Anything can be bad if done in excess. Even good things. I posted an article from RBC ministries the other time about that.
So I was just thinking today. Evangelism in excess can be a bad thing too.
OH NO YOU DID NOT YOU BLASPHEMOUS HERETIC.
Yes I did. Now hear me out.
Chances are, its not so much of doing in excess. For us, its more likely that we're trying reap maximum benefits in putting in as little time to reap as much as possible. But all the same, it has that sense of urgency and the desires to do so may drive us to use unorthodox means to evangelise.
Think about all the erroneous theology out there, for example the prosperity gospel. Are all proponents of the prosperity gospel actually lying to people about who God is for their own personal gain?
Frankly, I doubt so. I don't know how accurate it may be, but I would think that a huge number of proponents of the prosperity gospel actually mean well.
But they go wrong in two ways. Firstly, obviously its doctrinal error, they failed to study the Word clearly and be discerning. The second is interesting. Perhaps it might be so because of how wildly successful the prosperity gospel is in evangelism.
Frankly thats the truth. Some prosperity gospel churches thrive. I mean, who doesn't wish that they could have a personal god that is like an atm machine to them. So, in a bid to win people over, the prosperity gospel instead of the true gospel might be preached.
Now, everyone who comes here will then say 'well that doesnt apply for me, im not into the prosperity gospel'.
Yet, we can take this one level down. In our evangelism, we may focus so much on how God is our Saviour, our Friend, our Healer, which is all true and good, but we completely fail to teach these same people that He is our Lord, our Master, our King.
And frankly speaking, is that not what plagues many Christians today? They may not be accepting of the prosperity gospel, but they fail to give their lives in surrender to Christ. They believe, but they are not disciples. And Christ calls all to be disciples.
And there are other things that may occur when we get too hyped up about evangelism. We may start to rely on gimmicks to win people over. Playing on their emotions when our walk with Christ is more than just that. At the end of the day, we may not preach a false gospel to others, but we might certainly preach a twisted one.
That being said, please do not use this as an excuse to not do what is necessary. We do not forget what the Great Commission is. What we need to do is to be aware of how we are carrying it out.
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On another note peeps, if sometimes I dont reply your smses, it means I may not have received them in the first place. Take note especially if you're an M1 user, though it happened with a singtel user too.
Annoying, I actually missed important smses because of this bleh.
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