False Choices and the Gospel

Evangelicals are big on evangelism. I am an Evangelical – and realise the importance and seriousness of The Great Commission. In fact, Jesus’ last words in Matthew’s gospel are a command to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

There can be no doubt that there is no other name than Jesus by which people can be saved – and that we should make every effort to proclaim Christ to the nations. That much is clear.

But we like to prioritise. We like to order things. And therefore we’re always tempted to say that something is more important than something else. Clearly there are times when we need to work out God’s plan for our lives individually, which will involved personal prioritisation. It’s good to ask ‘How can I best serve God now?’ I constantly have to make decisions about whether I spend an evening with alone with my wife encouraging her and building up our marriage (a good thing); or whether I spend it with Church family, encouraging them and building up the body of Christ (a good thing); or whether I spend it with my non-Christian friends, sharing my life with them so that I can tell them about Christ (a good thing); or whether I catch up on some work so that I can honour my employer by having work ready when I said I would (a good thing). To say one is more important than the other, when they are all good, is not necessarily a question that’s helpful or relevant.

It’s also good to ask ‘How can I best serve God with my life vocationally?’ Do I serve God in full-time paid ministry (a good thing); of do I find a well-paid job that allows me a great deal of time of ministry (a good thing – and nice work if you can get it); or do I do a demanding job that has is hard work, but of benefit to society generally (a good thing)?

In making that decision, I bring into play many factors – because there are multiple authorities in my life, all under God. According to 1 Peter 2:17 I must “Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honour the king.” And elsewhere in scripture, I am commanded to love my wife sacrificially and provide for my family.

There are other decisions we have to make – about who we marry, if we marry, where we live, how we chose a church, where we send our kids to school – and not one single decision is made based on one single criterion. It is therefore unhelpful to promote an either/or one-size-fits-all style of theology. This is not to deny the importance of clarity, consistency and faithfulness to scripture. I’m talking about establishing dichotomies from scripture that are false ones.

The classic example is the social action/evangelism debate. Is it a helpful question to ask? Yes, but only occasionally. If I am a Church pastor/elder and I need to decide how to allocate the church’s resources of time, money and energy, then yes, it is a helpful question to consider. But again, the question itself can be defective if we ask it in the wrong way. For example “Which is better? Evangelism or Social Action.” Not helpful. You might as well as “Which car is better? A Renault Espace or Maclaren F1?” I would argue that an Espace is more use for the school run. And the Maclaren better for a drive in the country. That said, the F1 doesn’t have a radio – so I couldn’t listen the cricket as I drove. Asking such a polarised theological question is dangerous because you may be forcing yourself to say something that scripture does not require you to say. Like “Who is greater? The Father or the Son?” What kind of a question is that?

As Evangelicals, we are rightly keen to serve God and obey the Great Commission. But we often back ourselves into theological corners, where we find some rope, which when then tangle ourselves up in. Someone arrives with scissors, we’re don’t want to cut the rope, but then realise we’ve taken the metaphor too far.

So, if I am a Church paster or elder, when would I be tempted to ask a question like “Which is better? Evangelism or Social Action?” When considering my church’s future and potential ministry. Even in this context, it can be an unhelpful non-question because there is a very strong Christ-centred mandate for serving the poor and oppressed. So what would be a better question to ask? “How can our church best serve our community over the next three to five years?” More helpful. And there will be numerous factors that will aid that decision – such as “What does our community need?” (the gospel, care for the elderly, or drug-dependent, relief for exploited women, eg prostitutes) “What are the gifts of the people in the church?” (evangelism, financial advice, social work qualifications, etc…) and “What kind of ministry is sustainable over a three to five year period?” etc. Then I have to make that tough decision. But it is not choosing between ‘Evangelism and Social Action on the grounds of which is better.’

This is all preamble to a question I heard posed the other day which set evangelism against secular work. Which is it better to do? I felt it posed an unnecessary dichotomy between the two and created a theology that was, at best, unhelpful. And whilst individuals need to choose whether to serve God in the secular work place or in full-time ministry – and many don’t consider this out of laziness, fear or lack of confidence – I don’t believe we are required to make general statements about the relative, or even absolute, merits of evangelism and work.

I recently listened to a podcast by Dick Staub from the Kindlings Muse. It was part of a wider discussion about Christian art and creativity, but the point still stands. He suggested that we evangelicals like to start our theology at Genesis 3 with the Fall. This partly ties in with an earlier blog about TULIP and five points of Calvinism. I realise now that it was in direct response a five-point Arminian confession. In my opinion, Arminianism is a man-centred theology which is why Total Depravity came first on the list. This is not something that Calvin himself would have begun with. And he didn’t in his institutes (I’m told). Man’s sin is not the most important thing in the universe – which is why ‘Forgive us our sins’ comes some way down in the Lord’s Prayer.

My point is this. The Bible starts with Genesis 1. Creation. And the first command to man is "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." This is a command about work, dominion, government and stewardship. Here’s the million dollar question: “Is this command now secondary to the Great Commission?” I would argue that is an unhelpful question. Firstly, it sets the persons of the Godhead against each other. And secondly, we do not need to ask it in those terms. Both are explicit divine commands. Do we take the second as more authoritative – as Muslims do with the sayings of Muhammed? Certainly we interpret the Old Testament by the new, but is the first command to man in Genesis 1 superceded. Or even fulfilled?

God, by His Spirit, through His Word, will enable us to make short-term and long-term decision (if we ask Him) about whether it is right for me to stay in the work place or be a full-time evangelist, assuming I have the skills to do both. I will make that decision on the basis of many questions, considering different authorities in my life – family, church, state – all under God, the supreme and ultimate authority.

Work is good. Evangelism is good. Is one better than the other? Do we need to ask that question so starkly and in such isolation? And do we need to answer it so certainly and publicly? I’m not sure we do.

I fear, however, when we do ask such a question, and decide to answer it, for whatever reason, we will pick evangelism. But work is not less good – and I think evangelicals (who popularised the Protestant work ethic) have allowed work to be considered as less good. “Work is good” some say, “because it enables people to provide for their families. And meet non-Christians so they can tell them the gospel. And earn money to give to then church.” These are good and beneficial results of work. But the Bible says that work is good in itself, not just because of its benefits. This is something I propose to look at in the next blog.