Methods of Evangelism Paper

Part ONE - Evangelistic Method #1
The Four Spiritual Laws is an intellectual method of evangelism, which, as it’s title suggests, identifies four spiritual laws that direct an individual’s relationship with God. It was created by Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, in 1952. The four laws, as sited on CampusCrusade.com, are: (1) God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life. (2) Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God’s love and plan for his life. (3) Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for man’s sin. Through Him you can know and experience God’s love and plan for your life. (4) We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God’s love and plan for our lives.
An advantage of this method is that it begins with positive note, “God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life,” which may cause non-Christians to be more receptive to the message. Due to the fall and sin, mankind is at variance with God (Ephesians 2:13-16) and there may be a tendency to reject a message concerning God without ever hearing the message. However, starting with such a positive introduction may cause an individual to “lower his guards” so he can hear the Gospel. Another advantage of this approach is that it can be easily communicated in print form and makes for a useful tract, especially considering the positive opening law.
One disadvantage of this method is an increased likelihood that individuals who come to Christ as a result of the Four Spiritual Laws may be disillusioned should they find life’s struggles to exceed their perception of “God’s love and wonderful plan.” Tragedies, job loss, being persecuted for Christianity are challenging life experiences to which Christians can fall victim (John 16:33; 2 Timothy 3:12). For this reason, tactics using some of the benefits of Christianity to draw the unbeliever, while failing to provide a complete assessment of biblical truth, should be used with great caution. Another disadvantage is found in the Second Law. While the Second law declares man to be sinful, it does not convince man of his sin in that, it makes a general statement with which non-Christians may or may not agree. By not doing so, non-Christians may not gain the insight required to understand the depths of sin that “it might become exceeding sinful” (Romans 7:13) and provide a proper response to the Gospel.
Part TWO ­– Evangelistic Method #2
Servant Evangelism is a relational method of evangelism that is deliberate in its efforts to personally meet the needs of the non-Christian, in order to share the Gospel (Evangelism is…p 300). For example, providing daycare services, counsel, tutoring, free bottled water giveaways, etc., are all effective ways to show the love of God through servitude.
There are a number of advantages to this approach. For starters, the varying acts of kindness can aid one in bypassing the mental defenses and win the heart before confronting the mind to present the Gospel (ServantEvangelism.com). Additionally, it requires one to have a humble attitude, which would foster openness towards the notion of God. Yet another advantage is that good works help others recognize God, as found in Matthew 5:16 (KJV) which reads, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
While there are advantages, there are also disadvantages to this approach. One would be the fact that this evangelism method is less direct in presenting the Gospel, as there is no guarantee this indirect message will be conveyed. Further, this approach has disadvantages in that it omits the individual who is not in dire need. Example, a rich, young entrepreneur who loves life and has minimal lack, may never come in contact with the service-based actions. This is critical in light of 2 Peter 3:9, which seems to communicate that God is desirous for all humanity to come to Christ – not merely those who are experiencing emotional, financial, educational and physical lack.
Part THREE – Evangelistic Method #3
The Way of the Master is a “confrontational” method of evangelism made popular by Evangelists Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron of Living Waters. The approach uses the “good person test” and asks “are you a good person?” That question is followed up with a series of questions like, “Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever stolen anything?” The questions correlate to the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-16). After going over the examination using two or three questions according to the Ten Commandments, the person being confronted is reminded of their responses (and the subsequent label that comes with it) and asked whether or not God will find them guilty on the Day of Judgment and whether they would go to Heaven or Hell. Most often, a brief presentation the Gospel message follows with a sincere encouragement to repent and trust the Savior.
An advantage to using this message is that it first uses the Law of God (Ten Commandments) to convince one of the needs for the Savior. Establishing the need in this manner does two things: (1) It provides clarity as to why mankind is guilty before God (Romans 3:23), and (2) it shows humanity, regardless of beliefs, they need a mediator, Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:24).
A disadvantage to using this message is that it can be rather time consuming. Engaging strangers as they are passing by or when individuals are in a hurry (though tracts may counter this disadvantage some) can make such an approach challenging. Another downside is the fact that it can be awkward or rather interrogating when asking a complete stranger a series of questions. Though it does not seem to be inherent in the approach, striking up conversation regarding the news or weather or handing them a tract is encouraged by Living Waters, but this too has the disadvantage of placing some of the conversational control into the hands of the Gospel recipient.
Part FOUR – Application of These Methods to Your Own Life
Of the three aforementioned methods of evangelism, the Servant Evangelism method best suits me. Using the Servant Evangelism approach seems to provide the least amount of confrontation, while providing an avenue to meet the biblical requirement for servant hood. Mark 10:43-44 reads, “But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.” Jesus is the ultimate example of this and it is a privilege to follow in steps of the Master. While Servant Evangelism is my preferred method, it may not have the most universal application in dealing with non-Christian people. ServantEvangelism.com states, “By itself Servant Evangelism is incomplete as an approach to sharing the gospel.” This rings especially true when we consider the various situations of non-Christians that we are trying to reach. For instance, there may not be much time to exercise servant evangelism while someone is dying from a terminal illness and needs the message of salvation directly proclaimed. Further, it can be disheartening when acts of kindness are misconstrued as either general morality or received as having negative ulterior motives. For this reason, there may be occasions where it is better to use the Way of the Master approach, which provides the most biblical representation of God, since there are examples of Jesus doing this with His encounter with the Rich Young Ruler (Luke 18:18-24) and the Apostle Paul doing so on Mars Hill (Acts 17:22-31). While the other methods have their merit, the Servant Evangelism approach seems to have the least threatening and most practical application. References
Authorized King James Version, Thomas Nelson Inc., The Holy Bible

Early, D., & Wheeler, D. (2010). Evangelism Is: How to Share Jesus With Passion and Confidence. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic Publishing Group

Bill and Vonette Bright, founders of Campus Crusade for Christ, International, Campus Crusade for Christ international, http://www.ccci.org/about-us/our-leadership/our-founders/index.htm

Four Spiritual Laws Approach, Campus Crusade for Christ, http://www.campuscrusade.com/fourlawseng.htm

Servant Evangelism Approach, Servant Evangelism, http://www.servantevangelism.com Way of the Master Approach, Living Waters, http://www.livingwaters.com

Way of the Master Approach, Way of the Master, http://www.wayofthemaster.com