CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the Study
Various dispensations in the Bible, both the Old and New Testament, have expressed the concept of evangelism at different times: the era of Abraham, Moses (Exodus of the Israelites), the era of the Prophets, and the era of Christ. These dispensations have expressed one denominator; that is, propagation of the supremacy of the sovereign God. Hence, it is not far-fetched to say that evangelism started from Abraham to Jesus Christ.
Evangelism is the preaching of the Christian Gospel or the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others with the object of conversion. The term is not restricted to any particular Christian tradition and should not be confused with Evangelicalism, a common term for a wide range of “Evangelical” Protestant churches and groups.
Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are in their home communities or living as missionaries in the field, although some Christian traditions refer to such people as missionaries in either case. Some Christian traditions consider evangelists to be in a leadership position; they may be found preaching to large meetings or in governance roles. Christian groups who actively encourage evangelism are sometimes known as evangelistic or evangelist. The scriptures do not use the word evangelism, but the word evangelist is used in the translations in the following books of the bible: Acts 21:8, Ephesians 4:18, and 2 Timothy 4:5 respectively.
The communication of Christian faith to new geographical areas and cultures is often referred to as evangelization, or specifically evangelism. The word “evangelist” comes from the Koine Greek word εὐαγγέλιον (transliterated as “euangelion”) via Latinised Evangelium, as used in the canonical titles of the four Gospels, authored by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (also known as the Four Evangelists). The Greek word εὐαγγέλιον originally meant a reward given to the messenger for good news (εὔ = “good”, ἀγγέλλω = “I bring a message”; the word “angel” comes from the same root) and later “good news” itself.
While evangelism is usually regarded as converting non-Christians to Christianity, this is not always the proper usage of the word. If converting to Christianity includes services or material benefits, evangelism is called proselytism. Different denominations follow different theological interpretations which reflect upon the point of who is doing the actual conversion, whether the evangelist or the Holy Spirit or both. Calvinists, for example, believe the soul is converted only if the Holy Spirit is effective in the act.
PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
1.2. Purpose of Study
Evangelism has remained Christians’ supreme task as ordained by Christ to his believers over two thousand years ago when He commissioned His Disciples with Fire and the Holy Ghost in Acts of the Apostles 2:1-47 and 3:1-26, and it was subsequently passed to all believers. Hence, the purpose of this study is to proffer proper strategy that will energize a great evangelically commissioning for the believers as a prerequisite for church growth and the enlargement of heaven.
1.3. Statement of the Problem
In recent times, as strategic as evangelism and church growth are to Christendom, the churches have deliberately relegated its importance to the background and enthroned materialism and pettilism characterized by ineffectiveness and inefficiency due to long neglect of the word of God. Hence, this study intends to resolve the following challenges in Christendom:
- Attitudes of believers to evangelism;
- Impact of mal-administration in church growth; and
- Methods adopted by churches in evangelism.
1.4. Objectives of the Study
The objective of this study is to examine evangelism as a prerequisite for church growth, including steps and methods to adopt in evangelism concepts in Christendom with a view to adhering to Christ’s command on propagating the gospel of salvation. The study is aimed at achieving the following objectives:
- To determine the importance of evangelism to church growth;
- To determine methods to be adopted in evangelism;
- To determine the role of administration in the development of a church;
- To ascertain whether evangelism is solely an indoor church programme;
- To recommend the best “panacea” for church growth and types of evangelism.
RESEARCH SCOPE AND PROCEDURES
1.5. Scope of the Study
The scope of the study is on how evangelism can energize church growth in a view to populate the kingdom of God with a desperate intention to depopulate hell as commanded by Christ.
1.6. Research Procedures
This segment of the study examines the method, design, and characteristics of the study population, sampling procedure, determination of the sample size, data collection, and procedure for processing and analyzing the collected data. In this research, we relied heavily on quantitative and qualitative primary and secondary sources of data.
1.7. Significance of Study
The significance of this study is anchored on the following:
- The study will expose various methods to be adopted in evangelism;
- The study will open up further areas of concern and principles for church growth;
- The need to appraise evangelism as the most considerate factor in church growth.
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Theoretical Background
With the exception of M. Green’s Evangelism in the Early Church, the subjects of evangelism and church growth in the Book of Acts have been unaccountably neglected in recent years. Church growth writers refer to Acts rather consistently to support their theology and practice, but no detailed work has come from the movement. Most evangelistic works approach Acts from a theological perspective, building a biblical apologia for the mandate of evangelism: “Evangelism must find [its] orientation in the Bible. A return to the principles and practices unfolded in the Book of Acts is the only reliable answer.”
It would appear that evangelism in Acts has been viewed as one of several facets to be studied. In other words, evangelism and church growth are only two out of many areas which comprise the sum total of the book. Such a perspective, however, seems to ignore the primary motivation for the writing of the book. Luke the theologian is first Luke the evangelist.
2.1.1. Theologians’ Definition of Evangelism
The value of redaction criticism is that it presents Luke as an author who intentionally arranged his material in a precise order to communicate a specific message, i.e., the evangelistic mandate. German scholars such as M. Debelius, H. Conzelmann, and E. Haenchen first applied redaction criticism to Acts in the 1950s. These men, unfortunately, approached the Bible with a skepticism that doubted the accuracy of parts of Luke’s historical narrative. We must not, however, set accuracy in opposition to intent. Hence, this literature review will focus on the Apostle Luke’s biblical narrative theory on evangelism from the book of Acts of the Apostles.
Luke is both historian and theologian. The best term to describe him is “evangelist,” a term which, we believe, includes both of the others. As a theologian, Luke was concerned that his message about Jesus and the early church should be based upon reliable history. Luke’s concern was to communicate the message of salvation through an evangelistic approach.
