The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Panorama City, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from the tape, GC 70-17, titled "Bible Questions and Answers."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE.  Copyright John MacArthur Jr., All Rights Reserved.

Question

You have always taught here that the purpose of the Church was to "equip the saints," yet recently you stated that the main purpose of the Church was to "reach the lost," and if that is true, then why don't we have more emphasis on evangelism here at Grace Community Church?

Answer

The edification of the Church, the building up of the saints is so that they can be more effective in evangelism.  The edification of the saints is not the end, it is the means to the end.  Now evangelism doesn't occur in a vacuum; effective evangelism occurs out of a transformed life.  It is back to that same old idea, that if I am going to make the transforming power of Jesus Christ convincing, I have got to demonstrate how He transformed my life.  Right?  So the most effective evangelistic weapon (apart from just simply speaking the gospel); the most effective evangelistic tool that we have is a transformed life--that is our testimony.  

So the purpose of the Church, then, is to edify the believer; to build him up towards Christ-likeness, so that he manifests the product that he is going to promote.  Nothing is more ineffective in Christian evangelism then somebody proclaiming the transforming gospel of Jesus Christ, and living as if Christ couldn't transform anybody, or hadn't transformed him.  So we are built up in the faith so that our testimony is strong, and that there is credibility in the gospel that we preach: that Jesus Christ indeed can change a life.  

Now, let me tell you something else.  Sometimes we overestimate what is necessary in the specifics of the proclamation.  Sometimes we think, "well. I have never known how to share the gospel, until I finally learned this little formula, this little "DE" [Discipleship Evangelism] formula, or some other formula," when the fact of the matter is, that's not true.  First of all, your transformed life; your mature Christian walk; the evidence of God at work in your life; you spiritual attitude; your love for people; your genuine devotion to Jesus Christ and to the life of the Church, lays a tremendous groundwork with the people that know you, and the simplest word, such as, "Jesus Christ died for me and He changed my life, and He can change your life," is a proclamation of the gospel.  It's a starting proclamation.

I think it is one of the sad realities in the Church, that everybody doesn't know how to present the gospel clearly and fully.  But it is also one of the sad realities of the Church, that we sometimes underestimate the capability that we do have--it may take us a little longer to get to the point, but if you are in Christ, and you know Christ, then you know how you came to know Christ.  You may not be able to say it as well, as if you had been refined and trained to say it, but keep in mind that's really kind of the icing on the top.  Jesus never sat His disciples down and said, "Here is a little tract, and I want you to memorize it."  The Apostle Paul, never any where in the New Testament, in any of his 13 epistles said, "Here is the formula that I want you guys to use.  Here are the five steps to being a Christian."  He doesn't do that either. Rather the whole of the New Testament unfolds the sweeping reality of redemption through Jesus Christ, and we who are saved know why we are saved, and you don't want to underestimate your ability to articulate that.  You may not have it as refined as you would like, but listen carefully--it is not necessarily the refinement or the formula that God uses--it is the truth that He uses.  

Somebody may go out and give a very simple, and maybe not a chronological organized presentation of the gospel, but it hits the good soil and the person is converted.  You can go out and have the slickest memorized presentation of the gospel, and if God isn't working in the heart of that individual, then it's falling on hard ground.  So, don't underestimate that.

Well, I know that is sort of a long answer, but first of all we must build up the saints to make our message credible.  "Let your light so shine before men that they may . . . ."  What? "see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven."  And that's what Paul was doing.  The reason we preach all the time "edification," is because we preach the New Testament, and that's what it is, but the goal of that edification is to build up the saints to proclaim the truth.  I wish more people would get involved in "DE" because I think it is so helpful to have a concise way to articulate the gospel.  But don't underestimate your ability to do that, and realize that the credibility of your life lays the platform on which individual testimony becomes believable.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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Columbus, New Jersey, USA, 08022
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Email: tony@biblebb.com
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