Leadership

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO SOUL WINNING EVANGELISM?

by Henry Jaegers
06/15/17
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WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO

SOUL WINNING EVANGELISM?

As I read and study the call of Jeremiah the prophet, I somehow identify with the fact that God’s plan has been set in place long before we were ever born. At least I feel that way about my own conversion. I was brought up in a home that was not Christian and although, due to the death of my younger brother, my mother began to take life more seriously; she made certain that somehow, we got to church to learn about God. My aunt, who was a Salvation Army officer and my mother’s other siblings, considered themselves to be “Salvationists”.

At a rather young age, I gained some exposure to the preaching of the gospel through the ministry of the camps and meetings of the Salvation Army. I recall during those camp sessions, hearing the gospel many times, and I remember at a young age, perhaps eight or ten years old, walking the aisles with tears in my eyes to receive the Savior. Perhaps that was the first time that salvation occurred. There were other times, at the same type of Meetings that I went forward, repeatedly, not knowing that salvation did not need to be repeated. So, for years, when people asked me if I was a Christian, I really did not know what to say. I remember praying the sinner’s prayer many times, but I never really knew for certain that I was a Christian.

During my last year of high school, as I was watching a TV program, I heard the testimony of a soldier whose life was spared because he had a Bible in his left-hand pocket, that stopped a bullet. As I heard that, I thought it was a good idea, so when I joined the service the first thing that I did was to purchase a small pocket Bible. I didn’t know or even intend to ever read it. But one day while I was alone in the barracks, I picked up the Bible for the first time and did not know where to start to read. As I thumbed through its pages the book of Revelation caught my interest. As I read through the second and third chapters, the words, “I know thy works, I have not found them perfect for me” thundered through my mind. I became aware for the first time in my life that God knew all about the sham and the hypocrisy that no one else knew about. When I came to chapter 3 verse 20, the words spoke to my heart

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 Perhaps during those early years of my life, I had heard them, but this day they were not just words, but the words from God saying, “Behold I stand at the door and knock.”  As I reflected upon those words, tears filled my eyes and I cried out to God that I wanted to open the door but didn’t know how. I tried to find someone to help me and then I remembered a faithful Christian reading his Bible while having his lunch. I thank God for men like Frosty Bowers who was always faithful. I found him and immediately told him what was going on in my heart. What a great joy that was for him that day, to lead someone to Jesus who, unknown to him, would someday try to be the kind of soul winner that he was. I soon found fellow Christians who were concerned about their unsaved buddies, and they became my friends.

 I recall one of them, who shortly after I became his friend, was shipped out overseas. But just before, we prayed for unsaved friends and talked about starting a Serviceman’s for Christ Fellowship. We talked about having a great Crusade and envisioned these unsaved friends being at this crusade singing, “Oh how I love Jesus” with tears in their eyes.  I thought of some of these unsaved friends being there and it excited my heart that maybe that would happen.

It didn’t happen because my friend left and no one else had the vision. I joined myself to a local Southern Baptist Church with people who were so passionate about lost people. They were like Frosty, (the man who led me to Christ). The whole congregation shared this passion for lost souls and the pastor was equally so. Every Sunday whether in the morning or evening, people walked the aisle for salvation and some of my unsaved and backslidden friends came to church with me and they walked as well.  What a thrilling, wonderful time in my life that was.  I was just a young Christian, but it was nice to know there were others who were role models to me of what a Christian ought to be. I thought from that experience that all Christians were so. All the Christians I knew appeared to have that concern for the salvation of the lost (except for the backslidden ones). I wanted to serve the Lord in a greater capacity, thinking perhaps of missionary service.

I left the service early (because studying for the ministry allowed me to leave early after I had served three years.). I attended a Christian college, all excited to learn how to be more effective in sharing the gospel with others. After being in college for a short while, I was amazed to find out that the teachers, as well as the rest of the student body, seemed to forget that there were unsaved people who needed to hear the good news of salvation. There were none of that soul winning Christians like the ones that I knew in my church. Those who were earnest and sincere were looked upon as religious fanatics and people to be avoided. So, in the 1960s, I discovered to my amazement that not all Christians were interested in lost souls and very few if any were soul winners.

There is no doubt in my mind, that God was directing my life.  While I was attending that school, I heard of another school up in Alberta, Canada started by a man by the name of L.E. Maxwell. The name of the school was Prairie Bible Institute.  I dropped out of college, saved my money and through the provision of the Lord, could attend a school that was serious about God’s salvation and missions. I attended Prairie for four years, having been taught by some of the godliest men I have ever met in my life and the staff members that help to run that school was equally so. I had the opportunity for two years to serve on staff there. After four years, I graduated and was debt-free. I started out with a top-notch Bible education equal to none, given to me by a school truly raised up by God to reach the world for Christ.

But back to the question what has happened? Where are the soul winners and, why is it so hard to find them? I attended a church during the summer one year and when I went to the prayer meeting, I asked them to pray for some of my fellow workers who were without Christ. Even the pastor himself seemed to be somewhat taken back at my request. The pastor surprisingly said to me, “you’re a soul winner!”. I said to him why is that so unusual? Isn’t that what we’re supposed to be?

A few years ago, I was speaking to a pastor friend of mine and I asked him if he remembered the time when souls were saved in the church and people were eager to share their faith with others? His reply stunned me for a moment when he said: “no, I don't remember such a time”. Since he is quite a few years younger than me, a lot has changed since the time I first became a Christian. Today the emphasis seems to be on growing larger churches rather than soul-winning churches. The argument is that if you get them into the church, they can hear the gospel message and be saved that way. The problem with that thinking is that very often the pastor himself is not evangelistic and never preaches messages that could bring conviction and conversion. So, the argument doesn't hold that if you get them into the church they'll be under the sound of the gospel. The emphasis in the modern church is to appeal to the unsaved community by presenting to them a gospel that is more palatable for them. There is usually a great emphasis on music, plays, and dancing. The idea is to present an atmosphere that appeals to the man without Christ. In a sense, it is a form of compromise. It is true by appealing to more young people, that the churches become larger.

I have heard it said by many that the people who once supported the church and kept it going have left and the young people who have taken over have no jobs or sense of responsibility for maintaining the church. The pews are filled but the coffers are empty and there is no money to pay the bills or to keep up the elaborate programs. This is not the method that Jesus taught to help the church grow. A healthy church can only be healthy when there are healthy Christians who are active and passionate about this business of winning souls.

The death of soul winning has occurred. I know from my own experience that it was already taking place in the 1960s and unfortunately, the Christian colleges could not stop the sickness because they were part of it. As I studied the history of revival and evangelism, in the 1800s during the time of the Civil War and after, America experienced great revivals, as well as England and other European nations. Through the work of Charles Finney, D.L, Moody, Wesley, George Whitfield, Spurgeon and others, mighty revivals began to break out. Souls were being saved and multiplied.

Those saved souls were out winning other souls during this time and this awakening affected all the society. It is like the day of Pentecost when the first revival occurred. Some say during that time, the apostles turned the world upside down, but I like the way D. James Kennedy said, “what really happened was that the world was turned right-side-up.”  I agree.  Evangelism from the outset was the plan of Christ. He told his disciples to go into all the world, teach, instruct and cause men to understand the good news of eternal life. Salvation and soul winning were never just an added element to the Christian life; it was the whole purpose for which Jesus came and died, and is the purpose for which the disciples laid down their lives in martyrdom. Soul winning was not absent from the early church and neither has it been absent throughout the ages. But I have experienced and am absolutely convinced that only spirit filled men can be soul winners or have the desire to be so. Jesus said in Acts 1:8 that “ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me.” The purpose of the Holy Spirit was to empower and to equip the Christians to be successful soul winners.

One of the great evangelists during the 1800s was a man named Gypsy Smith. Like me, he started out with the Salvation Army but felt that he needed to expand his ministry to other groups as well, so he became very popular as a great evangelist during this time. I recall reading one of his sermons that I never forgot called “fishing for men.” I remember him saying clearly, Jesus said, “follow me and I will make you fishers of men,” he also stated that if you’re not fishing for men you are not following Jesus. Because I have a passion for soul winning I agree with him. The Salvation Army officers used to be great evangelists but over the years their ministries have become so overpowered by social work that evangelism is not what it used to be. It has not helped either for them to be Arminian in their teaching, that you need to get saved repeatedly. That leaves people in doubt as to whether they are saved at all. If you live in that kind of state, you’d never make much progress beyond salvation. Although there may be some exceptions, and I thank God for the place the Salvation Army had in the sowing the seed of God’s word in my heart, their lack of emphasis on eternal security leaves much to be desired today. Its founder, William Booth, had the right idea when he said that he wished that all Salvation Army leaders should spend five minutes over Hell as part of their qualifications for ministry.

One of my favorite teachers, who lived in the 1800s, and whose ministry extended into the 1900s, was Dr. D, Martyn Lloyd-Jones. He wrote some wonderful books and had a great ministry in his teaching. He said the problem with modern day Christians is the problem of superficiality. So, what is superficiality you ask? It is like having a serious infection and putting a Band-Aid over it to solve the problem. It doesn’t deal with the root but is satisfied with the exterior and what people see. It is not genuine; the infection is still there, it’s just covered up like Adam tried to do with fig leaves. It is superficial, and I believe one of the great reasons for this is the overemphasis of trying to get large numbers of people into the church by making a superficial commitment, which does not change their lives nor produce soul winners.

Once again, the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to empower us to share the gospel with the intent of winning men to Christ. The problem is illustrated several places in the Gospel where Jesus talks about men, taking in the great mass of different kinds of fishes with their nets, and later having to go out and separate them; the good from the bad, the edible from the inedible. Jesus predicted that Christendom would become this way.  As we study the history of the church we found out He was right. We see the growth of Catholicism and many other non-biblical, non-evangelistic groups that call themselves Christian. Christendom and the true church are not the same.

 Emperor Constantine is noted for embracing the Christian church and bringing into it many false ideas, he even practiced and allowed men to rule the church who were not even Christian. The fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy was clearly seen and started during the time of Constantine and snowballed into what it has become today.

 I have seen ministers in churches attempting to teach lessons on soul winning who are not soul winners themselves. I have been in churches where pastors have assigned new pastors the responsibility of teaching the same theory repeatedly, and all that they can teach you is what they have read in someone else’s book. I know of one church that assigns the soul winning instruction to the seminarian (as though that qualified them as soul winners.) If you want a successful soul winning program, give it to those who are concerned about their unsaved friends. I get excited today when I find Christians that are interested in sharing the good news with others. Christians today are satisfied with getting saved with the hopes of receiving a mansion or reward in heaven and that seems to be the extent of their salvation. There is no growth; they don’t pray, they don’t read the Bible; they may memorize some key verses to prove that they are saved, but since when does memorizing Scripture prove salvation? If a man has been genuinely convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit and no longer wants the sin in his life, there will be the desire to share with others.

I remember a time when Christians were motivated to share the good news. When Christians memorize outlines, programs, and systems, it causes evangelism to become mechanical, and people are afraid that in sharing the good news, they may skip some of the outlines. Whenever Christian starts sharing the gospel with planned programs and speeches, everyone can tell that it is canned and programmed, and that alone hinders the spread of the gospel. Does that mean that all evangelistic systems are wrong? Not at all, but what it does show is men, through certain types of education, can learn how to share it without having the experience themselves.

I firmly believe that no pastor or teacher, or anyone else, should be able to teach others unless the message is characterized by their own lifestyle. In other words, “don’t try to teach others to be soul winners if you are not one yourself.”

I have spent sufficient time talking about what I think has happened. Most of this I know is true from what I have experienced over the past 59 years. As the coming of Jesus draws closer, we are told that times are going to get worse. There’s going to be a great falling away from the truth, and lies will abound, causing men to embrace false teachings. If we are not faithful in our relationship with Jesus Christ, not passionate in the desire to see lost men saved, and persistent in this matter of praying, I daresay we will be unprepared for what may come our way. Superficial Christians will not stand when times get tough. It was Matthew Henry that made the statement that if we are not faithful in times of peace, we will be unprepared for the time of tribulation. To those who are trusting in the rapture of the church, I would ask, if Jesus were to come in the next hour will He say, “well done thou good and faithful servant” or will you hear the words spoken to the foolish virgins, “I never knew you.” That is the question that must motivate my life. And so, I find it necessary to keep in mind the importance of soul-winning as a necessary activity as we await the return of Christ.