Friday, March 6, 2009
I just finished reading, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, by J.I. Packer. Packer is one of the Professors of Theology right in my own backyard, that is Regent College in Vancouver, BC. The book was originally published in 1961 in the hopes of clearing up a few hot topics of the time. The main contemporary issue however was the weakening and generally unhealthy nature of evangelism(Packer 119). The blame of course was placed upon the resurgence of the doctrine of God's sovereignty. Many supposed that the emphasis on the sovereignty of God would diminish evangelistic efforts because it would lead to the idea that "when God pleases to convert the heathen, he will do it without your aid or mine." 1
Packer unfolds the Scriptures in order to show that there is an antinomy between God's Sovereignty and Human Responsibility, a seeming contradiction in the Bible but nevertheless two explicit truths Christians have to live by. Packer argues that Christians cannot pick and choose between these two truths but must live in continual balance proclaiming God as man's King, who is in control of his steps, and man's Judge, who holds responsible he that commits lawlessness (Packer 31). He further argues, by quoting Spurgeon, that the two truths are "friends" and friends do not need reconciling (Packer 43).
The most useful insight that I learned from this book is the idea of patience in evangelism. Because I believe that God is sovereign over all things, including man's salvation, I should not be impatient in evangelism. God has his own ways and his own timetable so that I should not be rushing to gather as much "decisions for Christ" as I can but that I should be rushing to proclaim the Gospel in the hopes that God might save some by it.
As Packer says,
The idea that a single evangelistic sermon, or a single serious conversation, ought to suffice for the conversion of anyone who is ever going to be converted is really silly. If [...] you meet a person who is not thus prepared, a person who as yet has no conviction of the truth of the gospel and perhaps no idea, or even a false idea, of what the gospel actually is, it is worse than useless to try and stampede him into a snap "decision." You may be able to bully him into a psychological crisis of some sort, but that will not be saving faith and will do him no good (Packer 130).
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Footnotes
1. Glimpses of Christian History Presents Stories behind Famous Quotes: William Carey. http://www.chinstitute.org/lives_events/quotes/quote008.shtml
Bibliography
Packer, J.I. Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 2008.
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