I just finished reading Harvie M. Conn’s, Evangelism: Doing Justice and Preaching Grace. Conn says this book is “an effort to look at the relation between evangelism and social questions as two sides of the same coin” p. 9. This is not a new question the church is trying to answer, but a question that continues to be debated, especially today with the influence of the emergent church.
Can the Church Be All Things to All People?
In chapter 1, Conn argues that the church is declining because we are not meeting the immediate needs of our local contexts. He says the church must “develop a concern for itches without catering to people with itching ears” p. 16. The question I found most challenging was how accessible is the church – CrossWay – for those who need it most?
In chapter 2, Conn goes on to identify several groups of people – the “boxed-in, burned-out, publican” – and how the gospel meets their need. What is disappointing in this chapter is that Conn does not identify sin and rebellion against God as the root problem of all these groups of people. What they really need is forgiveness for their sin and reconciliation with God.
Evangelism and Justice: Setting Things Right
In chapter 3, Conn argues that evangelism is not just about proclaiming the truth of the gospel but about the doing of justice. The right response to social injustice is not sympathy but compassion. Compassion is cultivated, Conn says, when we see people not only as sinners but as sinned against.
Spirituality as a Barrier to Evangelism
In chapter 4, Conn says the two ways the church has historically viewed the cultural mandate and the evangelistic mandate has been a barrier to evangelism. Liberals have focused on the cultural mandate and of working for social justice without any attention to regeneration and the evangelicals have focused on the evangelistic mandate of preaching salvation without any attention to social issues. The solution, Conn says, is see these not as two mandates but one covenant promise by God to restore all things.
In chapter 5, Conn says prayer is where evangelism and social action come together. It is a very helpful chapter that basically says we need to be praying more for the salvation of sinners and the redemption of the world.
In this final chapter, Conn goes into some detail about the useful, dangers, and ways to use models to bring about change.
Summary Conclusion
All in all, I found Conn’s book challenging at the points where it made me think about our attention to social issues yet deficient in developing a comprehensive understanding of how evangelism and social action work together. I believe that Conn does have a point to make to both the liberal and evangelical church that we need to learn, however I think there might be some more helpful treatments of this topic out there. I hope to discuss a few of those treatments over the coming weeks.
Can the Church Be All Things to All People?
In chapter 1, Conn argues that the church is declining because we are not meeting the immediate needs of our local contexts. He says the church must “develop a concern for itches without catering to people with itching ears” p. 16. The question I found most challenging was how accessible is the church – CrossWay – for those who need it most?
For too long evangelical white Christian communities in the United States have had a “come” structure, a parochialism that identifies with saints. One cannot be a missionary church and continue insisting that the world must come to the church on the church’s terms. It must become a “go” structure. And it can do that only when its concerns are directed outside itself toward the poor, the abused, and the oppressed. The church must recapture its identity as the only organization in the world that exists for the sake of its nonmembers. –page 23.If Jesus Is the Answer, What Are the Questions?
In chapter 2, Conn goes on to identify several groups of people – the “boxed-in, burned-out, publican” – and how the gospel meets their need. What is disappointing in this chapter is that Conn does not identify sin and rebellion against God as the root problem of all these groups of people. What they really need is forgiveness for their sin and reconciliation with God.
Evangelism and Justice: Setting Things Right
In chapter 3, Conn argues that evangelism is not just about proclaiming the truth of the gospel but about the doing of justice. The right response to social injustice is not sympathy but compassion. Compassion is cultivated, Conn says, when we see people not only as sinners but as sinned against.
I discovered that a person is not only a sinner. He or she is also sinned against. My cultural background in white, North American churches had oriented me almost exclusively to seeing a person as the subject of sin. But not the object of sin. –page 45.This is true, but the gospel is not primarily to rescue us from being sinned against, but from our sin and rebellion against God. Our primary problem is not that we are being sinned against, although that is a real problem, but that we have sinned against God.
Spirituality as a Barrier to Evangelism
In chapter 4, Conn says the two ways the church has historically viewed the cultural mandate and the evangelistic mandate has been a barrier to evangelism. Liberals have focused on the cultural mandate and of working for social justice without any attention to regeneration and the evangelicals have focused on the evangelistic mandate of preaching salvation without any attention to social issues. The solution, Conn says, is see these not as two mandates but one covenant promise by God to restore all things.
Adam’s fall into sin was so deep that it cut a chasm not only between himself and God but also between himself and nature, between himself and his fellow creatures. Redemptive healing by God is indirectly promised by God in Genesis 3:15, a healing that will eradicate all the chasms it has cut – with God, with man, and with creation. –page 64.Prayer: Where Word and Deed Come Together
In chapter 5, Conn says prayer is where evangelism and social action come together. It is a very helpful chapter that basically says we need to be praying more for the salvation of sinners and the redemption of the world.
Prayer’s asking is not wishing. It is demanding that people come to Christ because Christ has come to us. It is demanding that the world be changed because Christ has come to change it. –page 74.Models: How to Change What We’ve Got
In this final chapter, Conn goes into some detail about the useful, dangers, and ways to use models to bring about change.
Summary Conclusion
All in all, I found Conn’s book challenging at the points where it made me think about our attention to social issues yet deficient in developing a comprehensive understanding of how evangelism and social action work together. I believe that Conn does have a point to make to both the liberal and evangelical church that we need to learn, however I think there might be some more helpful treatments of this topic out there. I hope to discuss a few of those treatments over the coming weeks.
