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Paul wrote:The leader, Florens van der Spek already made national television proclaiming Jesus as Lord, impressively handling the mockery and pointing to Jesus as God, and telling everyone we need Him for every aspect of our lives etc. and today in the newspaper he commented like this "Evangelism is the highest calling of a Christian. This also goes for politics.

I'm not aware of the place in the NT where it says that Evangelism is the highest calling of a Christian. I do know that Jesus regularly said "Follow me." I suppose that I should then say that following Jesus is the highest calling of a Christian. Part of following Jesus includes evangelism. Which is not the same thing as saying that Evangelism is the highest calling.

A personal reflection: Recently I stopped attending an evangelical Protestant campus ministry because I am not interested in living how the young men there live. In a later conversation with one of the men, he suggested that I consider how the organization needs people to spread the Gospel, regardless of how they are living. I think that way of thinking and living is the outcome of making Evangelism into our highest calling.

cmbl wrote: I'm not aware of the place in the NT where it says that Evangelism is the highest calling of a Christian. I do know that Jesus regularly said "Follow me." I suppose that I should then say that following Jesus is the highest calling of a Christian. Part of following Jesus includes evangelism. Which is not the same thing as saying that Evangelism is the highest calling.

A personal reflection: Recently I stopped attending an evangelical Protestant campus ministry because I am not interested in living how the young men there live. In a later conversation with one of the men, he suggested that I consider how the organization needs people to spread the Gospel, regardless of how they are living. I think that way of thinking and living is the outcome of making Evangelism into our highest calling.

Well I think these are semantics, ofcourse following Jesus Christ is the highest calling, but Christ Himself called us to proclaim the Gospel. In that sense, He has made the highest calling in His service to be fishers of men. Our Lord might aswell take us into heaven with Himself straight away, were it not for a lost world out there that needs salvation. I think that is the reason we are still here on earth, ultimately so others might believe in Jesus Christ and be saved. All the rest we will able to do much better when we will be with Him, but the one thing we can't do in heaven but we can do here is share the Gospel with others. And our following Jesus Christ, our holy lives in obedience to Him I think should be subservient to that aim, to be a light and salt to this world that draws people to Jesus Christ in word and deed and brings salvation.

I was watching an interview with the guy you quoted, Florens v/d Spek, last night and in it - among other things - he was saying that we should return to the Bible as our source of living and authority, we should be a salt and light in this world etc. and that we need the Holy Spirit to do so. I have to say I really like this guy . And the Gospel he is sharing doesn't exclude actually following Jesus with our lives, and true Evangelism never should. So perhaps that protestant evangelical ministry wasn't much of a light and salt because the lives of the people there were not actually in obedience to Jesus Christ and filled with the Spirit, but perhaps pray to find another group or start one of your own with truly dedicated followers of Christ that long to share the Gospel. Because there is a wrong way, doesn't mean there isn't a right way. I hope you will find a way, and God bless you in your walk with Him.

cmbl wrote:

Paul wrote:The leader, Florens van der Spek already made national television proclaiming Jesus as Lord, impressively handling the mockery and pointing to Jesus as God, and telling everyone we need Him for every aspect of our lives etc. and today in the newspaper he commented like this "Evangelism is the highest calling of a Christian. This also goes for politics.

I'm not aware of the place in the NT where it says that Evangelism is the highest calling of a Christian. I do know that Jesus regularly said "Follow me." I suppose that I should then say that following Jesus is the highest calling of a Christian. Part of following Jesus includes evangelism. Which is not the same thing as saying that Evangelism is the highest calling.

A personal reflection: Recently I stopped attending an evangelical Protestant campus ministry because I am not interested in living how the young men there live. In a later conversation with one of the men, he suggested that I consider how the organization needs people to spread the Gospel, regardless of how they are living. I think that way of thinking and living is the outcome of making Evangelism into our highest calling.

I think you are quite right. Our highest calling is to follow - that is to obey and to be disciples. And one of the commissions Jesus gave is that we should proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God and to make more disciples.

Preaching a "gospel" that has had no impact on the way of life of the preacher is preaching a fabrication, it might be "Evangelism" but it is not anything Jesus or Peter or Paul promoted or preached. And this is probably the root of the problem: so-called Christian religious groups preaching a message and building a religion that is entirely foreign to what Jesus called "the word of God" and Paul called "the good news by which we are saved".

I don't think the Bible uses the term "highest calling". This is the closest I can think of:

And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test Him: “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?”

He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

Loving the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind implies worshiping him, serving him, obeying him, seeking his mind on all things. Loving your neighbor as yourself implies both loving service and evangelism.

And evangelism is about discipling people to do the same.

The 11 disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. When they saw Him, they worshiped, but some doubted. Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

I think it's a mistake to separate evangelism from obedience, because evangelism is one of the things we are commanded to do. And I think it's a mistake to separate evangelism from discipling to obedience, see the phrase in blue above. And I think it's a terrible mistake to separate either of these from loving God and loving our neighbor.

I don't know the ministry you are talking about, I don't know if they deserve your criticism or not, but obviously we should all try to find a place that helps us walk as Jesus commanded us. Including evangelism.

The ministry we are talking about is a political party.

Hats Off wrote:The ministry we are talking about is a political party.

If that's true, I would definitely look elsewhere. But I think you already knew that. Have you been able to find a fellowship that you find more on track?

cmbl wrote:A personal reflection: Recently I stopped attending an evangelical Protestant campus ministry because I am not interested in living how the young men there live. In a later conversation with one of the men, he suggested that I consider how the organization needs people to spread the Gospel, regardless of how they are living. I think that way of thinking and living is the outcome of making Evangelism into our highest calling.

Definitely not uncommon. I wonder if these people even recognize error in their lifestyles?
To effectively evangelize, we must know scripture, and to know is to do it.
So my hunch is that many of these people rely too heavily on second-hand faith (meaning they're not searching and study the Word on their own). Another factor is some people simply aren't willing to die to their old nature; they deceive themselves.
I've become separated from some evangelical-centered friends over lifestyle. They didn't understand a thing I was saying about many things from the NT... When asked what they read in the bible, both replied "Psalms". Don't get me wrong, I like the psalms, but they're no foundation for a Christ-centered life.

Hats Off wrote:The ministry we are talking about is a political party.

No no, the political party isn't a ministry.. it's just a way to spread the Gospel, the ministry he mentioned is a protestant ministry for Evangelism. Just so people won't get confused..

I just wonder who is talking about Evangelism without obedience, and why that has become a topic? I certainly never meanth to advocate Evangelism apart from following Jesus Christ, now Evangelism in obedience is much more important topic, how are we doing with that? I just shared the Gospel with someone who was sleeping at the salvation army about 45 mins ago, boy it wasn't easy.. he was getting cranky at one point.. but I felth compelled to do so and I pray the Lord will bless it for him. I am not saying that to boast, and I don't have those encounters daily or anything, but those opportunities sometimes arise and I wonder if any of you have experience with such encounters?

Paul wrote:I wonder if any of you have experience with such encounters?

I don't think I'm as effective at a verbal evangelism as many. Have tried before and it didn't yield much.
I believe that visible obedience is evangelism in and of itself.

KingdomBuilder wrote:

Paul wrote:I wonder if any of you have experience with such encounters?

I don't think I'm as effective at a verbal evangelism as many. Have tried before and it didn't yield much.
I believe that visible obedience is evangelism in and of itself.

But how Biblical is that exactly? The Apostles and disciples were not persecuted for their visible obedience, they were persecuted for their audible obedience.