Three words: the sinner’s prayer. I’m going to begin my explaination with an
analogy by Ray Comfort: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCabeFXneGg
You see, an apology should be heartfelt. You can encourage someone to
apologize and repent (evangelism), but the apology becomes, in many cases,
meaningless to the person who is apologizing when you tell them what to say
(this is what happens when someone is lead in the sinner’s prayer).
Here’s yet another example for you. Imagine that your child purposely tripped
and injured another child. You then tell your child to apologize to the child they
have hurt, and they do so, but grudgingly. You proceed to tell them to “say it like
they mean it.”
By their thinking, they already apologized. Why should they do it again? Yes,
they apologized (whether they really meant it or not), but they didn’t repent.
That’s where we run into trouble. You can apologize all you want, but in order to
mean it, you have to repent also. An apology is a verbal matter, repentence is a
heart matter. Anyone can apologize, but it takes humility (being willing to admit
that you are a desperately sinful person without any hope of redemption but
through Jesus Christ) to repent.
Apologize: to offer an apology or excuse for some fault, insult, failure, or injury
Repent: to feel sorry, self-reproachful, or contrite for past conduct; regret or be
conscience-stricken about a past action, attitude, etc
You see, the sinner’s prayer is causing many people who say it to become false
converts. Someone will share the Gospel with them for a couple minutes, then say.
“Do you want to say the sinner’s prayer and ask Jesus into your heart?” They
respond, “Is it that easy?” And the witness replies, “Yes, it’s that easy.”
NO. It’s not “that easy.” Without repentence, there is no forgiveness. Without
forgiveness, there is no salvation.
Here’s a clip from a sermon from Paul Washer entitled War on the Sinner’s
Prayer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ7LbEg3PZU
So, how do we go about evangelizing Biblically?
1. We must be living testaments of God’s work. We must be examples of what
God can do in a person to change them, otherwise stated as “being in the world,
but not of it.”
2. We must share the Gospel as it is. We are all fallen beings without any hope
of redemption but through Jesus Christ. But God, in His love for the people He
had created, sent His perfect, only Son to die for payment of the sins of mankind,
so that through the repentence of those sins and belief in Jesus Christ, we might
be saved from our bondage to sin and Satan.
We must preach a Gospel of repentence, not one of apology.
Hi Melian. I like your thoughts here, I too have found the theology regarding the sinner's prayer severely lacking.
ReplyDeleteI would like clarification on some things though. First, what do you mean by repentance? What does it mean to repent of one's sins. What does that look like in practice? Second, what do you mean by belief? What does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ? What does that look like in practice?
I'll put my own critique of the sinner's prayer out there as well. For me it is quite simple. In the great commission, Jesus commanded the disciples to make disciples. This is what evangelism means to me - discipleship. The sinner's prayer is good at making 'converts' or people who identify as Christians, but it does nothing to make disciples and so it falls short of Jesus' command to make disciples. I think that this is also a fundamental issue with the idea of being 'saved.' Not that there is anything wrong with understanding that Jesus has saved us, but that the concept of being 'saved' suggests that we now have nothing to do. Jesus saved us - yes! - but I believe that the Bible teaches that we then need to respond by putting our faith in Jesus. This 'putting our faith in Jesus' is what it means to be disciples of Jesus. We say to Jesus, "Ok, you have saved me. I acknowledge that you alone are worthy of praise and worship. I put all that I am under your lordship and tutelage. I am now your disciple and will follow you and your teaching above all else." This completes the circle. I do not believe one can be 'saved' without this kind of a response (not word for word, but revealed in their life and in their actions).
I am a protestant, but if I have one critique of the Reformation it is in how the idea of salvation by grace through faith has become twisted to mean that if I subscribe to this set of beliefs (Christian doctrine) I am saved. I do not think that was the intent of the reformers, but that is how a large section of Christianity understands it. Faith is not merely belief. Faith is closer to trust. An illustration: If I find myself in a burning building and someone runs up to me and says, "I know the way out, follow me!" and I respond, "I believe you." But do not follow, do I really believe them? Or to paraphrase James, "Can that faith save me?" If I truly believed them, if I truly had faith in them, if I truly trusted them, I would follow. This is why a Christians faithfulness to the teachings of Jesus is a sign of their faith in Jesus. The sinner's prayer does not address this idea of discipleship at all.
Hello! Sorry for the delayed response.
DeleteIn short I agree with you! But I tend to think it was the "great revival" here in the US that sparked easy believism, which uses the sinner's prayer.
By repentance, I mean to turn away from one's sin and ask God's forgiveness. In practice, we should see a change in the person's life. True repentance gives fruit, and that should be both internal and external.
To believe in Jesus means to believe that He was born of a virgin, sinless, to live a perfect life, to die for the sins of the world that whoever believes can be saved, and to rise again to give hope of an eternal life. This in practice should also be evident, and there should be change both internally and externally. Externally, specifically, should look like this: sharing the Gospel, making disciples, etc.
As to the last piece, it shows the major difference between lip service and true belief. Quite excellent in how it was illustrated, too.
Thank you very much for commenting, and again, sorry for the late response, my computer died and it took me a while to get a new one!