Illustration: “The babe in the womb” by Leonardo Da Vinci. Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
Recently a health professional I’ve been seeing routinely asked if it was okay if she showed up for worship with me. Of course it was, and she did. She’s unchurched, only vaguely aware of the stories of scripture, and she’s curious. She’s on a journey, exploring faith, and it’s a privilege to be part of her journey.
In the church, evangelism is often thought of as midwifery, relating to Jesus’ imagery of being ‘born again’. We often think that’s best done by “evangelists” – Billy Graham types – those with a spiritual gift of evangelism. Or maybe our pastor. We think they should be the ones to be present at the time of someone’s spiritual rebirth to help usher them into the Kingdom through appropriate prayer and encouragement.
Evangelists certainly have an important place in the Kingdom, and it’s helpful to recognize and call out that gift in those in congregations where it is present. However, I’d like to challenge the idea that evangelism is limited to Evangelists.
Many in the church don’t think they can evangelize because they know they’re not equipped to be spiritual midwives. But Jesus’ charge to his disciples was not to be midwives, but rather “You will be my witnesses”.
Doesn’t evangelism include “prenatal” growth?
There’s no doubt that in the physical realm there’s a whole lot of prenatal development before any child sees the light of day. I suspect that we ordinary Jesus followers play a bigger role than we might think in the spiritual prenatal development and journey of those God’s drawing into his Kingdom.
“Might it be helpful to think of the Holy Spirit as the Director of Evangelism, seeking to bring all into the Kingdom of God?”
When Jesus spoke to his disciples just prior to his ascension (Acts 1:4-8) he told them to wait for the gift of the Father. When they were baptized with the Holy Spirit, they would receive power to be Jesus’ witnesses.
Might it be helpful to think of the Holy Spirit as the Director of Evangelism, seeking to bring all into the Kingdom of God? Think back to your own journey of coming to Christ. Can you not see the Holy Spirit’s hand as the one who orchestrated “God-incidences” at key points in your own prenatal journey. Times when people demonstrated Jesus’ love or spoke into your life. Were those all evangelists or pastors? Not likely. God probably used experiences with some of his ordinary believers to draw our hearts to him.
The Prenatal Path
A church friend recently recommended a small book, I Once Was Lost: What Postmodern Skeptics Taught Us About Their Path to Jesus by Don Everts and Doug Schaupp, who have both been working for decades as Intervarsity missionaries on college campuses. They interviewed more than a thousand new Jesus followers and found an interesting pattern of five thresholds on the prenatal journey to Jesus. Those are:
- Trusting a Christian – Moving from distrust to trust
- Becoming Curious – Moving from complacent to curious
- Opening up to Change – Moving from being closed to change to being open to change in their life
- Seeking After God – Moving from meandering to seeking
- Entering the Kingdom – Crossing the threshold of the Kingdom by repenting, believing and giving their life to Jesus.
I found this so helpful as I observed my health professional friend on her journey. She’s now at the curious stage. My role is to remain open to the nudges of the Holy Spirit, in conversations, asking God what questions to ask that may encourage her to ponder further. It’s surely not time to gown-up as a midwife. When (I pray) that time comes, it may or may not be my place and privilege to be part of that. But apparently, I’ve been part of her prenatal journey thus far. Undoubtedly others have also been part of her prenatal story as well. Whose prenatal journey are you part of?
“In the physical realm there’s a whole lot of prenatal development before any child sees the light of day”
Prayer for others certainly plays a role in the prenatal journey. Everts and Schaupp point out that the third threshold of opening up to change is a place where they’ve seen the enemy of our souls put up resistance to releasing the person to Jesus. Thus, the prayer of believers is particularly important at that stage of wrestling. I take that to heart and my prayer closet as I continue to engage with my friend on her journey.
What’s the primary purpose of evangelism, anyway?
I wonder. Is the moment of spiritual rebirth really the goal of evangelism? I’m reminded of a sign at a small country church, on the front wall near the wooden board where hymn numbers were posted saying ‘___ souls saved so far’.
Surely the moment of being rescued from the kingdom of darkness and transferred into the Kingdom of Light is significant (Col.1:13). None of us enter the Kingdom without that – whether it happened gradually and quietly over the years, or in a more momentous way.
“Whose prenatal journey are you part of?”
But is new birth Jesus’ greatest objective? Isn’t it rather making disciples, becoming mature believers – which of course requires new birth as an essential step on that journey? And isn’t being a witness for Jesus just as important in the post-natal disciple-growing process as in the prenatal stage?
John Bunyan in Pilgrim’s Progress depicted all sorts of temptations and dangers on the Christian journey. But if you’ll recall, the destination of Christian’s journey was not the Wall of Salvation where he sees the Cross, where his sin burden fell off and he was given new clothes and his certificate for the Celestial City. That point in the story sounds to me like the new birth. The journey, and the role of witnesses along the way, is not finished once Christian has found salvation. There’s more life – and challenges – ahead as a faithful follower of Jesus.
I’ve encountered many believers over the years with tickets to the Glory Train and the Celestial City clutched in hand, but who seem quite content to live their lives in complacency, not growing into mature believers. They’re among the “souls saved thus far”. These are like the folks the author of Hebrews referenced,
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Heb. 5:12-14)
Their effectiveness for the Kingdom is muted by a sense of personal spiritual security and unwillingness to grow and exercise their spiritual muscles, their calling and authority as a follower of Jesus. Where’s the sense of urgency in looking around at the brokenness of the people and world around us? Where’s their response as “God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph 2:10)? There’s so much yet to be done to see Jesus Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven”. It grieves my heart, and I suspect grieves God’s heart even more.
“We’re saved not to remain a holy huddle, waiting for the Glory Train, but rather to join God in the grand adventure of restoration of humanity and all creation . . .”
We’re saved not to remain a holy huddle, waiting for the Glory Train, but rather to join God in the grand adventure of restoration of humanity and all creation, even as he continues his good work of sanctifying us – transforming us to be more and more like Jesus. Sharing the Good News as we have opportunity, responding to the nudges of the Holy Spirit.
And it’s not all that hard – just to be Jesus’ witness. Each of us has stories to tell, stories of God’s faithfulness, stories of our encounters with the living God. In the moment, ask Jesus, “In this context, how can I be a faithful witness to you?”
God also needs midwives
There’s nothing wrong with equipping those in the congregation to be able to tell their Jesus stories and to understand God’s overarching plan of salvation so that when opportunities arise, they are better able to be a spiritual midwife. In fact, that’s part of equipping the saints for the work of service (Eph. 4:12).
But we’re far more likely to have prenatal encounters with unbelievers than midwifery moments. Might it not also be vital to equip believers in how to live empowered by the Holy Spirit, listening well to his nudges and cooperating to be used as Jesus’ witnesses?
“What spheres of influence has God placed you in where your witness to Jesus can contribute to the prenatal growth of those you encounter?”
What spheres of influence has God placed you in where your witness to Jesus can contribute to the prenatal growth of those you encounter? In what relationship(s) might you become a Trusted Christian in the life of an unbeliever – that first step in a person’s journey to Christ? People aren’t evangelism projects, of course. This must flow out of genuine connection and relationship, as it has for me in my time with my health professional.
And when you’re feeling inadequate to the task, ask Jesus to empower you afresh by his Holy Spirit to have the words and/or actions that further his Kingdom purposes through your life. May He empower us all to be his witnesses, so we not just save souls but also “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
