Kirk Cameron video (approach to Evangelism)

[Guest]

I'm curious how you would view this approach to Evangelism.

http://www.theblazingcenter.com/2008/04 ... ospel.html

[Guest]

It's an okay approach but the guy was pretty easy. I can think of numerous people I know and who I have tried to witness to who could give Kirk a run for his money.

i'll admit evangelism is one of my big weaknesses. I like to teach, and I like to discuss the things of God, but I am definitely no expert at evangelism. when I try, it generally devolves into something not intended.

TK

[Guest]

I'm curious mostly about the benefit of using the Ten Commandments and pointing out their individual sinfulness in that light.

[Guest]

Back in 2003(?) I think, we brought Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort to College Station for a weekend seminar and for them to do open air preaching on campus. A few of us even sang the Growing Pains theme song with Kirk to draw a crowd! Ha!

Anyway, one of the nights we all went to a coffee house there in College Station. Ray and his son-in-law were doing an impromptu light show and then in the middle of it Ray asked if anyone there thought they were a good person. One guy took the bait and Kirk started talking to him. As Kirk was sharing the law with this guy, you could literally see a change in his countenance from one who was sure of himself to one that really recognized his sinfulness.

It probably also helps that Kirk is a celebrity!

I definitely don't think the method is the end-all, but it can certainly be useful in some situations.

[Guest]

I think it is often necessary to confront sinners with the fact that they are in more trouble with God than they had previously imagined. However, I do not generally use the Ten Commandments for this purpose, as is recommended by the guys at Way of the Master. I am concerned that using that approach, while effectively convincing the sinner that he stands to be condemned at the judgment, also may convey the impression (unintentional, on the part of the evangelist) that the sinner needs to start keeping those commandments from now on, as the remedy to his condemned condition. Ray Comfort always tries to clarify this point. He says the law is a mirror that shows us our face is dirty, but we do not use the mirror as a device to remove the dirt. For that, we use soap and water. Notwithstanding this verbal clarification, when the witnessing "presentation" has been so thoroughly dominated by the focus on the Ten Commandments, I am afraid some unbelievers may go away with the Ten Commandments ringing in their heads, which is not what our message is actually about. We never read of Jesus or the apostles using this approach.

When Jesus and the apostles evangelized the unbelieving crowds (excepting Christ's denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees, which was not an evangelistic situation), their emphasis was not upon the sins of their audience, but on the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Their message was essentially, "God has made Jesus Christ the Lord and Judge of all men. What are you gonna do about that?" You will find this to be true by a careful analysis of every sermon in the Book of Acts. They counted on the declaration of the Lordship of Christ to be evidence enough that their audience were in need of repentance. If God has appointed Jesus as Lord, and you have not been honoring His supremacy in your life, where does that leave you in terms of God's judgment?

The evangelistic sermonsl recorded in scripture barely touch on the issue of the fate of the unrepentant sinner, or what he stands to gain by repentance (for example, they do not mention heaven or hell). The focus is always upon the crown rights of Jesus Christ. Those who stand aloof from, or opposed to, Christ are understandably in danger, but their personal self-interest is not appealed to primarily.

The Holy Spirit's testimony is that "Jesus is Lord" (1 Cor.12:3). The Spirit was apparently pleased to own the preaching of the apostles, and to give them the souls of many of their hearers. I really think that proper evangelism should be led by the Spirit (not packaged), and should emphasize what the Holy Spirit emphasized in the apostolic preaching.

The preaching of the Gospel is a call to abandon the kingdom of self and to be encompassed in the enterprise of God's kingdom (this is why it is called the "Gospel of the Kingdom" in Matt.24:14). The Kingdom of God is not about me, it is about Christ. My conversion is not for me, but for God. In becoming a follower of Christ, I am not looking out for myself, but for the fortunes of a Kingdom much larger than my own little world.

God did not primarily send Christ to adjust my agendas, so as to improve my personal well-being and my personal destiny. He came so that the knowledge of the glory of God shall fill the earth as the waters cover the sea (Num.14:21/Isa.11:9/Hab.2:14/2 Cor.4:6). I am invited to surf this tsunami, or else be crushed by it. In any case, what happens to me is relatively irrelevant. It is the progress of the Gospel and its conquest of the world that must be our focus.

Having said that, I appreciate that Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron are on the streets seeking to win the lost. However, if we appeal primarily to a man's self-interest ("Avoid hell; go to heaven!"), we may make "converts" for whom self-interest remains their leading motivation after "conversion" as well. By contrast, if the preaching by which we reach the sinner is not calculated to exploit his self-interest, but rather to assert God's interests and Christ's authority, we might even make some converts who retain this orientation after conversion. There is a saying,"What you win them with is what you will win them to."

[Guest]

Steve quoted:

There is a saying,"What you win them with is what you will win them to."

perhaps this explains, in part, the salem witch trials.

TK

[Guest]

Well said Steve. I agree with what you said.

Doug

[Guest]

I agree, too -- that is largely how I see it also. This happened to come up just now with a friend of mine, and he pointed out to me :

Rom 3:20-25; 5:16-18; 6:23
(I haven't looked them up but presume this is the Roman Road)

Acts 3:19
Acts 17:30

The rich young ruler (quoting the Decalogue)
Mark 10:17-22 and Luke 18:18-23

the woman at the well

and that we also are sufficiently like the Pharisees that this is a good example, as well.

With that in mind, what do you think of this article...

http://www.founders.org/journal/fj28/article2.html

[Guest]

I've been looking at Acts 17 and, though I've never heard it suggested before, it sounds as if Paul may be acting more in the role of Prophet against the open idolatry and its effects at Mars Hill to "cleanse the temple" so to speak instead of acting as an Evangelist to win them over. In fact, few did believe from his efforts there.

Is that a reasonable assessment?

I've always heard this passage used to support preaching ministries, and it is a verse my friend has suggested shows Paul using the Law to convict of sin in an evangelistic setting. If so, he's got a point and it's at least an exception to the rest of Acts.

What do you think?

[Guest]

Steve,
As always you explain things very well. I always mention that the resurrection of Jesus is the proof that God has ordained Him to be our judge.