Dan W. Dunn - Offer Them Life: A Life-Based Evangelistic Vision

Premise

L ife may be viewed as one of the primary themes of the Bible, and as such provides a helpful foundation for the theory and practice of evangelism in the U.S. American context.

Joseph Dongell proposes that full life be viewed as the macro rubric of Scripture. God is fundamentally the living God (as distinct from other descriptions, such as holy, powerful, or loving). God is vitally alive, and in Christ, God wishes to share this vital experience of life with all of Gods creation, including human beings.

The nature of the life that Christ offers his followers has vital implications for evangelism. What

I propose that God created the earth, its animal and plant life, and human beings to experience full, vibrant, vital life in relationship with God and one another, and that this experience of life is what God both makes possible and invites us to embrace in following Jesus Christ. This full life that God offers in Christ is the cornerstone of the good news, and offers a valuable foundation for the theory and practice of evangelism.

Two perspectives underlie the current practice of evangelism in the U.S. American context. The first is ones understanding of eternal life. The second is basing evangelism on the concept of kingdom.

First Perspective: Understanding of Eternal Life

An important issue in this discussion is our understanding of eternal life. In common Christian usage, eternal refers to chronological time (forever), so that those who believe in Jesus will live with him throughout eternity after physical death. However, the biblical understanding of eternal life is more than chronological eternity; it also includes a fullness and vitality of life here on this earth. Commenting on Johns use of the Greek word for life ( z e ), one author says that in most cases it states expressly that the follower of Jesus possesses life even in this world. We see, therefore, that the concept of eternal life includes a life-now dimension as well as a life-then dimension.

If life in Christ is understood primarily in terms of where (or if) we will live during chronological eternity, the focus of evangelism leans toward preparation for life after death. One example of this emphasis is found in the ministry of Evangelism Explosion. In the Evangelism Explosion training material, the two diagnostic questions recommended for Christians to use in witnessing focus on whether the non-Christian will go to heaven. The first question is: Have you come to a place in your spiritual life where you know for certain that if you were to die today you would go to heaven, or is that something you would say youre still working on?

This strong emphasis on the everlasting nature of the life that Christ makes possible for us in heaven is an appropriate focus for the theory and practice of evangelism. Christians should be motivated by a strong interest in helping persons live forever with Christ, and ministries that are effective in sharing this dimension of the gospel are to be encouraged. This is especially true of ministries that have a strong follow-up process to help new believers move from the getting-to-heaven focus toward a focus on a thriving life of discipleship. In this regard, one may agree with George Sweazey, who notes that as long as a congregation is effective in helping Christians grow in their experience of the many dimensions of life in Gods grace, they can safely make their first appeal through just one aspect of the gospel.

Evangelism in the U.S. American context, therefore, should not limit itself to the heavenly dimension of the good news of Jesus Christ. This is especially true when one considers that Christian evangelizing must attend to questions and issues that people are actually addressing, rather than those that Christians think they are (or should be) addressing.

Some of the questions we should attend to in evangelistic theory and practice are:

In what ways are people seeking life today?

How much does their battle against death take away from their experience of full life?

If we assume that they are seeking life, do we make a corollary assumption that their daily experience is more akin to death?

If so, who or what are the thieves that are trying to steal and kill and destroy their lives (based on the language of John 10:10)?

Christians, therefore, must continually discern ways of thinking about and practicing evangelism that honor the strong biblical theme that God wants Gods created humanity to experience life fully (abundantly, according to John 10:10), on this earth, prior to physical death.