Lausanne World Pulse – People of Persuasion: Evangelism and the Pentecostal/Charismatic Revival
By Grant McClung
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Only the coming of the power of the Holy Spirit to those who |
Evangelism has been the first priority from the very outset of the modern Pentecostal/Charismatic movement. The historical self-image in the “Pentecostal/Charismatic story” is that we were raised up by God to be an instrument of revival and evangelism in the world. Traditionally, therefore, it has been felt that to be Pentecostal/Charismatic is to be an evangelistic witness. Pentecostals see aggressive evangelism in the pages of the New Testament and due to our high regard for the Bible and our literal interpretation of scripture we interpret the Pentecostal experience as a mandate for evangelism in its various forms and methods.
Definition of Evangelism
For Pentecostals, evangelism is defined as the act of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ in the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit with the intention that individuals will be persuaded to put their trust in Christ for salvation and serve him in the fellowship of a local church.
Pentecostal evangelism rejects the liberal tenets of universalism that say the work of evangelism is simply to inform people that they are already saved. Neither do Pentecostals believe that proclaiming only for the sake of giving objective information is sufficient. Pentecostal evangelism involves the good news of deliverance over against the bad news that humanity is spiritually dead and bound in the oppression of sin. Pentecostal evangelism, therefore, calls for a confrontation; it is the conveyance of truth-as-encounter. The Pentecostal witness preaches for a verdict and expects results.
This is the sense in which Jesus announces his mission of evangelism under the anointing of the Holy Spirit:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).
There is a persuasiveness and aggressiveness in Pentecostal evangelism characterized by the preaching of the Apostle Paul as he seeks to persuade King Agrippa to become a believer. Paul indicates that he has been rescued in order to rescue others through evangelism. God’s commission to him is central to his evangelistic testimony:
“I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:17-18).