The Question
Recently our church had another one of our regular evangelism Saturdays, where a group of us hit the streets and went door-to-door in our neighborhood, sharing the gospel cold-turkey. Before we dispersed in our smaller evangelistic groups, we all gathered as one large group for about thirty minutes for prep time.
Prep time entails a short devotional from the Word, prayer time, important reminders of proper and courteous protocol, and some role-playing. During the role-playing time the profoundly important and practical question came up, “When we evangelize, do we share the good news first or do we talk about sin first?”
Our group of about 70 people was divided on the matter. It was apparent that some thought we need to begin with “Law” first, after the model of “The Way of the Master” and Ray Comfort. This approach quickly tries to get the evangelism prospect to realize and admit that they sin and are therefore a sinner, and as a result they need a Savior.
The idea is to prove to them personally that they are spiritually lost before they are given the remedy which can save them, namely the gospel. You cannot first tell a person the good news if they don’t believe there is any bad news. You can’t tell them they can be saved if they don’t believe they are lost. Your typical unbeliever is quite comfortable in their sin and they don’t think they need saving and they don’t want saving, because, as Jesus said, they “love” (agapaó) their sin (John 3:19).
Others in the crowd held that evangelism is about sharing the gospel, and the word “gospel” first and foremost means “good news.” And that is true about the etymology of “gospel,” which comes from the Greek compound word euanngelion, from the prefix eu-, meaning “good,” plus angelion which means “message” or “messenger,” like an “angel.”
So, the gospel message is good news, a positive message, and so our interchange with unbelievers needs to begin on the positive note of the good news. The Bible does not begin with the Fall and sin, the bad news. It begins with God and creation, which Genesis says was “good” (1:4, 25) and “very good” (1:31). The bad news of sin came later, after creation.
After a little back-and-forth exchange from the two camps of thought, someone in the crowd asked, “Pastor Cliff, what do you think?” Following is the gist of what I said.
The Goal in Evangelism
When we evangelize, the goal is not to get people saved. Saving people is God’s job (Isa 45:21). Rather, our goal is to share the complete gospel in our conversations with unbelievers. Hopefully we can articulate more than just some parts of the gospel. The whole message needs to be delivered intact. We need to present a fully-informed, balanced gospel message.
The complete gospel entails a positive and a negative element. When you proclaim or deliver the whole gospel to an unbeliever, that is success in evangelism…even if they don’t believe it initially. Evangelism and gospel proclamation is about seed planting. Our job is to plant the whole seed; God’s job is to bring in the harvest (1 Cor 3:6-7).
The best summary in the Bible of the complete gospel is in 1 Corinthians 15. It is actually the only place that explicitly gives a definition of the gospel message. Paul writes, “Now, I make known to you, brethren, the gospel….by which you are saved…that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:1-4). That’s it! The complete, balanced, full gospel message. Of course, it has to be fleshed out and explained as to the meaning and many implications of each word and phrase. That’s why Scripture says the gospel message must be taught and preached.
The Balance in Evangelism
Notice the simple gospel message entails good news and bad news. They go together. They complement and help define one another. They are inextricably related. They cannot be separated. The good news can only be understood in light of the bad news, and vice versa.
The fact that Christ was raised is good news—miraculous news. “Sins” is bad news. Sin is the enemy of God’s holiness. Sin demands separation and death. Many would say “Christ” here in 1 Corinthians 15 is good news. It is. Christ is God, perfect, eternal, Creator, Savior, the good shepherd. But at the same time, “Christ” is also very bad news for many people, because He is the holy, omnipotent Judge of every soul. He hates sin and must punish sin.
Christ has enemies. Many people hate Jesus. They despise him. To them, his very name is bad news. Jesus declared, “the world hates Me” (John 7:7). Christ will judge his rebellious, unbelieving enemies when they breathe their last and also when he comes with his fleet of angels in majestic glory at the end of the age, as he wages war upon them, slaughtering them in a world-wide bloodbath. John describes the coming scene:
He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire….He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood…From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations…and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty (Rev 19:11-15).
Further, the phrase, “Christ died” is both positive and negative. “Died” is negative, for death is the penalty and consequence of sin (Rom 6:23). Death is an enemy of God (1 Cor 15:26). Death is the weapon of Satan (Heb 2:14). Death means “separation from God.” “Death” by itself is bad news.
At the same time, the phrase “Christ died” is good news. It’s great news. It’s actually the greatest news ever. It is good news because Paul explained what Christ died for. He died “for our sins.” He died as our substitute. He was momentarily separated from God on the cross in the place of sinners. He was put to death by the Father to absorb the divine wrath sinners deserve. He died that sinners might live.
Christ’s death is the worst tragedy in the history of the world. Christ’s death is the greatest good ever achieved in the history of the world. The complete gospel entails good news which is defined by the bad news.
So, the good news and bad news go together. Every element in the gospel message is absolutely essential. The complete saving biblical gospel message has an “irreducible complexity” that can’t be dichotomized, dissected, or tampered with.
Sharing only good news with an unbeliever is a shallow, superficial pseudo-gospel of easy-believism. There is too much of this lifeless counterfeit in popular American Christianity. Telling someone, “Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” is not the complete gospel message. If a person does not believe God’s truth, they won’t have a wonderful life. Or to say. “All people are the children of God,” as many do, is universalism, which is a false gospel.
Until a person believes and repents, Jesus said the wrath of God is abiding on that person (John 3:36). People are born enemies of God, not as children of God. Christ’s saving gospel is not only good news.
Sharing only the bad news of sin and God’s wrath is fear-mongering and only creates guilt and self-righteous legalists. I remember when I first got saved, I saw outside the arena of a large sporting event a group of “Christians” holding big, bold hand-made signs out on the street in front of the stadium which read, “TURN OR BURN!” and “GOD HATES THE WICKED EVERY DAY, PSALM 5.” When I first saw such signs, I thought, “Well, I guess it is true that if you die without Christ you will burn in hell forever. That is what the Bible teaches, and Psalm 5 does mention God’s displeasure with wicked people.”
But over time I realized that those signs do not contain the gospel, for they entail no “good news” whatsoever. “Gospel” means “good news.” If we are not giving any good news of hope provided by God to the sinner, then we are not proclaiming the good news. Such a lopsided message is only bad news. And the gospel is not bad news. So, we need to avoid a truncated gospel in either extreme: saying, “God loves you” is not the complete gospel and neither is only saying, “God’s hates you and your sin!”
What Did Jesus Do? (WDJD)
A good way to answer the question of whether we begin with the good news or the bad news when talking with unbelievers is to ask, “How did Jesus evangelize and interact with unbelievers?” Or, “What did Jesus do?” (WDJD), not, “What would Jesus do?” (WWJD). Finite fallen humans have no idea what Jesus “would” do.
We know from Scripture what Jesus did do. He was the greatest evangelist in history. Looking at the Gospels, one quickly sees that Jesus dealt with everyone on an individual basis and so his evangelistic conversations run the gamut. They all vary based on who He was talking to. His method varied case-by-case, but his message was always the same.
When evangelizing the woman at the well Jesus rebuked her (John 4:10) before offering good news (4:14); and he exposed her sin (4:18) before offering her salvation (4:22). Actually, in that dialogue, the good news and bad news were inseparably intertwined all throughout the discussion.
When dealing with the compromised traitor and tax-collector, Zaccheus, Jesus began the evangelization event with a kind and loving gesture, or good news. Inevitably Jesus got to the bad news because Zach came to realize he was a sinner in need of forgiveness, so he repented and was saved (Luke 19:1-10).
When addressing the unbelieving towns of Chorazin and Bethsaida, Jesus emphasized the bad news, pronouncing wrath upon them, saying, “Woe to you!” (Matt 11:21). When talking to some of the more receptive crowds, Jesus emphasized compassion, the good news, saying, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28).
The key was that when evangelizing, Jesus told the listener what they needed to hear; he was person-specific. He always gave a complete gospel message, including the good news and the bad with the right balance and emphasis. He said as much when He prayed to the Father, saying, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants” (Matt 11:25).
So, when sharing the gospel, do we lead with the good news or the bad news? The Bible is clear, and Jesus’ example is the supreme model to follow. When evangelizing, address every person as an individual. Every sinner is somewhere different on the spectrum of conviction and spiritual sensitivity due to the condition of their conscience and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit who is always working on the sinner’s heart (John 16:8-9).
At the same time, always have the goal of sharing the complete gospel message, including all the elements Paul delineated in 1 Corinthians 15:1-5. We need to talk about Christ, His death, our sin, the Scriptures, Christ’s resurrection, and how to be saved. The good news and bad news is inherent in all those words and phrases. We preach good news with the backdrop of the bad news; and we preach the bad news as informed by the good news.
Be faithful in planting the whole seed of the whole saving truth. Let God handle the results of your labor.
