The Magic Evangelical Formula

 

The Magic Evangelical Formula

America has had Four Great Awakenings in its history, and I wish fervently that she had a dozen more. The history of Awakenings was a intriguing study for me. Always I found a sleepy nation, hardly doing its evangelical duty and often mired in sin and blindness. The Awakening that God brought would rouse a sleeping church back to life, and a great harvest would ensue.

Dallas Willard points out that evangelicals often pursue vigorously the books that are out there, talking about this spiritual point or that spiritual basis being the one to pursue. But then he laments that seldom are evangelicals reading the Book and following the One whom the Book is talking about. I agree wholeheartedly.

Which leads me to the point of this article; there are many authors out there (of which I am one) who are vying for an audience. Too often, the authors are resorting to their magic formulas of finally reaching the nation for Christ. They say, “Do this faithfully and watch the great results.”  I remember one author, who shall remain nameless, recommending that the church follow his special evangelism technique, and watch the church double. The author was so carried away by his magic formula that he declared his church, following his formula, would double in size the next year, and then double the year following. He then suggested the entire national church could follow his magic formula and would double every year.

Which is enough of “magic formulas”. It takes no great guess to see that I am adamantly against those formulas. Let me try to throw a bucket of cold water on it to try to bring us back to reality. There is no magic formula that will awaken our wayward world. There is no training in apologetics that will win the day. (Of course, we are to seek always to be ready always to answer every man that asks you.)

Consider for a moment the complete arrogance of some of these authors. God himself provided a way of salvation in the person of his Son. What did the world do with the Son? They hung him on a cross; there is no doubt that they would, if they had the opportunity, do the same thing all over again. God did all he could in sending his Son—a Son who warned the world of judgment and was killed for his warnings.

Could anymore have been done? Was there a magic formula waiting to be picked up and used to produce Christians? Or did God really do everything that could be done?

When we try to explain the simple gospel—that Jesus came into the world as God incarnate to die for the sins of the world—the message cannot be changed. There is no magic formula that can be concocted. God did it all in sending Jesus. Thank God that there is nothing more! We have been given it all.

Carrying a simple message to a lost world is the task God has given the church. It remains our responsibility. But should we expect a world who crucified the Savior to welcome our message? I think the closer we are to presenting a clear and true simple message, the closer we become to experiencing the rejection that Christ himself faced.

What is the remedy? It is found, I believe, only in the mind of God. A God who sent our nation four great awakenings—could he not do it again? I was saved as part of that Fourth Great Awakening in 1972. God reached out and saved this poor farm boy sovereignly, amid of thousands of others whom he also brought to himself. And a sleeping national church was invigorated.

We are tasked with telling the simple gospel. It is not beyond our means to do so. Neither do we have to put some special whammy on it to make it more effective. But the world has not changed, neither has it become “better”. We can expect the very same rejection given to our Savior when we tell others of His saving grace.

My hope—and I hope yours as well, is that the Lord may bring a renewed harvest in these dark days. Let us proclaim faithfully—and may He bless the efforts of his feeble servants.

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

John