wally’s blog

Edit: I need to apologize for a foolish mistake in this original post. I had possibly suggested that UCCF are unbiblical, which I am not qualified to say, and I don’t believe to be true. I have corrected the post to say “some UCCF representatives”, by which I mean some UCCF workers which I have met outright disagree with my theology surrounding this post. That is not to say they don’t have things right which I have wrong, I’ve learnt much from those individuals over the years and hope others will too. However on this one topic we have not been able to find common ground, and it is solely for the purpose of wanting to see Christians have a more right understanding of God’s word that I post this. As with everything I write, I demand that all readers pray and read God’s word to see if they agree with my interpretations, and to make constructive and critical comments as appropriate.

Note: this entry is brief and possibly not well expressed. I will continue to expand upon it, rewrite badly put parts and add more references as time goes on. Please feel free to contact me or leave a comment if there’s something you particularly agree or disagree with. (Or to point out a mistake)

Suggested reading: “Let the nations be glad” — John Piper

I write this in response to the increasingly common Christian attitude that the chief end of man, (i.e. our single, designed purpose) is evangelism. I’ve seen it taught inside the Essex University Christian Union, and worryingly by some UCCF representatives too.

The attitude is (firstly wrong, because it contradicts the Bible, but also) problematic because it robs God of His glory and depresses us as Christians.

When we evangelize, if we make the saving of souls our single most important goal, we feel that we’ve failed when people don’t turn to Christ. We also don’t grow as Christians, because all we’re ever teaching and learning is the “nutshell gospel”. Worse still, we have every reason to remove God’s wrath, hell and sin from our proclamation! Can you see where this is going? A theology that states our single aim is to evangelize (which is, subtly, even worse that solely aiming to seeing people saved) isn’t what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that everything is for God’s glory, and His glory alone, by us finding our delight in Him (Isaiah 60:21, Romans 11:36, 1 Corinthians 6:20,31, Revelation 4:11, Phillipians 4:4). Then, because of that enlightenment, we realize that we have to evangelize, because:

• We’ll be obeying God’s command.
• People who repent will glorify Him. Forever.
• Those who reject us will be judged justly, and we will be blessed for our suffering.

Where do we go with rejection? That’s simple, if you grasp God’s authority. God is Just, and the Judge of all. Before Him every knee will bow. Those who reject God in this life will be justly punished (Genesis 18:24-26, Jude 1:14-16). We preach Christ crucified, and God opens eyes. It’s God’s choice as to who He saves (Romans 8:28-30)! And the rejection we receive isn’t against us, it’s against God.

So what should a Christian Union look like? Well, it should be pushing students into good churches, teaching the Bible regularly, (and in it’s entirety), and providing opportunity for students to glorify God on their campus. It should be set apart; teaching that Christian girls should be fully clothed with no underwear or unnecessary flesh showing, that Christian student language should be unquestionably clean, their choice of TV and films should be different, the way they react toward one another in love, the list goes on.

Evangelism should naturally spring out of this. Driven by local churches, the CU should be seeking to love God so much that their desire to please Him and do His will (which is not just evangelism) should occur straight away without hesitance. The problem is, the CU currently teaches this set of laws, that you “should be in a church” and “you need to do your evangelism”, completely misaligned! There is one rule, and that is to love God! And that shouldn’t be considered a law, because we should be so overwhelmed with His saving and common grace that we can’t help but love Him!

If CUs were to get into this mindset, I believe wholeheartedly that they would be seeing more happen.

There’s also the problem that Christians won’t preach that sin is wrong, that we’re headed for hell, and that being a Christian really isn’t all that easy. It’s good, it’s the best thing! But it’s not easy. That shocks me. But it’s for another time.

Tagged as: evangelism