Almost two months ago I introduced a book that deals with seven important topics promising to address each of them in turn. Through a four-part series last month, I addressed the first of these topics: truth.

Today, I return to this larger series to begin discussing the second of these seven topics: evangelism. More specifically, we’ll seek to answer the question, ‘How can churches strike the correct balance between welcoming unbelievers into their community while guarding the growth of maturing believers?’

Also, please don’t lose sight of our goal with this series and with what will be several entries about evangelism… “I want to challenge you to consider your beliefs regarding seven topics (and now ‘evangelism’) because they provide a foundation for your understanding of Christianity and the Church.”

As in most areas of life, most churches (and believers) are drawn to extremes at the point of evangelism. The seeker movement led many to embrace evangelism as the only goal of their corporate meetings. The pursuit of ‘decisions for Christ’ became the standard for any gathering. Unbelievers were confronted with the gospel and their response to it formed a litmus test for their ability to ‘belong’ to the community. In this model the pursuit of spiritual maturity was often relegated to small group meetings and discipleship classes reserved for those people who had been converted.

The emerging movement pushed in a different but equally dangerous direction by creating welcoming communities that rarely ever call for a ‘decision for Christ.’ Their response to this emphasis on (if not obsession with) conversion was to dismiss it altogether opting for a salvation through belonging. They want to allow people to join the ‘faith community’ trusting that their relationship with the group will bring them to know God. In this model, however, a specific call for conversion is often absent entirely.

Our philosophy of evangelism must be framed by aspects of both these models while being dominated by neither. At the heart of the matter is a proper understanding of conversion and faith community.

Next time I’ll summarize a proper understanding of ‘conversion’ and ‘faith community’ that will lead us to know how a church can strike the correct balance between welcoming unbelievers into their community while guarding the growth of maturing believers.