Holistic evangelism

The case for a broadened evangelistic approach

Pedrito Maynard-Reid is vice president for spiritual life and mission and professor of biblical studies and missiology, Walla Walla College, College Place, Washington.

Evangelism has been traditionally defined as the verbal proclamation of the good news of salvation. This announcement, and the verbal dimension of the concept, is based on the Greek word evangeliz/evangelizomai, with its emphasis on proclamation.

That definition is, however, too narrow, failing to capture the richness of what the New Testament portrays as evangelism (a word, incidentally, not found as such in Scripture). Rather than focusing on a word or even a number of words, the student of Scripture should look at the full picture painted by the Gospels and Acts, which portrays Jesus and the apostles not merely as prepositional evangelists, but as situational evangelistic missionaries. Their evangelism was not merely the oral communication of some prepositional truth, but situational activities that aimed to bring about wholeness. Their evangelistic approach involved preaching and healing, teaching and acting out their message.

"We find no dichotomy between word and deed in the church's witness, no splitting of proclamation from demonstration," says Charles Van Eagen.1

Part of the reason for our often narrow view of evangelism lies in the Western philosophical worldview that dichotomizes life, placing one aspect in superior relation to the other (soul versus body, cognitive versus emotive, proclamation versus demonstration, etc.). At the same time, this limited view is due also to the Bible student's tendency towards uncritical selectivity.

What that means is that some view evangelism in proclamative and personal salvific terms only. They usually turn to the Matthean Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) and the oral proclamation in the Gospels and Acts for proof of their view. Cognitive belief and verbal confession, to the exclusion of social transportation, is the position of these traditionalists.

On the other hand there is as much selectivity among the "Liberation Theologians," those seeing in passages such as Luke 4:18-19 their argument for social transformation. Yet they, in many instances, downplay the call for inner transformation and repentance from personal sins.

Christ's example

In contrast, the paradigmatic evangelists' presentation of Jesus, as outlined in the Gospels, was holistic, multidimensional, and all-encompassing. It includes reaching the inner life of the individual, while extending beyond the individual soul to all of society. Mortimer Arias says it well: "It em braces all dimensions of human life: physical, spiritual, personal and inter personal, communal and societal, historical and eternal. And it encompasses all human relationships with the neighbor, with nature, and with God."2

Vast amounts of excellent material over the centuries have been presented to highlight the personal salvific aspect of Jesus' evangelistic ministry; the Gospel accounts are filled with Jesus calling individuals to repentance, forgiving their personal sins, and commanding them to sin no more. In addition, He proclaims a future perfect kingdom, or reign of God, in which only those who do His will are inheritors of the kingdom.

Much less is written on the equally important dimension of Jesus' social salvific evangelism. The Gospels demonstrate that this aspect of Jesus' ministry and the Gospel writers' presentation of it are of vital consequence. Luke, (the most prolific New Testament writer) in his two-volume work illustrates Jesus' holism more than any other New Testament author.3 He portrays Jesus' evangelism and that of the early Church as three-pronged: empowerment of the socially marginal, healing the sick, and saving the lost.

Jesus' evangelistic strategy functioned in a twin way: in it there was hope and challenge. He gives hope to the out cast and marginal while presenting a message of liberation and redemption. At the same time this personal and social redeeming evangelism challenged the powerful and those who rejected His call to repentance. Instead of being the good news of salvation for them, it was the bad news of judgment.

The evangelism of Jesus involves an attack on all evil, whether it be pain, sickness, death, or broken human relationships all personal and social sins. Initiation and invitation into the present and the future reign of God can not be limited to one dimension and not the other.

Luke's paradigm

Luke illustrates Jesus' social evangelistic outreach best through his interest in the poor and marginalized. These are the ones who needed the good news in all its dimensions. On the other hand the rich are illustrative of those who were challenged to change how they treated the poor, the weak, op pressed, and the marginal.

Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, selected and edited his material (see Luke 1:2,3) in order to focus on this social dimension. For instance, Luke's narrative of the birth stories differs markedly from that of Matthew. In Matthew, kings, kingdoms, males, and the powerful are highlighted; Luke, in contrast, has none of Matthew's stories. He focuses instead on Mary, shepherds, a stable, and elderly people in the temple. In Luke it is to the poor and simple that the angel or angels appear; it is to them the good news is given; to them the announcement of salvation and hope is presented. In this context Mary in her Magnificat sings.

Much has been written on Jesus' paradigmatic manifesto in Luke 4:18-19. It is a defining passage in Luke's under standing of Jesus' evangelistic program. Luke strategically places the statement at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. As Matthew strategically has the Great Commission at the end of his Gospel, Luke places what it means for Jesus to be Messiah ("the anointed One") front and center. Jesus is anointed to give good news to the poor, to heal the physically and emotionally sick, and proclaim over all good news. Again, Jesus' salvation program is holistic.

Salvation

In order to view evangelism as holistic we need to move away from a narrow and merely forensic concept of salvation, where the focus is only on categories such as justification, reconciliation, propitiation, adoption, new birth. Though crucial and indispensable, if these aspects are emphasized to the exclusion of such categories as are highlighted in the Gospels, such as the social, economic, physical, and even certain political realities the presentation of the gospel is seriously weakened.

Salvation is multidimensional. Its basic and primary meaning is redemption and exaltation. Thus the Greek term soz ("to save") can be used both in personal and in social contexts. In the Gospels it is used in its religious sense, but also to describe what Jesus did in the face of sickness, demon possession, exploitation, and all kinds of marginality. In biblical salvation, there is "no tension between saving from sin and saving from physical ailment, between spiritual and social," says David Bosch.4

For example, the interrelatedness between healing and salvation occurs with the ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19). To the Samaritan who returned to give thanks, Jesus said, "Rise, and go your way; your faith has made you well (ses ken) ."

Conversion

Just as the category of salvation needs to be viewed holistically, so does the matter of conversion. We err if we view conversion only in a punctiliar sense, with emphasis merely on the moment of decision. This understanding has biblical roots, to be sure; but the linear dimension exists as well. It is scriptural to see conversion as a process.

The theological concept of metanoia (regularly translated as "repentance") means conversion that includes the total transformation of the individual or individuals their attitudes and lifestyles. It is a dynamic ongoing process that involves turning away from social as well as personal sins.

Luke illustrates this far-reaching conversion call in his record of John the Baptist's call for social repentance (Luke 3:2-14). The same is true in the stories of Zacchaeus (19:1-10) and the rich ruler (18:18-30). Conversion is a paradigm shift in which one enters into a new personal relationship with Jesus and joins Him in transforming the world.

Missiological implications

If we correctly appropriate the biblical paradigm in the contemporary evangelistic enterprise, we must emphasize a holistic mission. Too often evangelical Christians limit their evangelism to "soul-winning" (i.e. converting people who verbally acknowledge Jesus as Lord and/or become members of the church), public proclamation of personal salvation, and a call to personal discipleship in which select sins are denounced. The wider social dimensions of the gospel are not considered in depth.

The missiological challenge is not an either/or, but a both/and. Traditional evangelism must be intertwined and related to social responsibility. They are two sides of the same coin. In authentic evangelism they are interdependent and constantly interacting. Delos Miles uses other metaphors: "Evangelism and social involvement are two wings of the same gospel bird. . . . Evangelism is surely a blood brother to social involvement."5 Complete and holistic evangelism involves word and deed, proclamation and presence, explanation and example, public and private, political and personal, spiritual and social.

In today's diverse and multiplex world, one cannot and should not prescribe monolithic designs for evangelism, thus limiting what it should entail. The social concerns (which are interrelated to the religious needs) of Jamaicans in eastern rural Kingston are different from those in the rural community of Walla Walla, Washington. The astute evangelist will tailor an evangelistic message to meet the needs of any particular community.

In addition to traditional evangelistic foci, holistic and complete evangelism will address healing for daily problems; caring for personal, mental, and physical ills; involvement with the intimate experiences of friends and neighbors and other real-life challenges in the community in which evangelistic endeavor is going forward. Matters relating to personal finances, marriage and family, sex, academics, physical fitness, employment, addictions, human rights may all be ad dressed in the evangelistic enterprise. Whatever the cry maybe, it demands salvation, transformation, healing, and liberation, with the gospel message overarching and undergirding all that is presented.

Conclusion

The wholistic and prophetic evangelistic task as exemplified in the ministry, life, and teaching of Jesus, John the Baptist, and the apostolic church this is what the twenty-first century church needs. As the Holy Spirit rested upon Jesus (Luke 4:18) and the disciples (Acts 2) and anointed them to proclaim and practice the whole gospel (see Luke 4:18,19, and Acts 2:41-47), so today we must appropriate the Holy Spirit's anointing so that when we engage in evangelism we do not do so in the narrow sense of exclusively proclaiming prepositional truth. Our evangelism must meet the everyday needs of our communities in a way that will indeed make the "good news" even better.

1 Charles Van Eagen, You Are My Witnesses (New York: Reformed Church Press, 1992), 88.

2 Mortimer Arias, Announcing the Reign of God: Evangelization and the Subversive Memory of Jesus (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984), xv.

3 See my book Complete Evangelism (Scottdale, Pa.: Herald, 1997).

4 David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1991), 33.

5 Delos Miles, Evangelism and Social Involvement (Nashville: Broadman, 1986), 7.


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Pedrito Maynard-Reid is vice president for spiritual life and mission and professor of biblical studies and missiology, Walla Walla College, College Place, Washington.

May 2000

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