Healing Evangelism: Christ's Approach to Evangelism

T h e D i a g n o s i s

Overview

The disease of sin afflicts the entire human family. Every sinful act, whether it be murder, stealing, lying or some other transgression, is incited by man’s inherent sin. The symp­toms of this disease extend across the whole spectrum of evil, and cause pain to the soul. Moreover, defining sin as a disease means that we can define the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior-Healer. Evange­lism, therefore, is an effort to bring healing, or salvation, to the soul. Thus, we have the basis for our title, “Healing Evangelism.”

Most of us understand the concept of h­e­aling. We have long praised God for His power to heal our bodies. The Bible records many miracles of physical healing. In addition to these physical miracles, we also recognize Gods power to heal broken hearts, wound­ed spi­rits, and depressed minds. Sal­vation, however, has not often been seen as an act of heal­ing. Usually, we charac­terize it as a con­version, a transfor­mation, deliverance, or a new birth. These de­fini­tions refer to the singular event of salvation ra­ther than the holistic healing process which salvation encompasses. Healing, by its very defini­tion, takes into account the purpose, the process, the prior con­dition, the end result, and the motive of the healer or the healing agent. As we explore this concept through the scrip­ture, we will see that abundant evi­dence exists to es­tablish the healing of the soul as the central mission of God himself.

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; be­cause the LORD hath anoint­ed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken­hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the accep­table year of the LORD, and the day of ven­geance of our God; to comfort all that mo­urn.” Isaiah 61:1-2

Defining Terms: A Theology Primer

• All men are born sinners in the sight of God. (Romans 3:9; 3:23; Psalm 14; Isaiah 53:6)
• Man’s universal sinful condition stems from the sin of Adam. (Romans 5:12-21)
• Condemnation, wrath and the curse of death now blanket the whole world. (Romans 3:19; 6:23; Galatians 3:10; Ephesians 2:3)
• Sin touches every aspect of man’s nature: mental, moral, spiritual and physical. (Ephesians 4:18; Jeremiah 17:9-10; Tutus 1:15; II Corinthians 7:5; Romans 7:18)

We gain further insight to the healing model by closely observing the phenome­non of pain—-what people do about it, what the medical profession does about it, and what winning over pain entails. Spiritual lessons, rich in practical pointers, abound. Through this model, we may predict what many people will do with the Gospel and why. It helps “de-mys­tify” the way people interact with the spirit­ual truths of the Gospel.

Evangelism does not consist of programs, surveys, ratios, target zones or public relations schedules. Therefore, this book should serve as a construct for new attitudes, a revitalization for our earthly mission. We have undertaken the task of answering these questions:

• What was Christ’s attitude toward winning souls?
• How can the church be more effective in soulwinning?
• What changes do we need to make to meet the real problems of real people?

Answers to these questions will suggest a personal agenda for each reader.

“Healing Evangelism” has broad implications for our total perception of soulwinning, the role model for the soulwin­ner, the procedures in soulw­inning, and the immediate and long-range goals of the soulwin­ner. It r­eaches into the heart and mind of Christ, recorded nearly two thousand years in the past, and yet utilizes the most modern tec­hniques and methods in practice today.