In an earlier post, I discussed the importance of evangelism, and concluded that it is an essential part of the faith. Not just commanded by Jesus, but also lived out by the early church. However, the priority of evangelism seems to have shifted today. In this post, I’ll consider how we think of evangelism today in comparison to worship music.
In order to explore this, it is interesting to compare how Scripture treated both evangelism and music, and then look at how we treat them today.
Music is one of the most important elements of worship in Scripture. This prioritization can be seen by noticing how King David established music as a key aspect of relating to God. For example, David served as an example by performing and writing music himself, then trained, equipped and established musicians in ministry (1 Chron. 25:1-30). Examples of music exist both in the Old and New Testaments and of course, God has given us a whole book of the Bible that is focused on music (Psalms).
Similarly, serving God is a key part of our relationship with Him, and one of the key aspects of this is obeying His commands. Jesus clearly commanded that we evangelize, but also did much more than that. Like David, Jesus served as an example by proclaiming the kingdom himself, then trained, equipped and established such in His disciple’s ministries (Luke 9:1-6 and 10:1-12). Examples of proclaiming God exist in both the Old and New Testaments, and of course, God has given us a whole book of the Bible that is focused on the Holy Spirit leading the early church in obedience to Jesus (Acts).
This shows that both are important, were modeled, taught, and commanded by the king, and observed by the followers.
Today, music is supported by ministries within churches that perform worship music and lead congregations so that everyone can participate. Virtually all churches make music a central part of worship activities, and a music minister is often the second position to be filled when church leadership is established.
Evangelism is not as regularly practiced in churches, however. Often it is not practiced or taught at all. Churches will sometimes have regular “missions moments” to present activities occurring in far distant lands, occasionally provide a book study, encourage donations for special causes, encourage people to travel far away to practice it, or host visiting missionaries for special events. Sometimes large churches have ministers that are focused on missions, but that doesn’t seem common.
Imagine if music were practiced as evangelism is practiced.
When attending church, music would be rarely mentioned, although occasionally someone may describe the wonderful singing done in other places. Collections are sometimes taken to enable traveling musicians to perform in other places, and occasionally such artists visit and perform in the church. People, especially youth, are encouraged to go away to concerts to experience music first hand, and classes are occasionally held to allow people to practice singing and participants are given CDs to sing at home.
The Psalms would be rarely read, sung, or even discussed except for small sections taken out of the broader musical context.
Obviously, this doesn’t capture the joyful congregational worship seen in Scripture. In a similar manner, our evangelistic efforts don’t really capture the obedient and passionate speaking that we see in Scripture. Why do we treat them so differently?
Instead, imagine if churches decided to obey Jesus and sought to emulate Him in practicing, equipping, and sending people on a regular basis.
It would have to start with prayer. Congregations could pray, as Jesus directed, that people go out. Then, as the disciples prayed, to have boldness themselves to go (eg, “send me”).
Even though not all are evangelists, there could be evangelism ministry leaders to conduct evangelism as a regular church activity (going activities rather than inviting), and as a resource to encourage and enable non-evangelists to listen for and be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading.
There’s probably more, but this gives the idea.
Personally, making evangelism so explicit a part of the church’s work may be going too far, but it does seem like there is an opportunity to take the Lord’s commands more seriously, and to make the spiritual more real.
Exploring Antioch 