We need to examine our evangelistic methods

We need to examine our evangelistic methods in the light of God’s Word and ‘take heed’ how we are seeking to build. Our methods are not to be judged by the results produced, but by the standard of God’s Word. Many of the measures used in evangelism today are more traditional than biblical. Do we believe that the clear exposition of the Word of God is capable of bringing people to see their need of Christ? Are we content to follow the preaching of the Word with an earnest exhortation to call on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation and make ourselves available to those who may have been moved by the Spirit? Or, do we feel that we must employ additional methods to encourage a response? Will we let the sound doctrine of the Bible be our rule for faith and practice in our evangelism? As Charles Spurgeon said, ‘If you want to get up a revival as the term is, you can do it, just as you can grow tasteless strawberries in winter, by artificial heat. There are ways and means of doing that sort of thing, but the genuine work of God needs no such planning and scheming.

C. H. Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 17, [London, 1972], p. 499