Two methods of Evangelism

Reinventing the Adventist Wheel has a good couple of videos posted which show two different views on “evangelism”. The first is by a Pastor who is against the bullhorn method of street evangelism. The second is a Pastor who is for such things, modified of course because practically nobody really thinks those bullhorn guys do anything. So the second goes more after the idea that talking about how sinful people are is better then loving them into friendship and relationship to God.

TWO SIDES OF ROB BELL'S "BULLHORN"

You can know doubt guess which side I will stand on but please take the time to watch the video’s, about 12 minutes for the bullhorn video and 5 each for the response videos. Though how can one argue with a statement such as this in the second video:

But Dr. Love objects, Dr. Love says that Jesus didn’t come to judge but he came to save. Yea that’s right but He came to save from what, He came to save us from the second time when He comes to judge so we’ve got to warn people He’s coming back to judge and the first time He came He came to save you and now you must repent and put your trust in the savior. (About 1 minute from the end of Todd Friel’s first response video)

This fits very easily into the Penal Atonement theory which is based upon a faulty premise. It actually ends up with God saying love and trust me or I will kill you (Oops that is the Adventist version, Todd Friel's version is that God is going to torture you for all eternity). Jesus will save you from God who is coming back to kill you if you don’t love Him. This is nothing like the Judgment Paul speaks of. Which is a judgment that reveals the kind of relationship we have with God, do we trust God or not, nothing else done in the body is as important as that trust relationship. Because with the relationship comes enough forgiveness to cover whatever we have done, even if we murdered others like Saul/Paul or David. We have no business making the kinds of distortions of the Grace of God and faith that the false premise makes.

One good part about the response video is that when the Pastor tries to tell the strangers that he is a nice guy who would like to listen if they have in hurts or problems they could tell him. Of course no one does because he is in fact a stranger and people don’t simply freely talk to strangers. In fact at the end where he asks them if he made them feel uncomfortable with his talk of hell and commandment keeping they all said no. Which is also typical of the way people interact with strangers often saying what the other person wants to hear. That section shows well why street evangelism does not work. There is not relationship, no friendship and no trust, it may spark an interest where they will investigate further but not too much else.