Evangelism Explosion Youth Notebook: Another Example of Salesmanship Posing as Soul-Winning?

In my early years, I followed a “Romans Road” style of evangelism as employed by the Sword of the Lord, Jack Hyles, and others. I soon realized there were serious defects in this approach. I observed many professions of faith, and very few manifestations of changed hearts and lives. I began to look for a more Biblical approach to conduct evangelism, and to train church members to be more effective soul winners.

I was initially excited to discover Evangelism Explosion. Surely this was what I was looking for. It was obviously thorough, and came from a conservative Presbyterian source. These folks should understand both sound doctrine and Biblical evangelistic methods.

But after reading the manual, I was deeply disappointed. Yes, there was a more thorough explanation of the Gospel, but in the end, the methods used to get prospects to make decisions could have been endorsed by Hyles. It was man-centered wolves dressed in sheep clothing.

I was disappointed, but also wiser. I realized that some Calvinists give lip service to sound theology, but yield to human-centered pragmatism to insure results. Apparently the numbers game with its allegiance to bigger is better, and growth evidences God’s blessing, can be just as much a problem with Calvinists as with independent Baptists. After all, we must insure that church’s grow, whatever it takes, right?

He that wins souls is wise, but not everyone who endeavors to win souls is wise. Some lack understanding, while others succumb to pragmatism. Given the decades of evangelistic clutter strewn over the landscape, it’s not easy to arrive at a clear understanding of Biblical evangelism, but Christ deserves our undivided efforts.

Do we think that a lot of the “salesmanship” is rooted in 1) the average Christian’s lack of familiarity and confidence in the Gospel message and 2) the drive to see results? Both can be remedied without the need for salesmanship.