I remember the first day a dear saint darkened the doors of my former church. She was in her sixties and had not been to a church in nearly four decades. She had recently visited the law office of one of our elders, and he shared the gospel with her and invited her to church. Over the next several months, she came and was converted. As I met with her to hear her testimony for membership, with tears rolling down her cheeks, she said, “Pastor Clif, I don’t deserve to be a part of the church. I am too much of a sinner.” I told her, “You have come to the right place. We are all great sinners, but Christ is a great Savior.”
Over the next few years, this sister in Christ read her Bible, prayed faithfully, came to church for worship, sat under the preaching of the Word, and grew as a disciple of Christ. She who was lost was found by her Savior, and she who was found was being sanctified by her Savior. Her story is at the heart of the Gospel Reformation Network’s fourth set of distinctives: Intentional Evangelism and Personal Discipleship. What do these two distinctives entail?
Intentional Evangelism
When it comes to evangelism, Presbyterians can sometimes get a bad rap. We are labeled ‘the frozen chosen.’ People will say, we are gung-ho for right doctrine but slow in evangelism. And the Free Offer of the Gospel debates of the past show, at times, this can be true of us.[1] But this GRN distinctive highlights how a robust emphasis on the doctrines of the faith does not undercut the call for evangelism. Having healthy confessional commitments does not hamstring gospel proclamation. Instead, Reformed Orthodoxy provides the ground for evangelism and the impetus for evangelism. Being committed to right doctrine and to gospel proclamation are not mutually exclusive.
Consider Paul and his letter to the Ephesians. The Apostle expresses rich theology: election (1:4-5), union with Christ (1:3-14), salvation by grace alone through faith alone (2:8-9), the unity of the body (4:1-16), sanctification by the Spirit (4:17-5:21), marriage and family (5:22-6:4), and dealing with spiritual warfare (6:10-18). However, as Paul closed the letter, he asked his readers to pray for him “that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak” (6:19-20). Paul had no problem being dedicated to Christian doctrine and intentional evangelism. We can love Bible truth and the standards from which they are unpacked, while also being evangelistic. They go hand in hand.
What that evangelism will look like depends on the Christian’s Spirit-given giftedness and circumstances. Not everyone is a Peter (i.e., confrontational) or a Paul (i.e., intellectual). It could be we are like the ex-blind man in John 9. He was healed by Jesus, and when asked by the Pharisees about it, he told them, “One thing I know. I was blind but now I see!” (John 9:25). He testified to the work of Christ in his own life. Or we could be like the woman at the well, who told others, “Come, see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done” (John 4:29). She invited those around her to hear of Christ.[2]
No matter our giftedness, we can be intentionally evangelistic. We can build relationships with the lost, speak of the Savior, and bring them to others who will do the same. This can take place between parents and children, at the workplace among employees, and in our wider communities, as we live a godly life, and lovingly, yet boldly, stand for Christ. Too often, we think evangelism is more difficult than it needs to be. It is possible we may know the difficulty of ‘getting hit.’[3] We might feel the pain of evangelism. In some circumstances, like with Stephen, that could be the pain of death (Acts 7:1-60). But it could also be the pain of rejection and mockery. Regardless, a doctorate in Philosophy or Apologetics is not required for evangelism. Rather, a seeking of holiness, a hospitable home, and a courageous zeal for Christ is needed. Our theological commitments and love of the Savior drive us forward in bold and intentional evangelism. But we dare not stop there. The born-again Christian must be a growing Christian.
Personal Discipleship
The other GRN distinctive linked with evangelism is discipleship. When thousands were converted in the early days of the New Testament church, what were their immediate commitments? Acts 2:42 tells us, “They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” There was a pursuit of personal growth in the faith. That is why they set their hearts on the preached Word (Acts 5:42), regularly benefitted from the sacraments (1 Cor. 11:17-34), and gathered in prayer to cry out to God (Acts 4:23-31). They wanted spiritual maturity, and they pressed forward in spiritual maturity.
Why did they do so? Primarily because the Christ who ‘drew them to Himself’ was the Christ who would ‘draw on them His likeness.’ They not only needed their sins forgiven through Christ’s blood, but their lives changed by Christ’s Spirit. In Titus 2:11-12, Paul describes how the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all types of people. But that same incarnate gospel has come to train us “to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.”
This GRN distinctive stresses a sincere striving after Christlikeness in thoughts, words, and deeds. It is going hard after godly desires and actions. Personal discipleship is sweaty. It is hard work. It is more than wanting to grow. It is purposely growing through the ordinary means of grace that God has set aside: Word, sacraments, and prayer. Discipleship is something we must labor at, with all of Christ’s energy, for ourselves and other believers (Col. 1:28-29). The encouraging thing is, as we strive and strain for spiritual growth, as we faithfully seek that growth in others, God is at work to transform us after the image of Christ (Phil. 2:12-13). The more we eye Jesus, by the Spirit, the more we will look like disciples of Jesus (2 Cor. 3:18). Personal discipleship is a call to seek Christ and His ways with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, through the ordinary means of grace (Mark 12:30). This requires individual dedication to benefit from Word, sacraments, and prayer. It also requires officers to focus the ministry of the church on the same. Personal discipleship happens, by the Spirit, through the primary means of grace, employed in the context of the fellowship of the church. If our people would grow, we would do well to center our philosophy of ministries around these means.
Lost and Found/Saved and Sanctified
Another dear older saint started coming to church in her golden years. Her neighbors were members of a PCA church. For months they loved and served her, and then they invited her to a Christianity Explored study in their home. She came and heard how salvation is found in Christ alone. And as she visited her neighbors’ church, over several months, she was born anew.
Quickly, she began to grow in the Faith. Morning and evening worship matured her in Christ. Ladies’ Bible studies and prayer meetings strengthened her in suffering. Christian fellowship helped her to put off the old (wo)man and put on the new. She who was lost had been found. She who was found began to be sanctified. The commitment of the GRN is to see PCA churches engaged in intentional evangelism and personal discipleship that men, women, boys, and girls would know Christ and grow in Christ all their days. May that be our pursuit.
[1] See Donald MacLeod, Compel Them To Come In: Calvinism and the Free Offer of the Gospel. Ross-shire: Christian Focus, 2020.
[2] These approaches are outlined in Rico Tice, Honest Evangelism, (Epsom: The Good Book Company, 2015), pp. 76-81.
[3] Rico Tice uses this language in Honest Evangelism, 18-20.
