sep2002

WORLD EVANGELISM
--MISSION IMPOSSIBLE?


	SIX BILLION SOON

The population explosion is making Christianity look ridiculous! How many Christians are there in the world? One large Bible institute says more than 200 million. Suppose it's true. Do you know what the Christian population was in 1830? 200 MILLION! The number hasn't changed in all that time. Yet look what has happened to the world's population. It has exploded! More people are born in ONE HOUR than are brought to Jesus in an entire year!

In 1650 the world population was 1/2 billion. By 1930 it was 2 billion. 1965 brought 3 billion to the earth. 1990 saw 5 1/3 billion, a real explosion.* When Jesus' command is 2500 years old, the population will be more than 6 billion! What does that do to His command to take the Gospel to every creature? (Mk. 16:15).

*Source: World Book 2002


	DOESN'T IT LOOK IMPOSSIBLE?

The Bible says the Gospel "must first be published among all the nations" before the Lord comes again (Mk. 13:10). This bothers many believers. They realize the "go-to-church" method isn't doing the job. Attracting people into a building or stadium, hoping they will hear the Gospel and be saved, doesn't come close to getting the job done. There are more than 300,000 evangelical churches in our country and the nation doesn't know Jesus is alive. If we made that 1 million churches, the results would be no different if we persist in the present methods.


	Even Billy Graham's fine ministry produces only a trickle. If we accept one reliable estimate of his work, he reaches an average of 2000 different people a day. Were God to raise up 500 MORE Billy Grahams, they'd reach 1,000,000 new people daily. At that rate it would take them 10 YEARS to reach the world's population—if the present trend holds.


	That's not God's answer. He wants ALL of His people in action, not just a few professionals. In spite of this dismal state, I believe world evangelism is still possible. I'm convinced the job could be done quickly and easily if we changed our approach and harnessed the POWER OF PRINT.


	THE POWER OF THE PRINTED PAGE


	Did you know the man who invented the printing press was a born-again Christian? The reason God made Johann Gutenberg the "father of modern printing," was because of his vision to reach the world for Jesus. 600 years ago he wrote:

		"God suffers because there are multitudes whom His Word cannot reach. Religious truth is held captive in a small number of manuscripts which guard the treasures. Let us break the seals and give wings to the truth...that it may fly to every soul born into the world!"

God honored his vision. He gave Gutenberg the printing press, and with it the means for fulfilling the Great Commission. Once the Gospel could be reduced to tracts which could be circulated by ordinary Christians, it suddenly had wings. The world could now be reached for Jesus. There's no biblical reason for supposing God's Word is more powerful on a man's lips than on a printed page. Did not God commit the revelation of the Living Word to the written Word? In our day, when people give far more authority to what they read than to what they hear, we have no excuse for not finishing the job. We have both the means and the power.


	Listen to the missionary statesman, Dr. Oswald J. Smith: "After studying the challenge of world evangelism for more than 50 years, I know of no other way to carry out the Lord's command to reach every creature apart from the printed page. There is no other method to compare with it."

Dr. Playfair of the Sudan Interior Mission said, "After much thought, I believe that the influence of our Africa Challenge literature is worth more than 5000 new missionaries sent to Africa!" Now that's some statement. Even the cults have this vision. As I understand it, Jehovah's Witnesses have grown 2000% in the last 25 years and they don't have one full time paid preacher in the entire USA! What they do have is the largest privately owned printing press in the world! Every convert has been won by the printed page. They put their money where it pays off—in literature. And they also know how to get it into the hands of people.


	HOW CAN WE EVANGELIZE THE WORLD?


	By "evangelize" I do NOT mean win souls. The Lord Himself taught that only a FEW would be saved (Matt. 7:13, 14). Therefore "evangelize" cannot mean winning the world. What He wants is for EVERY PERSON TO RECEIVE THE INVITATION TO BE SAVED. What finer way than by giving individuals a PRINTED invitation to Jesus? A Gospel tract can do the job better than 98% of most Christians, for each word is carefully chosen and no one can argue with a piece of paper. Besides, 98% of all Christians are afraid to speak of Jesus to others, or don't know how.

		There's nothing new about using literature to evangelize the world. For years various organizations have sought to flood the world with news of Jesus. The message has been dropped from planes and offered over radio and TV. Evangelists have toured the nations and all sorts of MASS literature programs have been tried—BUT IT'S NOT ENOUGH. As good as these works are, the job isn't being done. Why? Because it takes ALL of God's people to get the job done.


	The Lord made it clear that He wants ALL His people in action—not just a few! He has commissioned every believer as a witness. And now that He has given us the printing press, every believer CAN go into action.

Suppose our churches embraced this vision and supplied their people with the best literature. What would they do with it? Where would they go with it? Ah—that brings us to the crux of the matter. It's one thing to produce good literature, another to get it into the hands of EVERY lost person. There's only one place any believer can go with his literature—into his OWN PRIVATE WORLD! Jesus' command sends each of us into that world of which our HOME is the center.


	He wants us to reach those whose paths we cross in the course of our daily routine. Serving Jesus is a DAILY matter, not a religious outing. Within the routine of daily living, there are those you contact more often and influence better than anyone else. Your private world is your mission station. Johann Gutenberg made it possible for you to reach it. If you don't, no one else will.


	THE CHURCH IS RESPONSIBLE


	To see that the task is properly carried out, the Lord has charged the church with training and equipping each Christian for his own personal ministry (Eph. 4:12). In other words, God has centered the program in the local church. All outside efforts are doomed to frustration. Besides no one has to be a professional. Christianity is a LAY movement. Jesus' disciples were laymen.

All that is needed is for every believer to go into action at his OWN TALENT LEVEL. When the right kind of literature is supplied, ANYONE can witness, educated or uneducated, young or old, mature Christians or babes in Christ. This approach WI LL get the job done. It's God's way. If our 300,000 plus evangelical churches will equip their people and show them HOW to reach their private worlds, the Great Commission will be carried out in a short time. The secret is EASING the people into action. Once that is done, the Holy Spirit will see that their pieces of paper get into the right hands.


		HELP IS AVAILABLE

	Showing God's people HOW to witness with sharp tools is our special calling here at Personal Christianity. For over 50 years the Lord has lead me in developing these skills. We have focused on helping churches get their people into action, for that is the secret. We have the guides and manuals to equip every believer for reaching his private world. We are a ministry of "helps" (1 Cor. 12:28).


	Our Ladder-Method of witnessing, for example, starts off gradually. Those who are too shy to place a tract in someone's hands, are shown all the ways and places they can be left in secret. Then the witness is lifted one rung at a time until he finds the level where he is most comfortable serving the Lord. ANYBODY can learn to reach his private world with this kind of help.


	We have programs for churches that show them HOW to ease their people into action. There are witnessing courses for those who wish to teach themselves. We have guides that fit the church's quarterly program. There's even a correspondence course for those who want me to coach them personally.


	Come quickly, Lord Jesus

Do we mean it when we say, "Come quickly, Lord Jesus?" Then we'd better get serious about the job that has to be done BEFORE HE CAN COME. God's way is the ONLY way. We must press the masses of His soldiers into active duty and arm them with simple techniques for placing the Lord's invitation in people's hands. If we do this, we will hasten the Lord's coming. I'm sure the Holy Spirit will affirm that my word on this is trustworthy.


	Is the task really impossible when you consider that we have the means, the manpower, and the know-how. If our churches will respond to this nudging of the Spirit and give the necessary leadership, the Great Commission could be carried out quickly. Get the masses of God's people into action and world evangelism will no longer be...


	MISSION IMPOSSIBLE!


	<---Click here for information about "The Ladder Method Of Witnessing"

		Click here if you would like to Teach Witnessing in a class setting.---->


	This article is Copyright 2002 by Dr. C. S. Lovett and is found on www.cslovettbooks.com