Real Evangelism

Real Evangelism

Read: John 17:20-23

“I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

John 17:23

“Love for the brethren is far more than an agreeable society whose views are the same.”

—A. W. Pink

IN WORD What is the greatest evangelistic tool of all time? Crusades? Short-term or long-term missions? Tracts? Door-to-door or neighbor-to-neighbor witnessing? Lifestyle evangelism? TV and radio? Films? Technology? All have been used by God, sometimes quite dramatically, to spread His gospel into the world. But none of them are highlighted in Scripture as the key to pointing to the Christ as God’s Son. That honor goes to unity.

Most evangelistic training manuals and classes do not include a session on the unity of the church. But Jesus prays for His believers to be one—completely united—in order “to let the world know that you sent me.” Such unity stands out because true, loving fellowship is alien to this world. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). The implication is clear: If we don’t love one another, the world won’t know.

IN DEED Have you ever been in a fellowship in which “all the believers were one in heart and mind” (Acts 4:32)? If you have, you know that such a fellowship acts as a magnet to everyone around it. It grows deeper and often larger. People are drawn to something they know to be supernatural; they marvel at unity because it does not come from human impulse.

And the reverse is true. No one is drawn to a church that bickers. Chronic strife is a clear sign that Jesus is not acknowledged as Lord in that place. The genuine unity of the saints is the greatest tool of evangelism God has given us. Do not seek others for the kingdom without seeking this as well.