In a 1998 article in Pro Ecclesia, Richard J. Mouw undertook a defense of “Evangelism: The Very Idea!” (Pro Ecclesia VII.2 (1998), 172-185). He begins by saying, “It has never been difficult to find people who take offense at the very idea of evangelism. The Christian community has always been criticized by those who have thought it outrageous that Christians would engage in evangelistic activity. What makes this sense of outrage especially poignant in our time, however, is that it is being openly expressed these days within the church.” And Mouw is right: you don’t have to be in one of the poor old mainline denominations or be an executive at Fuller seminary to run into Christians whose gut reaction to the very notion of evangelism is negative, or at least deeply conflicted.

After all, the objection goes, isn’t it a narrow view of the Christian faith that thinks it can be transferred from person to person in mere words and a single prayer? (hey, this stuff writes itself!) Isn’t that an overly-intellectualized, rationalistic way of picturing salvation? Doesn’t “witnessing to people” presuppose an atomistic, individualistic (insert other -istics here for fun) version of cheap grace easy believism, tailor made for a consumerist culture, privatized (it’s really hard to stop this stuff once you let it start flowing!) and divorced from structural evils? Isn’t it an unbiblical reduction of the gospel (can’t… stop… critizing… evangelism… postevangelical… spirit… got control…. kryptonite poisoning… weak as baby…) to present it as a message about a change that takes place in an individual soul rather than as the epochal victory of God (bonus points for false dichotomy!) that transforms all things? Don’t all current methods of evangelism encourage an “US” versus “THEM” mentality and lead to triumphalism and religious imperialism? Huh? Don’t they? Huh?
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