Evaluating Witnessing and Evangelism
Memory Text:
“To one who listens, valid criticism is like a gold earring
or other gold jewelry” (Proverbs 25:12, NLT).
What does evaluate mean?
The word is used in different contexts with different connotations. So, Let us look at some of the definitions:
to determine or set the value or amount
of; appraise; to judge or determine the significance, worth, or quality
of; assess:; to ascertain or set the
amount or value of to judge or assess
the worth of; to pass legal judgment on;
pass sentence on (a person); to hear evidence or legal arguments in (a case) in
order to pass judgment; to form a judgment
or opinion of; decide upon critically; to decide or settle
authoritatively; adjudge; to infer, think, or hold as an opinion; conclude
about or assess.
It is evident from these definitions that to evaluate I will
observe or study something to determine whether something, is among other things:
genuine, authentic, it does what it says it does, is it we doing the right
thing or in the right way, or does it represent clearly and truthfully the
reality.
When it comes to procedures the assumption is that if I get
the expected results I am doing the right thing, the right way. But, what if I am evaluating the wrong
procedure? For example, a team of wood
cutters starts chopping down trees. They
were supposed to chop a whole section of the forest in a week or less. At the rate they were going they would be done
in 5 days. There was one problem: they
were cutting the wrong section of the forest.
They had set a goal based on the expectation. They were supposedly meeting it. But, at the end, they would have missed the
goal entirely.
How are we to judge that a church is doing the right
thing? One of the first things that we
must clarify is that we do not do the judging of that, it is God. In all the parables where judgment is
pronounced it is God doing the judging, not man. Consider the parable of the talents. It is God who determines who is a good and
faithful servants and who should be thrown into the utter darkness. All three servants thought they had done
well, but only two were commended. In
the parable of the sheep and goats the sheep did not know why they were
commended. The goat did not know why
they were not being commended. God made
the distinction and determined which one was worthy. In the parable of the Wedding banquet, it is
the King who determines who was the right clothes and who does not.
So, how does God evaluate us? Since our focus is witnessing and evangelism,
then how does God evaluate these? If you
follow the lesson we are judged by how many people we recruit for the
Kingdom. But, the Bible does not say
anything like that. How many preachers
and evangelists in the Bible failed by our standards? Noah preached 120 years and only 8 went in
the ark. But, humanity was spared from
eternal damnation through Noah. Abraham
is the father of the faithful the friend of God. When do we see him evangelizing? The same goes for Isaac and Jacob. And, the list goes on. When Hebrews 11 goes down the list of the
faithful ones, not once is it mentioned that these succeeded in converting
thousands. They all did what God
required of them. But, no building was
filled with converts they found. To say
that the Apostles were commended because of the many baptisms they performed is
to say that salvation is for Abraham in different terms than for them (something
Paul denies in Galatians). It is to say
that salvation is by works of evangelism and baptism.
Perhaps the easiest way to illustrate it is the parable of
the wedding feast or banquet (in Matthew 21).
At the end, it was those who accepted the invitation and wore the
garments provided by the King that remained in the feast. Those who did not wear the King’s garment
were kicked out.
God evaluates us on whether we are wearing the garment. Now
the question is: what is this wedding garment? It refers to character. Both the Old and the New Testament make it
very clear that the wedding garment is the righteousness of God fulfilled and
prepared for us in Jesus Christ. In the book Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 311,
Ellen G. White describes this wedding garment: “This robe, woven in the loom of
heaven, has in it not one thread of human devising.” It’s all of God.
Are you wearing that garment? That’s the question. Are you
wearing that garment or are you depending on some things that you have
successfully done for your ticket towards heaven? When the king is inspecting the guests will He
be pleased with you? He is scrutinizing
each one of us and He’s looking only for one thing —not how good you are but
how much of His Son He sees in you. Christ in us, says Paul, is the hope of
glory.
Jesus came because our garments are filthy rags. Isaiah 64:6
tells us that our righteousness is filthy rags:
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our
righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like
the wind our sins sweep us away.
In Zechariah 3:3-4 we read about Joshua, the high priest,
standing before God representing the people and he was clothed in filthy rags:
Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before
the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his
filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and
I will put rich garments on you.”
The Lord says: “Remove those filthy rags and give him new
clothes, clean clothes, which is the righteousness of Christ.”
God has clothed us with the righteousness of His Son. All
this means is that all Sin (Self or flesh) will be removed and Christ will replace
it with His goodness or His righteousness.
Are you wearing His righteousness?
