The trouble with reaching the world is that we have Americanized evangelism, said Emir Caner, president of Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, Ga. “The new method is that we feel we have to establish relationships for, oh, a decade before we can ever share the gospel.”
That we need a new method of evangelism is one of five lies against the old-fashioned gospel, Caner told the crowd gathered for the Tuesday morning session of the State Evangelism Conference.
“True evangelism will always be confrontational,” he said, explaining that Americans have forgotten that fact. “Who cares, frankly, what the world can or cannot handle? We have a mandate — preach the Word.”
Another lie, Caner said, is that a new day requires a new answer. “Elijah had no new answer for the situation,” he said, preaching from the 1 Kings 18 story of Elijah praying down fire from heaven. “The old Answer still works.”
Caner said he’s tired of hearing that churches have to be “relevant” to reach this generation. “The devil has a one-page handbook … Why? Because it still works. And while we are trying to reinvent the wheel, he’s still sliding down the same old path.”
A third lie, he said, is that a new day requires a new consensus. Too many Baptists believe that a certain number have to agree in order to do something.
“We need to have more Elijahs today — men who will stand up regardless of who will stand with them.”
The last two lies he noted are that a new day requires a new acceptance and no sacrifice. “We don’t need an acceptance; we need a resurgence of identity,” he said. “We are Christians blood-bought by the Lord Jesus Christ,” Caner said, explaining that His sacrifice requires our sacrifice.
“You know what evangelism is? It’s sharing Jesus anytime He gives us a chance,” he said. (TAB)
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