A Critique of Irresistable Evangelism

One of the required classes in the seminary I attend is Personal Evangelism. This class focuses on an evangelism approach known as "Servant Evangelism." "Servant Evangelism" is a method of evangelism in which Christians go out and serve people with the intention of bringing them to Christ." Servant Evangelism seeks way to "Be the hands and Feet of Jesus" to the world-Ministering to people's physical and felt needs with the intention of bringing them to Christ. It is based on Philippians 2-Christ "took on the form of a servant" and we must do the same. Servant Evangelism is a wonderful way to practically demonstrate the Love of God to a lost and dying world. Examples of Servant Evangelism include things like holding a free car wash, giving away cold water to walkers and runners on a really hot day, or Serving Hot coffee to passers by on a really cold day.
Irresistible Evangelism, written by Steve Sjogren with Dave Ping and Doug Pollack, is basically a treatise on Servant Evangelism.

Theme of Irresistible Evangelism

The Basic Theme of Irresistible Evangelism is this: We, as the body of Christ, must make Him Irresistible to the world around us. As Sjogren writes, "We are writing to people who are obsessed with portraying Christ and his love in ways that are so true and so compelling that they are irresistible. Not only do we believe that making God's message irresistible is possible and practical, we also believe that God has fashioned our hearts to receive his message." (page 12).

Sjogren goes on to say say that servant evangelism is the best and most effective way to make Christ's message Irresistible is through Servant Evangelism.

Strengths of Irresistible Evangelism

Sjogren, Ping and Pollack must be commended on several points. First of all, They are completely right that we should do everything thing we can to draw people to Christ, and serving others is a great way to do it. They should also be commended for pointing out that for the Gospel message to be effective, people have to see it lived out. If People do not see the Gospel lived out, they are much less receptive to hearing the good news of the Gospel. Servant Evangelism is one way to proactively live out the Gospel. Additionally, many of the suggestions they lay out are practical ways that people can demonstrate God's love to those in their communities.

Weaknesses of Irresistible Evangelism

In spite of these commendations, there are several jarring, glaring weaknesses with this book-Bad theology, as well as taking Servant Evangelism WAY too far in the wrong direction.

Bad Theology

1. First of all, the writers imply that every person that is served by Christians eventually will respond positively to the Gospel and place their faith in Christ. In fact, they use the term not-yet-Christians to refer to unbelievers. In their line of thinking, Once we show how cool Jesus is through our acts of Service, they will come to Christ. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Jesus will not always be considered "cool." While everyone responding positively be great, in reality, not all who are ministered to will actually place their faith in Christ. That does not mean that we should stop serving them, but it does mean that we must recognize that people still need to repent of their sins, and make the decision to follow Christ. There are some people that will just refuse to place their faith in Jesus Christ in spite of the love we show them.
2. Secondly, There is no mention of the fact that these "not-yet-Christians" are sinners who will not make it into heaven unless they repent of their sins and turn to Christ. This fact must give followers of Christ the impetus to work as hard as we can to live out and proclaim the Gospel to as many people as we can while we are still here on planet earth.
3. The writers of Irresistible Evangelism complain that traditional evangelism is too focused on warrior themes-"The traditional language of outreach is filled with images of Christians triumphing over the ungodly...Is it any wonder that they are resisting us? (pages 14-15; read the whole section entitled "Deja Vu"). The point is well taken to an extent-"Onward Cristian Soldiers" is probably not the best song to sing at an evangelistic service. However, The authors seems to have forgotten that much of the warrior imagery we use in Christianity is Biblicaly based. Paul talks frequently about being a soldier of Christ and putting on the "armor of God." How do the authors deal with these passages? Secondly, we are, whether we like it or not, in a war against the Evil One, and we MUST fight. Our fight is not against people (See Ephesians 6), but it is still a fight that we must be actively engaged in.
4. The biggest problem with Irresistible Evangelism from a theological standpoint is found near the end of the book. "One reason lots of people stay away from the church is that it's no fun. Too many people think that, when they choose to follow Christ, all of the fun will be over. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, one of our favorite sayings is "Where the Spirit of the lord is, there is fun!" (page 175). The saying at the end of the quote is referred to as "almost Biblical" earlier in the book (page 100). I'm sorry, but "almost Biblical" is non sensical-A statement cannot be partially Biblical and partially not Biblical-it is an either/or proposition. It is either Biblical or it is not. Simple as that. This "almost Biblical" statement (Where the Spirit of the Lord is, There is fun) Is not Biblical. While we should enjoy serving God, There will be suffering in the Christian life-Look at what Jesus said-"In the world you will have trouble" (John 16:31). Jesus, Paul, Peter, and the other early Christians who were tortured to death were not having fun while they were dying-Was the Spirit of God not there? Secondly, The idea that life is all about fun and pleasure is a completely Western philosophy that contradicts Scripture and will not work in places where being a Christian will almost certainly mean persecution and death. When we make Christianity all about having fun, we cheapen the message and end up preaching a lesser Gospel that God intends for us to preach.

Wrong Practices

Servant Evangelism is a great concept and one which more Christians need to be practice. However, Servant Evangelism can be taken WAY To Far. Two Glaring Examples of Servant Evangelism gone wrong, yet are praised in the book, are 1) A Pastor buying alcohol for patrons at a reggae concert, (page 61-63) and 2) Students handing out cigarettes to homeless people. (page 92-93). While the intention of serving people was good and should be commended, the means of service were horrible and ultimately crossed the line between Biblical outreach and Non Biblical methodology. There were and are certainly better ways to minister to people than to give them addictive substances (alcohol and nicotine) that do way more harm than good. For example, the Pastor could have bought food for the people he purchased beer for. The same goes for people handing out cigarettes to homeless people. Buying these people food would have been a much more effective way to share the love of Christ. Handing out Cigarettes only feeds an addiction that God desires to break. Giving them nutritious food serves them much more than feeding their addiction does.

Conclusion

While Sjogren, Ping, and Pollack should be commended for promoting Servant Evangelism, which is Biblical, They take the concept too far into unbiblical territory. That Plus the bad Theological Ground the authors place themselves on, make this a book I would only recommend as an example of servant evangelism gone bad.