The Very False Dichotomy Between Evangelism and Discipleship

Tell me if you’ve heard this one:

There is no real need to focus on evangelism or outreach. In fact, it’s not healthy. The focus needs to be on feeding the already convinced and, from that feeding, evangelism will naturally take place. The most important thing for a church to do is to focus on the already convinced, and then the already convinced will naturally turn outward and reach out to friends and family members with the message of the gospel. The role of the church is for the care and feeding of Christians. If you target non-Christians for outreach, you will necessarily diminish your responsibility to serve Christians.

It’s a very appealing message to the average Christian. The focus remains firmly on them and their felt needs, which anyone would like. They can be fed and not feed, be served but not serve, embrace the rhetoric of evangelism without its practice or, more importantly, its sacrifice. It’s no wonder it’s where most churches have landed.

So, how is that working for us?

Not very well. The rise of the nones just keep rising. According to a recent Gallup survey, Americans’ membership in houses of worship has continued to decline to such a degree that last year it dropped below 50% for the first time in Gallup’s eight-decade trend. In 2020, 47% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque, down from 50% in 2018 and 70% in 1999. As anyone in the social sciences will tell you, that precipitous of a drop is simply… jaw-dropping. Read More

Reality check: The already convinced do not naturally turn outwards. They hobnob with their Christian friends, cocooned in a Christian bubble. They are uncomfortable around non-Christians and for the most part avoid them.