Failure to share the Gospel. Since evangelism is about sharing the Gospel, a major mistake is not sharing the message at all. Sometimes people in social work think that by caring for the poor or helping the oppressed, they are «sharing the Gospel without words.» This is not so. They may do very good and selfless things, but evangelism is about sharing Christ.
Distortion of the message. Faithful evangelism means proclaiming the Good News in all its fullness (Acts 20:27), even when it involves «inconvenient» truths such as sin and God’s judgment.
Proclaiming a false message instead of the true one. Some people who claim to preach the Gospel actually proclaim the exact opposite, with serious consequences for themselves and their listeners (Gal. 1:6-9, 2 Pet. 2:1-3).
Presenting the Gospel as a mere subjective point of view. To misrepresent the Gospel is to present it as a personal opinion that can be rejected without serious consequences. Evangelism means calling people to repent of their sins and believe in Christ in order to be saved from God's wrath. The Gospel is not simply a subjective opinion, and our evangelism must faithfully convey the universal truth and imperativeness of the Gospel.
Pressure people to make a decision. Only God can give faith and repentance. If we pressure people to make a decision, they may make a choice that will have no eternal significance. This can falsely lead someone to think that their «decision» made them a Christian, when in reality they have not repented of their sins and trusted in Christ.
Focusing on minor issues. While we want to answer the questions of unbelievers fairly, spending hours debating the problem of evil is not the same as preaching Christ Crucified. Don't let minor issues distract you from presenting the message of the cross.
Rudely ignoring questions or objections from unbelievers. This is a great way to offend them and quickly end an evangelistic conversation. Peter shows how we should respond to questions from non-Christians when he writes, «Do this with gentleness and fear, holding a good conscience» (1 Pet. 3:15-16).
About Марк Девер
Doctor of Divinity (Cambridge University), senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., author of numerous books and articles, and honorary president of the 9Marks organization.
