Theological Theology: The local church and evangelism

Back in 1974 Donald Robinson (second from the left in this photograph of the four most recent Archbishops of Sydney) addressed a conference on evangelism with a paper entitled ‘The Doctrine of the Church and its Implications for Evangelism’ (Selected Works, II, 103–113). I was too young at the time to know whether or not it caused a stir among evangelicals in Sydney and elsewhere (though I later learnt there was a subsequent correspondence between Francis Foulkes and Donald Robinson on the subject in the AFES journal Interchange). However I do suspect that its argument, if taken seriously, would certainly cause a stir today. Patterns of thinking and church practice have developed which move in an entirely different direction and I am not at all sure that these have been as well thought-out theologically as Robinson’s article back in the 1970s.

Three years before, Robinson had published a brief piece on ‘The Theology of Evangelism’ (Selected Works, II, 99–102). Here he stressed the necessity of evangelism and the nature of the evangel (‘gospel’: an authoritative proclamation of coming judgement and hope in the salvation of God in Christ addressed to the whole world and demanding the response of repentance and faith). So it was clear that Robinson was committed to evangelism. While he did not believe every Christian is given the gift of evangelism, he insisted that ‘all may have fellowship or partnership with those to whom this ministry has been given’.

As usual, Robinson’s paper on the doctrine of the church and evangelism argued for greater clarity in our thinking and speaking on the subject. It also argued that our language should be disciplined by the language of the New Testament. Not unexpectedly he repeated an insight that had become a theme of his writing: ‘“The church” is not just another word for Christians, or for the people of God. It is quite specifically, the assembly of the people of God. There is high significance in this activity of gathering together, though it is not the whole story of what Christians are or do in the world’ (p. 109). The church is the people of God meeting in the name of Christ and with the promise of his presence in their midst (p. 110). God has always been about gathering his people rather than just dealing with us as isolated individuals. And the purpose of the gathering, the local congregation or church, is that ‘God’s children, ordinarily scattered in the world, might strengthen one another’s hands in the sharing of ministries to their mutual edification, and be renewed and inspired for godly living in their ordinary avocations’ (p. 109).

To read more, click here.