Here are some of the problems with mass evangelism (as I have seen it) (there are of course also many benefits):
1. We do not build long-term relationships with those we evangelize–the evangelist is the guy who blows into town, hands out tracts, through the force of his wonderful personality sees lots of fruit, and then blows out. “Have tract, will travel.” (or, “have film, will travel.”)
2. We do not answer questions that come up many days down the road & threaten to steal the seed
3. We do not pray with people when they face problems and temptations that threaten to bake the seed
4. We do not disciple them to follow Jesus, only to answer one question (“do you accept Christ”) in the way that is expected (“yes”) without knowing what it means
5. We do not teach them to be disciple makers, because only people with our skills could really present the gospel in the right way
6. We are susceptible to pride (look at my big mass crusade ministry) rather than lifting others up
7. We are not accountable for our evangelism methods (he didn’t accept it, it can’t be how I presented it, after all I have these tracts…)
8. We are not accountable for preparing the soil for the planting of the seed (a long-term process of relationship)
9. When we have reached everyone around us (I use the term loosely) we are not willing to pick up and move and go somewhere else and live there long term and build relationships
10. We are not willing to have our life be as much a witness as our words and our printed literature
11. We would prefer to send a friend to a nicely reasoned tract or website rather than try to explain it ourselves–lazy thinking, inability to communicate, unwilling to make mistakes–pride?
12. We aim for as much fruit as possible in as short a time as possible but neglect what happens after the fruit is harvested. If it sits too long it goes bad, and has to be thrown in the garbage. What’s the point? It’s just putting more ministry work on local pastors – without giving any help.
13. We mostly aim where the fruit is easy – at people who are apathetic Christians or people in a church that they aren’t happy with. We aren’t seeing significant work among non-Christians.
14. We do nothing about the problem of defections from the church.
Can you add more? Really, these aren’t problems with mass evangelism – they are problems with us, right?
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So how can we fix it?
Better organization? Better follow-up? Better relationship building with local churches?
I too have had lots of experience in this style of evangelism, and likewise observed many of these same challenges.
Here is what I do
Where possible, I ask the mobile evangelist to make connections to a local church.
As a church planter who works with mission teams, we stress that mission teams work with the local church so that the local church can make contact. It is the local church’s (or a group of churches) ministry, the evangelist works alongside.
Chris
EvangelismCoach.org
well, those are indeed problems. what exactly would you consider adding 3000 to the church in one day with only 11 guys to lead them and then a few days later 5000 are added- both mass evangelism scenarios…
That is a good point. On the other hand those are successful examples of a mass turning in the context of people who lived long term in the location. It’s not like Peter came to town and held a crusade
though there are times when that’s good and works …
The article entitled “The problem with mass evangelism”, though well-intentioned, immediately begins with a negative view of an evangelist. “Blows in” and “blows out” of town. The scriptural view of an evangelist from Ephesians 4 shows a leader focused on equipping others for the work of ministry, contributing to long term discipleship and maturing of the church. While a true, Biblical evangelist proclaims the good news, he is also responsible to maintain a fatherly view of caring about the health of new believers and contributing to the process.
In point #4 it states, “We do not disciple them to follow Jesus, only to answer one question (“do you accept Christ”) in the way that is expected (“yes”) without knowing what it means”. Why is this article focused on a non-biblical model for evangelists and writing as though all evangelists fit that mold? I believe this assumption undermines the fostering of healthy body ministry and cooperation amongst “five-fold” leadership, and the body of Christ in general to get the job done properly. The body of Christ should be trained to cooperate with the leadership of healthy evangelists, not undermine their God-ordained function.
People who accept a “yes” answer from crowds of people who have no idea what it means, and then claim eternal fruit has been reaped for the kingdom, are either not real evangelists according to the Biblical model, or they are irresponsible evangelists who need to raise the standard of their ministry.
Was Peter susceptible to pride on the day of Pentecost when a large crowd gathered? Of course he was, but God has established preaching as a prime way to communicate the gospel, and the Book of Acts is full of examples of crowds gathering, in the context of the miraculous power of God, creating the opportunity for preaching the good news. An evangelist, or any minister, must resist the temptation toward pride, but that does not mean we throw out the Biblical model of mass evangelism for presenting the gospel.
Regarding the article, I can go on and on, but you get the point. Why lump all mass evangelism into the pot of irresponsibility, as if the model is flawed and the venue of mass evangelism is flat out irresponsible? There are many examples of evangelists who are preaching a responsible, clear message to the masses, and responsibly coordinating for long term maturing of the fruit.
I share your view that evangelists who function according the way you describe evangelists are functioning in an unhealthy, inefficient way that is spinning the wheels of productive use of kingdom resources. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater, shall we?
I suggest that healthy evangelists exist today who intercede for a people the Holy Spirit leads them to pray for, creates a strong “net” to follow-up with those people after presenting the clear gospel to them in a way that they understand, and have a cry in their heart for the long term health and growth of these new believers. I suggest we applaud these servants who are risking life and limb to present the gospel where God opens doors to the masses, and support them in their efforts by praying, giving finances and contributing gifting to help disciple the harvest. An evangelist can preach to the masses in the midst of a team of people, some of which are assigned to live long term amongst the new believers. This model is healthy, and is functioning well is many places as we speak.
This response is respectfully submitted and welcomes spirited discussion.
Excellent, Bryan! I agree with you about healthy evangelism. Perhaps I should have titled the post “the problem with unhealthy mass evangelism”! On the other hand, I would submit that evangelists who operate in a healthy way – who pray for and create strong follow-up networks – are not operating in a “mass evangelism” mode? (or at least an unhealthy mass evangelism mode!) There are people who architect large mass evangelism PROGRAMS–but they aren’t really mass evangelists, they are program administrators. The people who *do* the evangelism in these programs typically do not operate in a mass mode. If you’re creating strong followup networks it follows that you probably *aren’t* trying to evangelize thousands upon thousands of people, right? Certainly not every evangelist fits this mold. Probably not even most.
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