obedience to God's call for the church to exalt, equip and evangelize. Churches of every size can benefit greatly from this work. Currently, numerous churches face the challenge of staying in business for God, however many churches need to get into business for God. [16:

Darrell Robinson, Total Church Life: How to Be a First Century Church in a 21st Century World. Nashville, Tenn: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997, 29, 81 & 145]

Spurgeon, Charles, H. The Soul-Winner: How to Lead Sinners to the Saviour. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1963.

Charles notes that our main business as Christians is to win souls. Similar to the shoeing-smiths, it is required of us to know many things, however, just as the smith must have knowledge about gorses, and how to make shoes for these animals, so must we as Christians know how to win souls for God. Every employee who is wise, utilizes a tool that is likely to achieve the task that he is doing. There are some artists who have never been known to paint except with their special brush or to play except upon their own violin; God the most-powerful of all workers, in is great artistic task of winning souls, likes to have His own special tools. For example in the Old creation he spoke and it was done and in his new creation, His special and efficient tool is still His powerful word. The Lord speaks through his servants, therefore his servants must be fit tools for Him to use for conveying his word to the minds and souls of men. I disagree with the author on this point, for even us we try to make ourselves "fit," we should rely mostly on God to make the changes in us for only God can make true changes in our hearts. It is said in the scriptures that we should assess ourselves and judge if God will use us; we should imagine ourselves in His place and think of the kind of men you would use if you were in the position of the almighty God[footnoteRef:17]. But even as we do this we should pray and have faith so that we turn into the right kind of men. [17:

Charles Spurgeon, The Soul-Winner: How to Lead Sinners to the Saviour. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1963, 20]

I agree with the author that preachers, evangelists and Christians must have faith about their call to ministry; they must believe without a doubt that they were really chosen by God to be evangelizers in the gospel of Christ. This belief will enable them to preach with confidence and courage. What changed my perspective is that those preachers who do not have this belief will have the sense of being interlopers, they will do nothing significant; they will be diffident, limping and half-apologetic ministers, for whose message nobody will care. Therefore, a preacher should not start to minister until he or she is sufficiently sure that God has called them to minister[footnoteRef:18]. That is he key point one must believe in God almighty and His Gospel if he or she is to be a winner of souls; other things may be omitted but this issue of faith must never be[footnoteRef:19]. [18:

Charles Spurgeon, The Soul-Winner: How to Lead Sinners to the Saviour, 26] [19:

Charles Spurgeon, The Soul-Winner: How to Lead Sinners to the Saviour, 28]

Stetzer, Ed. Subversive Kingdom: Living As Agents of Gospel Transformation. Nashville, Tenn: B & H. Publishers, 2012.

The world is broken in many ways than we care to admit. However for those who believe and know that Christ is coming back to establish a new and ideal order, theirs is not just a world to endure but one to invade. Believers have not just been placed here on earth to merely subsist; instead their purpose is to actively stop the enemy's attempts at burying people in huge burdens of human needs and blinding them in unbelief. God's kingdom changes all that. In numerous ways we as Christians are like citizens of another kingdom. I agree with the author that we live in a world whereby, though ultimately we are under the reign of the sovereign God, the world system temporarily exerts its competing authority that aims to enforce an unrighteous and unjust order on the people it claims to rule. The world's 'illegal rebellion' is not legitimate. It may feel real but it does not change the fact or reality that God is still the ultimate ruler of everything, through Jesus who is still sovereign[footnoteRef:20]. [20:

Ed Stetzer, Subversive Kingdom: Living As Agents of Gospel Transformation. Nashville, Tenn: B & H. Publishers, 2012, 4]

Even though at times we feel unpopular and outnumbered by sticking to our Christian ideals and resisting the widely held opinions of our neighbors and friends, we cannot help but recognize that there is a force that keeps us Christians, from following where the enemy wants to take use. Christians ought not to join this illegitimate rebellion; rather they should live for Christ, in coma to those around them. As Christians we live in loyalty to the very God the world rebels against. We are in rebellion against a rebellion. At first I disagreed with the author that to many individuals, both believers and non-believers, the kingdom of God is a spiritual idea that makes sense only in the context of Bible studies and Sermons but not during regular business hours or on Friday nights when making weekend plans. And if that was what the kingdom was all about (a spiritual theme) then we could have the luxury of keeping it in that churchy distance. However, the kingdom of God is real[footnoteRef:21]. [21:

Ed Stetzer, Subversive Kingdom: Living As Agents of Gospel Transformation, 5]

It has found its way into our space and time and is covertly striving to defeat the darkness of our age. God's Kingdom is basically a fundamental dismissal of each and every point-of-view together with value that keeps individuals in repression to falsehood, blinded to the mercy of Christ Himself. It is a denial to categorize any individual as being far beyond reach or expandable, a reluctance to see any circumstance as something that is impossible to change and infused with hope. It signifies recognizing that while not everything will be created perfectly right on this earth, we are presented with the chances to experience the reality of the Kingdom this week in each Street, neighborhood and all the countries in the universe. God's Kingdom surely lives[footnoteRef:22]. There are others, however, who have chosen to leave out the gospel together with its repercussions in rebellious ways. [22:

Ed Stetzer, Subversive Kingdom: Living As Agents of Gospel Transformation, 8]

What changed my perspective is that there is a reason why all this rebellion is allowed. It is because since the nature of God's Kingdom is to display an irresistible social order and then go further and tell about an irresistible King. We as Christ ambassadors, it is our responsibility to go in places where individuals "out there" do not anticipate to experience grace. We depart from our home court, which is the church and go out there to their home court, which is the world. When they least anticipate it, Jesus turns up in their world and invites them to grow closer to him via our random kindness acts[footnoteRef:23]. [23:

Ed Stetzer, Subversive Kingdom: Living As Agents of Gospel Transformation, 6]

Stetzer, Ed, and David Putman. Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community. Nashville, Tenn: Broadman & Holman, 2006.

Evangelism refers to informing individuals about Jesus; missions' entails understanding them before informing them. Despite of anyone's believe concerning the North-American perspective- greatly reached and unreached, mission field or religious focus, Christian or pagan- we can all accord that great portions of individuals in our society have not been reached. And I agree with the author on this point. Majority of the facets of our way of life have yet to be influenced by the gospel. This will permit each and every of us to be more productive as we join God making in increasing and bettering Christ followers. In addition, what is really required is not just the comprehension of missiological believe but also a dedication to implement "missional" believe too. Missiology concerns itself with the study of missions together with its styles whereas missional believe centers on conducting missions everywhere. It compels us to view our geographical perspective via the lenses of various individual groups, cultural surroundings and population divisions. Simply because a "missional breakthrough" happens in a single location does not imply that it will occur in a similar way elsewhere[footnoteRef:24]. A single size does not specifically fit for all. However, at first I disagreed with the author that there exist some cultural rules that should be destroyed so as to allow all churches to develop and stay useful in their particular mission environments. That destroying the missional rules gives professional insight on the spread of the church's vision and church culture, in addition to the case studies of successful missional churches influencing their societies. [24: