EVANGELIZATION

Evangelization “ Mission ”“ Evangelism ” / “ Evangelization ” Roman Catholics (RC) To people who have never been Christian To lapsed “ Christians ” Evangelical Christians (avoid term as too generic) The core part of “ mission, ” i.e., preaching the gospel , widespread Same as evangelism Same as mission Roman Catholics and Ecumenicals in 80 ’ s (avoid term as colonialist) Replace the term “ mission ” as the label for everything the church says or does in the world

Evangelization is best seen as a subset of mission. “Mission denotes the total task God has set the church… Mission is the church sent into the world, to love, to serve, to preach, to teach, to heal, to liberate.” (TM 412) Evangelization

Evangelization is the preaching-teaching part of this. It is “our opening up of the mystery of God’s love to all people inside that mission.” (TM 412, quoting Castro) Evangelization

Since evangelization is basically an announcement (a piece of news) about God’s activity, it is always connected to missio Dei. The newsy nature of the gospel has at least four implications: Evangelization is an announcement

1. Words are required. “This message [of the arriving kingdom and king] is indeed necessary. It is unique. It cannot be replaced [by unexplained deeds] ” (TM 413) Evangelization is an announcement

“Preach always! When necessary use words.” (St. Francis of Assisi)

2. Words must be backed up by lifestyle and action. If the arriving king has no impact on his followers, why should anyone else pay attention to them? If their lives are unchanged (unconverted), how can they call others to “conversion”? Evangelization is an announcement

“The Proclamation of the Word of God has Christian conversion as its aim.” (RM 46)

3. Church membership cannot be the primary aim of the announcement. At its heart, the gospel is news about God’s action and his reign, not his institution. Evangelical leaders and Roman Catholics have often taken the mistaken view that the success of mission correlates directly to church membership growth. Evangelization is an announcement

4. There is no perfect set of words that captures the gospel. “We may never limit the gospel to our understanding of God and of salvation. We can only witness in humble boldness and bold humility to our understanding of that gospel.” (TM 420) Evangelization is an announcement

The gospel is “the announcement of a personal encounter, mediated by the Holy Spirit, with the living Christ, receiving his forgiveness and making a personal acceptance of the call to discipleship” (TM 416) The announcement calls for a personal response

1. “Principalities and powers, governments and nations cannot come to faith – only individuals can.” (TM 416) Making prophetic statements to governments may be mission but it is not evangelization, for evangelization is always addressed to persons. The personal nature of the response has several implications:

2. The personal response cannot stay on the religious surface of a person’s life. It has to penetrate all the way down to the core of a person’s being. It cannot be motivated by social respectability or cultural conformity. It cannot aim “at satisfying rather than transforming people.” The announcement calls for a personal response

3. The personal response is an enlistment of service. “Jesus’ invitation to people to follow him and become his disciples is asking people whom they want to serve. Evangelization is, therefore, a call to service… (it) is calling people to mission.” (TM 418) The announcement calls for a personal response

“Evangelization is always invitation.” (TM 413) It is not a matter of coaxing people or threatening them but, as a matter of common courtesy, joyfully letting them know what is about to happen so they can share in it. The personal response must be free and authentic

Those who decide to welcome the king become part of the church. To disregard the church as some “Christians” were doing in the 1960s is “totally inappropriate. Without the church there can be no evangelism or mission.” (TM 416) The personal response must be free and authentic

The king brings present salvation and the assurance of eternal bliss; “however, if the offer of all this gets center-stage attention in our evangelization, the gospel is degraded to a consumer product. It has to be emphasized that the personal enjoyment of salvation never becomes the central theme in biblical conversion stories… It is not simply to receive life that people are called to become Christians, but rather to give life.” The personal response must be free and authentic

Evangelization is “that dimension and activity of the church’s mission which, by word and deed and in the light of particular conditions and a particular context, offers every person and community, everywhere, a valid opportunity to be directly challenged to a radical reorientation of their lives.” (TM 420) Summary

The reorientation involves such things as: Deliverance from slavery to the world and its powers Embracing Christ as Savior and Lord Becoming a living member of Christ’s community, the church Summary

The reorientation involves such things as: Being enlisted into his service of reconciliation, peace, and justice on earth Being committed to God’s purpose of placing all things under the rule of Christ Summary