Ten Sayings of Modern Evangelism to Avoid — E.A. Johnston

The Danger of Counting Decisions as Conversions

I remember sitting at my seminary graduation banquet dinner where students were given testimonials and one evangelist got up on the platform and said, Last week I was holding a crusade and 1 ,100 people got saved and everybody there applauded like crazy except me.

I thought to myself, how in the world can he make a statement like that when he doesn't know for sure if out of those 1 ,100 responses to his invitation, if anybody really got saved at all? All he knows is that he counted numbers and he counted 1 ,100 who responded to his invitation, but we don't know what kind of invitation he even gave, if it was even the true gospel or if it was a half a gospel.

Your typical evangelist is obsessed with numbers and they love to boast how many people they led to the Lord, but I can't find that in my New Testament. I can't find the passage that says Peter stood up at his next meeting and said, I want you to know that just last week on the day of Pentecost, I led 3 ,000 people to Jesus.

No, I don't see that. I can't find a place in my Bible where the Apostle Paul gets up before a crowd and declares, Dear friends, last week I preached a crusade and I led 1 ,000 people to the Lord. I just don't see Peter or Paul or anybody else patting themselves on the back for their evangelistic endeavors in my Bible, but we do.

Waiting for the Evidence of Salvation

During the Great Awakening in 1740, the great British evangelist, George Whitefield, was preaching in Boston when a minister approached him and asked, Mr. Whitefield, how many converts have you had since you've been among us?

To which the great Whitefield replied, I don't know, sir, but I shall return to these parts in a year or two and look for the evidence of their salvation. I believe there is wisdom in that, friends. I'm afraid our brand of modern day evangelism has taken the gospel and reduced it to a simple formula designed to make it easy for folks to respond to a statement or a saying.

Modern evangelism has come up with a plan of salvation that if you follow it, you'll be saved. But preachers back in the days of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield didn't act that way. Rather, they proclaimed the gospel in its full counsel, but their sermons searched the hearts and conscience of their hearers.

They thundered the law about the ears until they saw Sinai altogether on a smoke. They preached up man's duty of repentance and the necessity of regeneration. They didn't have the man-centered evangelistic formulas that we have today that elicit a quick response.

But in the last 60 years in America, modern evangelism has been reduced to a simple formula full of time-worn sayings that get passed on from generation to generation of seminary students as tools for evangelism.

And most of these evangelistic formulas are nothing more than an insurance policy against going to hell because they do not allow the Holy Spirit room to operate in awakening, conviction, repentance, and faith.

They hinder the work of the Holy Spirit in true conversion, and it's high time we get rid of them. If you are a seminary student or a gospel worker, please don't fall into the same trap that most soul winners do by adopting these shop-worn expressions that do no good.

A Personal Warning About False Converts

I know what I'm talking about. I've graduated from two seminaries, and I've gone door-to-door in evangelism for years. I have mistakenly used some of these approaches and sayings myself. I'll never forget the time I was going door-to-door one hot summer evening during the week.

And I saw an ice cream man sitting in his truck, and I approached him and bought an ice cream bar. And I used a couple of these sayings, these shop-worn sayings, and he agreed with what I said. And I told him he was now a Christian.

Then I ran back to the church and bragged to my friends that I led the ice cream man to the Lord, and they all rejoiced and jumped up and down. But all I did, friends, was do that poor sinner harm. I showed him a Jesus before he even knew why he needed a Jesus.

I'm afraid I made my false converts in my time back in my ignorance. But don't you make the same mistakes I did, friend. You can avoid them. My message this evening is entitled, 10 Modern Evangelism Sayings to Avoid.

And we should avoid them like the plague. Before I begin my message this evening, I want to read you a description of modern evangelism written by my good friend William McDonald, who's now in glory. Bill is best known for his Bible commentary, Believer's Bible Commentary, which is a bestseller.

William McDonald's Critique of Simplified Evangelism

He and I often talked about evangelism and discipleship, and he summed up, in my opinion, modern evangelism pretty good. Allow me to read you his observations because they hit the nail on the head. These are his words.

We want to keep the message simple, uncluttered by any suggestion that man can ever earn or deserve eternal life. Justification is by faith alone, apart from the deeds of the law. Therefore, the message is only belief.

From there, the message is reduced to a concise formula. For instance, the evangelistic process is cut down to a few basic questions and answers as follows. Do you believe you are a sinner? Yes. Do you believe Christ died for sinners?

Yes. Will you receive him as your savior? Yes. Then you are saved. I am? Yes. The Bible says you are saved. At first blush, the method and message might seem above criticism. But on closer study, we are forced to have second thoughts and to conclude that the gospel has been oversimplified.

The first flaw is the missing emphasis on repentance. There can be no true conversion without conviction of sin. A second serious omission is a missing emphasis on the Lordship of Christ, Jesus' first Lord, then Savior.

A third defect in the message is the tendency to keep the terms of discipleship hidden until a decision has been made for Jesus. Our Lord never did this. The message he preached included the cross as well as the crown.

The result of all this is that we have people believing without knowing what they believe. In many cases, they have no doctrinal basis for their decision. They do not know the implications of commitment to Christ.

They have never experienced the mysterious, miraculous work of the Holy Spirit and regeneration. Well, friends, I agree with Bill McDonald's sentiments exactly. And I want to go over this evening certain sayings that have become popular in modern evangelism over the last 60 years or so because of their tradition.

They are so fully entrenched in most of our evangelistic appeals. Many pastors and evangelists say them mainly because they've heard some other preachers say them. But I can't find a one of them in my Bible.

They're slick little sayings that make it easy for someone to give a response to. I wish I could place a moratorium on all evangelism in this country until we got it right or right back to the New Testament.

In my message this evening, I have outlined what I feel are the most commonly used expressions or sayings of modern evangelism. And the best thing you can do with them, friend, is to avoid them. I just don't ever say them again.

They are hindrances to the true gospel message. I know I'm going to have a fight on my hands with many evangelists out there with this message. But it's time someone stepped up and said something about these man-centered methodologies used in modern evangelism today.

They rob God of His glory and they do more harm than good. For my message this evening, I've made a list of these ten sayings to avoid. And I will elaborate on each of them as we proceed. Are you ready?

1. Faith Is More Than Trusting a Chair

Get your pen out. Get your paper out. Here is number one. Number one. Put your faith in Jesus, friend. See this chair here? You trust that chair to support you when you sit on it. You have faith that the chair will support you before you sit on it.

That's what faith in Christ is like. Just trust Him like you trust that chair to support you. I've heard some big preachers use this through the years, and it sickens me every time I hear it. That kind of faith is the faith of an atheist.

For an atheist sits on a chair just like you do. He believes it can support him just like you do. He trusts in that chair just like you do. That's not saving faith, friend. Saving faith is something God gives you through grace.

2. The Dead Sinner Cannot Open His Heart

It is not the faith of trusting in a chair. Please, brother evangelist, don't use the chair illustration ever again. You're doing nobody any favors by using it. Number two. Just open your heart to accept Jesus, friend.

Open your heart and let Him in. I get riled up when I hear this one. Listen, friend. A dead man cannot open his heart. A sinner is dead in trespasses and sins. He's got no power to open his heart to Jesus.

It is God who opens the heart of stone and turns it a heart of flesh. He opened the heart of Lydia in the book of Acts. Let me read it to you. And a certain woman named Lydia, a cellar of purple of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened.

I cannot tell the number of times I've heard some seminary trained pastors use that one. Just open your heart, friend, and accept Jesus. Brother pastor, a dead man cannot respond to your simple invitation to open his heart to Christ.

It's like asking a stone to fly through the air. Please avoid that one, friends, as you would avoid a deadly snake, because it takes salvation out of the hands of God and places it in the hands of men.

3. The Sinner's Prayer Is Not a Conversion Formula

Number three. Now, friend, just repeat this prayer. And you will be saved. When in the world did the sinner's prayer become the focus of our evangelism? I can't find anywhere in the Bible where someone was brought to Christ by repeating the sinner's prayer.

The prayers I see in there are like Peter's. Lord, depart from me, for I'm a sinner. And the publican who beat his breast and said, God have mercy on me, a sinner. But both of those are starting points to getting saved, because we cannot be saved until we realize we are a big sinner in need of a savior.

4. Walking an Aisle Does Not Save

Number four. Just walk this aisle, friend, and make it public. Jesus said, if you deny me, I will deny you before my Father. So you must make it public, friend, if you want to be saved. So come down this aisle now and say yes to Jesus.

Listen, friend, no one gets saved by walking an aisle. If the Holy Spirit is applying the gospel to your heart, you can get saved staying in your seat. That evangelist just wants to see how many people are responding to his message so he can brag at his next meeting on how many people he led to the Lord.

Read your Bible, friend. In the book of Acts, on the day of Pentecost, did the apostle Peter say, OK, friends, those of you who want to accept Jesus, just stand up and walk this aisle because you must make it public.

5. Revelation 3:20 and the Self-Satisfied Church

Did he say that? Number five. Using Revelation 320 in evangelistic appeals. How many times have I heard this? I can no longer count, even by good men through the years. First, the evangelist will quote Revelation 320, which states, Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me. Then the evangelist says something like this, Friend, Jesus is standing at the door of your heart.

He is knocking. Won't you let him in? When I hear this, I picture a poor, pitiful Jesus who is so impotent that he can only stand at the door of the sinner's heart like an insurance salesman waiting to come in with his hat in his hand.

And he has to wait until you agree to let him come in. And the text is out of context when we apply it to evangelism because Jesus is not standing outside the door of the sinner's heart. In this passage from Revelation, the Lord of Glory is standing outside the door of a self-satisfied church in need of repentance.

This evangelistic appeal makes Jesus appear like he has no power and it shrinks God down to man size. It removes all the authority of Christ Jesus. Listen, friends, when Christ saves a person, he comes in with power, majesty and authority.

6. “God Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life”

He's not some little old beggar at your door hoping you will let him in. Please, brother evangelist, get rid of this shopworn tool of evangelism for it robs God of his glory. Number six, God has a wonderful plan for your life, friend.

God loves you. He loves you so much. He sent his beloved son into the world to die on a cross for you. Do you believe that? Do you? Then just invite Jesus into your heart right now and you will be saved.

Just accept Jesus. Listen, friends, I don't think we're doing anybody any favors with this. Gospel formula. First, we have so simplified the gospel message to boil it down to a few sentences that only part of the gospel shown.

Besides, when a person comes to Christ, they don't accept Jesus. Rather, they receive a revealed Christ. Never use a formula that makes it easy for a person to accept Jesus. That's one of the best ways to make a false convert who be gospel hard.

And the next time someone comes along with a track and tells him about Jesus, he will say, I've already done that. But where did we get all this nonsense? Anyhow. Number seven, let me read you this first friend for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

7. Believing John 3:16 Is Not the Same as Conversion

Now, friend, do you believe that to be true? Do you? Do you believe that God loves you enough to have his son come down across for you? Do you believe that then you are saved? I believe one of the biggest errors in our churches today is textual decisionists, people who have made a decision to become a Christian based on a text.

They believe John 3, 16 to be true, and they joined the church, but they are still unchanged individuals. They've never been awakened to their lost condition, never convicted of sin, never regenerated by the spirit of God.

We need to be honest with folks. We need to be honest with men and women and boys and girls and warn them about a place of eternal punishment called hell and that God sends the wicked to hell and the wicked are people who die in their sins.

We need to preach the full counsel of God to bring souls to Christ. We need to preach the gospel in its purity and proper order. We need to show man that they are guilty rebels in their ruin and sin. That man drinks iniquity like it's water and that man has a duty of repentance.

We must stress the necessity of regeneration through the new birth. Listen, friends, Jesus placed a great deal of emphasis upon all of these. He said, unless you repent, he shall all likewise perish. He said, marvel not at this.

He must be born again. Jesus warned people about hell where they'll be weeping and gnashing the teeth, where the worm doth not and they'll be cast into outer darkness. But most of us won't mention those things when we witness to folks because we don't like rejection.

But if we take the gospel and water it down a little and make it more appealing, more palatable so people can swallow it, so a sinner can swallow it easier, then more people will accept it. And that's what a lot of us want, numbers, so we can boast at our next meeting how many people got saved last week.

8. A Plan of Salvation Cannot Replace Conviction of Sin

Number eight, I can tell you how to be saved. All you have to do is this. Follow these steps. Follow this plan of salvation laid out in this little booklet here. Stop right there, friend. Never tell a sinner how to be saved before he knows he needs to be saved.

This is the most glaring error in modern evangelism today. We lead folks to Jesus without ever showing them why they need him. We present the remedy for sin without ever showing folks why they need a remedy in the first place.

So they'll casually take your Jesus, accept that tract and make a decision or walk in hell with a silly grin on their face. And there goes another false convert who is also now gospel hardened. And the next time someone tries to witness to them, they'll answer, I'm already a Christian.

9. The Holy Spirit Alone Gives Assurance of Salvation

Number nine, congratulations. You are now saved. I am? Yes, you are now a Christian. Listen, fellow gospel workers, never ever tell a person he is now saved. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. My Bible says, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

My Bible says the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. The great evangelist D .L. Moody knew better than most of us today. Moody would train his workers in the inquiry rooms with the following remarks.

He'd say, dear friends, never tell a person they are saved. That's the job of the Holy Spirit. We should be like Moody in that regard, friends. Please, brother pastor, fellow evangelist, never ever tell someone they are now saved.

10. Believing Facts About Christ Is Not the Same as Believing in Christ

Let us remember that the only one who has the right to tell a person that they have been brought out of death into life is God, the Holy Spirit. Number 10, do you believe Christ died for you? Take God at his word, friend.

He sent his beloved son to die on a cross for you. Do you believe that? Then you can become a Christian. Listen, dear friends, my biggest fear is that there are many in the churches today who have believed on the fact of the death of Christ, but they have never believed on the Christ who died.

They became a Christian by agreeing with a fact or believe in a fact, and that's their foundation they rest upon. Listen, friends, when Jesus was here in his earthly ministry, when he passed through towns and villages, those who encountered him experienced change.

They were changed individuals. If you are truly saved, it's not because you believe the fact about the death of Christ, but because you've been transformed by the Christ who died. And as an appendix to all of this, I will add, do not heal the wounds of a person slightly.

Do Not Offer False Assurance to the Awakened Sinner

How many evangelists and well-meaning pastors will comfort an awakened sinner by telling them they are now a Christian? Never heal a wound slightly, friend. You do great damage to one's soul if you do.

An awakened sinner is merely that, a someone who is now aware of his need of a savior. He still needs to get to Christ. He still needs to find Christ. But if we heal this wound slightly, we make a stillbirth instead of a rebirth through the new birth.

Like I said, if we could only eliminate these 10 sayings of modern evangelism, we would at least not do folks harm by making false converts. Let's preach the word and give the Holy Spirit room to operate on a poor sinner's heart.

Returning to a God-Centered Gospel

I've been conducting evangelism for a long time now, and I know that God can save the biggest sinner when the Holy Spirit applies the gospel to their hearts. But we must, friends, present the gospel in its purity and proper order.

We must preach up the great doctrines of ruin, redemption, repentance, and regeneration. With this in mind, I have created an app on iTunes called Evangelism Awakening. And in it, I have suggestions on how to present a God-centered gospel that awakens man to his condition and shows him he is in need of a remedy for sin in the person of Jesus Christ.

I've made it easy for churches to adopt it, adopt it into their evangelistic efforts to reach their community for Christ. In it is a presentation of the gospel of the full counsel of God using the great doctrines of ruin, redemption, repentance, and regeneration.

It's the gospel of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. If we could only get back to a God-centered brand of evangelism rather than this man-centered stuff we have today, we would do people good instead of harm.