Evangelism Must not Aim at Making Up for Membership Loss
German Professor Warns: Mission is not a Means of Re-Conquering Lost Territory
Altenkirchen, October 1 (idea) – Evangelism misses the point if it aims just at making up for church membership losses. Evangelical theologians gathering at Altenkirchen, Germany, agreed that its main objective must be to bring people to a personal and living faith in Jesus Christ.
The Baptist theologian Professor Erich Geldbach emphasized that churches should not give in to the temptation of using mission and evangelism as a means of “re-conquering lost territory”.
Evangelism, he said, is “an obligation for the whole church handed down from generation to generation”. But he criticized evangelistic strategies aimed at enticing people through attractive musical programs or leisure activities. This way people often felt they abused for an ulterior motive.
Geldbach also deplored a lack of evangelistic teaching and widespread prejudices against mission at German theological faculties. Many university theologians treated mission as something to be locked away “in the poison cabinet”.
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