Jesus worked very closely with His disciples for only a few years. During that time, He said very little about the look of their future ministries and He gave them very little in the way of specific theological detail. What He did provide was a goal.
For example, Jesus made a few comments on divorce and remarriage (Matt. 19) which left the disciples bewildered. Their conclusion was, why bother to get married at all. Obviously, they, along with many others since, missed His meaning. We still fight over that one.
The fact is, there were many points of theology which Jesus did not attempt to address in great detail. But, the one thing Jesus did was give the disciples a target. After His resurrection and before His ascension (a period of forty days), on more than one occasion, He made His expectations very clear. In brief, He said…
- As the Father sent Me (to remit the sins of others), I am sending you to do the same. (John 20:21-23)
- Go and make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:19)
- Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.(Mark 16:15)
- Be witnesses to me everywhere including the uttermost. (Acts 1:8)
These statements are concise, to the point and focus only on one thing, the end result. Jesus gave the first disciples, and us, a very clear objective. The scope of our work is the entire world and the ultimate goal is fruit (souls being saved). Everything we do, even discipleship, is predicated on this outcome.
Any Christian at the start of their walk with Jesus can know exactly what is expected of them. They are to win others to Christ in large numbers (John 15:5 & 8). Some people argue against this idea but for the life of me I can’t figure out why.
There is no rationale for limiting your activity and justifying miniscule results. People who think this way are: small minded, bigoted, self-righteous, fearful, incapable, confused, uninformed, etc., and usually become stodgy, stiff, wooden, dull, boring and irrelevant. Unfortunately, those who bear no fruit resort to finding fault with those who do.
One argument often used against success is “pragmatism.” If someone is getting a large numbers of people saved, the automatic assumption is, they must be doing something wrong. Results are ignored and methods are over analyzed. The unfruitful person, not the Bible, becomes the standard by which all others, particularly those bearing fruit, must be judged.
The “unfruitful” also use “success rate” as a smoke screen. If a program has a large number of professions they question how many of them are genuine. Well, I would rather have twenty-five percent of a large crop than one hundred percent of no crop at all. Twenty-five good professions out of one hundred are better than even one out of only two. No method has a hundred percent success rate.
Anyone who fabricates a spiritual reason to justify very little or no fruit misrepresents the Bible and will still be embarrassed when they get to heaven. Methods don’t go to heaven. Only souls do. If the method you use doesn’t bear fruit, it is your responsibility to keep changing until you find one that does.
The interesting thing about the target statements of Jesus is the complete lack of any strategic content. The outcome is in view not the methodology. Jesus does not tell us how to reach the goal. He apparently assumes we have enough sense to figure out what works and what doesn’t and the initiative to get on the with the job. Jesus wants us to make the gospel known to every person and how we get that done is not an issue.
No, I am not suggesting we do anything immoral to evangelize the world, although, interestingly enough, I know of people who, even though immorally engaged, have witnessed to and won people to Christ. Go figure!
What I am saying is, that apart from immoral methods, evangelism is pretty much an “anything goes” project. Any method you can imagine, you can use. You can be silly, unusual, very different, non-traditional (culturally relevant), entertaining or whatever, but above all you must be effective. Businesses that are ineffective don’t stay in business and churches should be subject to the same rule, although I have known some to die and never know it.
Believe it or not, It’s OK to be shallow. In fact, you must be. Salvation is not complex. The issues are not that difficult to understand. The world is swimming on the surface so don’t fish on the bottom. We are trying to win the lost not impress demagogues. We must meet prospects where they are and give them what they can handle.
If your method works, it is right. If your method doesn’t work, it is wrong. God and the angels in heaven rejoice every time a soul is saved regardless the methodologies used, even if other Christians grumble.
So, get off your pompous posterior and evangelize your community. If possible, join hands with others doing the same. And, since God is not the author of confusion, strategize a little to encourage efficiency.
If at first you don’t succeed keep trying new methods until you do but, please, don’t gravitate to the withdrawn, isolated, holy huddles in which fruitless participants pat each other on the back because they would never stoop to using “ungodly” methods of evangelism. Find the fish and use any method you can to catch them.
If Jesus wasn’t concerned about how many people you bring to salvation He would have said…
“Follow Me and I will make you good teachers of men.”
That ain’t what He said.
THINK!AboutIt
Hi, Ennis
I searched online for bible and pragmatism and came across this. I understand your frustration with people using smug over-analysis of methods, ignoring the need to communicate wisely and effectively and hiding behind “pragmatism” worship as an excuse to not evaluate our performance (sometimes the messenger & delivery IS the problem, not message – sometimes it’s a compromised message that is the problem. To ignore that God condones pragmatism sometimes is an extreme non-biblical position (God has often adjusted his approach to various different ages, the apostles adjusted their message depending on the audience, Paul condoned adjusting his lifestyle in different ways pragmatically so as not to distract from the most important goal – and yes, Mark, Paul did say in 1st Cor.9:19-23, “that I may win more… that I might win those who are…(2x), and “that I may BY ALL MEANS save some” – yes, Paul knows God is the ultimate saver & life-giver, but he knew he had enough of a role to say that “I” may win. So, while pragmatism is not unbiblical, neither should it be the FOUNDATION of all we do – but base our goals & values (these are more clear) and approaches (where we can – not all is clear) on Scripture, and use our new “mind of Christ” and new heart to aid in decisions. Theologically, I don’t see that we are trapped with an “unable to do good or decide well” mind and heart – that’s an unregenerate heart. He’s given us a NEW one, a heart after him, and we have “the mind of Christ” as we are being transformed. In Acts 6, when a problem in the church arose with neglected widows and disputes – they didn’t find a “biblical blueprint” to know what to do, but they made a very pragmatic decision to appoint 7 men to oversee that so they could focus better on their calling and priorities. Good Spirit-guided men, good solution to a problem, moving on. The Lord is still building his church, and giving wisdom by His spirit to make practical decisions as we face new issues. Where there is not specific blueprint, we need to use our God-given & sanctified minds and relationship with the living Head of the church to choose a solution. Here’s a slightly more balanced view of pragmatism than both your posts: https://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/briefing/library/2420/
Hey Don,
Thanks for the visit and the comment. All the best.
Ennis,
Excellent blog!
Don Mingo
I don’t have a problem, per se, with large numbers of people getting saved. However, Christ did teach that the way is narrow and few there be that find it. John taught that the world would hate us, not embrace us. So when I see people boasting of massive numbers of converts, I’m a little suspicious since our message is supposed to be difficult and “foolishness” to the world. As far as rejoicing when people were saved, I’m glad for genuine converts, although when people water down the gospel to make it more palatable, I doubt the conversions.
As far as referencing Jeremiah, I’m not so much using it as a methodological example, just pointing out the fact that with God it’s not all about results. Wasn’t then, isn’t now. Some things don’t change across dispensations (some things do). I’m sure you and I have wildly different views of election and that has contributed to your erroneous thinking here. I think it is our responsibility to preach the gospel that Christ and the apostles gave us, to earnestly contend for it, not to water it down and make it as palatable as possible. The gospel Christ preached was difficult and He said it would be the same for us.
I’ll leave you with Paul’s words on the gospel: “but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. . .” Sounds like he needed a better method.
Do you have a problem if large numbers of people get saved? If people are reached using methods which you believe to be “non-biblical” do you still rejoice for those who get saved?
I was surprised at your reference to the OT and the use of Jeremiah as an appropriate model of ministry for this era. I’m sure you have your reasons but it doesn’t seem to fit with previous discussions we have had. Just an observation not a criticism.
This is so utterly ridiculous its barely worth responding to, but I have a couple minutes so here you go.
First, you’re focusing too much on the Gospels to the exclusion of the rest of the Bible. As if the life and teachings of Christ are the summum bonum of church polity, methodology, or doctrine. The epistles and Old Testament speak to what you’re talking about very clearly, but you’ve totally ignored them.
Second, your ad hominem attacks show your lack of argumentation skills. You label anyone who disagrees with you with the following description: “small minded, bigoted, self-righteous, fearful, incapable, confused, uninformed, etc., and usually become stodgy, stiff, wooden, dull, boring and irrelevant.” These type of insults don’t really foster open dialogue.
Third, the example of Jeremiah is an example of utter failure from your point of view. God set him up as a prophet and told him ahead of time that no one would listen. On your view, Jeremiah should have changed his methodology until he got results. But that’s not what God had ordained.
Fourth, Christ Himself didn’t even do this. People were drawn to His miracles and often believed because of His miracles. And yet, at times we find Him refusing to do miracles for certain people. We find Him escaping great crowds and even instructing people not to tell other people about Him. How does that fit your pragmatic view?
Fifth, Jesus and the apostle Paul make it abundantly clear that salvation is a work of God. It is not up to me to save people. He has ordained that I spread the gospel, but the results are up to Him. I need to be faithful in spreading the gospel, but it is not my job to save people.
Sixth, Paul was anything but shallow in his explication of the gospel. While Jesus’s call may have been more simplistic, it wasn’t simple. It was difficult. Take up your cross. Repent. Forsake all. Eat my flesh and drink my blood. These statements actually turned people away from following Him. Why would He do that if its all about results?
Seventh, and related to six, Christ spoke in parables as He taught. When His disciples asked Him why, He told them that He was hiding the truth from those who would not hear it. Why hide the truth if results are the only thing that matters? Why not dumb it down and perform some more miracles?
Eighth, God doesn’t even work this way. At times in the Old Testament we see God bringing a message of Grace to a people group (Jonah and the Ninevites) wherein they repent and believe. God could have done the same thing for all people groups, yet we see Him pronouncing judgment through Israel (Canaanites) and by His own fiat (Sodom and Gomorrah).
Ninth, God is concerned with more than just results. He is also concerned with holiness. He desires us to be a peculiar people. To not be unequally yolked. And on and on. God does not condone violating Scriptural principles for a greater good. He may use me in that way, but I will answer for my actions.
In conclusion, read the rest of your Bible. Your post on the church had the same problems. You were focused on the life and teachings of Christ and totally ignored the pastoral epistles, or other relevant Scripture.