What’s the full Story?
The foundation of much evangelism training today is based on what’s known as the Four Spiritual Laws. These were formulated in the 1950’s and are (in my paraphrase):
1) God loves everyone
2) Everyone has sinned and been separated from God
3) Jesus is the only way to get back to God
4) Accept Jesus as your personal Savior and you’re not separated from God anymore
For most of my Christian journey, I’ve been searching for an alternative to these 4 Laws. In January of this year, I was at a Ron Martoia seminar, and he presented a fascinating new possibility for the evangelistic message.
As Ron Martoia puts it, the 4 Spiritual Laws tell the Fall-Redemption story. They start with Genesis 3, the story of the Fall, and end with John 21, Jesus’ Resurrection. But that’s not where the Bible starts and ends. The Bible starts with Genesis 1: God created the cosmos and universe and world and us. The Bible ends with Revelation 22: There will be a New Creation which has God at its center and there will be no more evil. The Bible tells the Creation-Fall-Redemption-Restoration story. The 4 Spiritual Laws make an effort, I admit, by starting with the premise that God loves us. This is a central part of the Creation story. God makes us in His image and loves us. But it seems like there’s too much emphasis on the second, third, and fourth laws. I mean, who was ever hurt by being told that God loved them? And yet I know many people who have been deeply upset by evangelists, as well as many people who have been deeply hurt while trying to use traditional evangelism.
Creation-Fall-Redemption-Restoration. What is the Creation part of this message? How can we talk about God creating us and loving us in today’s world? Part of this will have to include the fact that God created us in His image and likeness. What does that mean to you? Read Genesis 1 and 2 and pray about it. Meditate on it and try to picture it as a movie. How do we communicate the Creation aspect of the Gospel? We also need to remember the Restoration part of this message. In the book “Velvet Elvis” by Rob Bell, the Restoration message is discussed. Many Protestant theologians would call this process “sanctification.” Eastern Orthodox theologians would call it “theosis” or “divinization.” Look up these terms and consider your own opinions. At Evergreen, we consider Restoration through the Pathways - the ultimate goal of all the Pathways is our Restoration. We are all familiar with the Fall-Redemption story, and many of us dislike elements of it. Perhaps if we put it into the context of Creation-Fall-Redemption-Restoration, it would truly be the best news on the planet.
- Written by Elaine Bayless
March 6th, 2007 at 9:22 am
I agree that too much emphasis is put on 2-4 of the spiritual laws, even though I feel it is essential as a witnessing tool and for others to understand the salvation message. But I think the restoration concept is what brings hope to people who are seeking Christ. I remember hearing about God for the first time through the 4 spiritual laws and was scared to death. All I knew at that time was that I was a sinner and was going to hell unless I asked Jesus into my life and then I was safe. The worst problem came when I would slip up, make a mistake, sin…whatever you’d like to call it. I questioned was I still “safe.” It took me a number of years to understand that Christ wants to commune with me and me with him. It took me a while to understand that the Lord will help me through all of my imperfections. I also discovered tht it is a daily journey in Christ that brings me hope and peace. When I discovered this, life has never been the same and I can continue my walk knowing that the Lord is my keeper, my help, my strong tower, my redeemer. We must let others know that there’s more to a Christina life than the 4 spiritual laws and that having a continuous walk with God is the greatest news on earth.
March 6th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
I think too many people present God to others as a set of cold, hard facts. Instead, why don’t we present him to others like we would if we were talking about a friend– a real person that we want others to meet? While I disagree with a number of things in Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis, I love his thoughts on evangelism. He says,
“Have you ever seen someone pull a photo out of their wallet and argue about the supremacy of this particular loved one? Of course not. They show you the picture and give you the opportunity to see what they see.â€
That puts a whole new spin on evangelism. It’s not about making a case for God. It’s about showing him off to others.
I still think things like the Four Spiritual Laws, apologetics, and other “proofs” of the faith are valuable and necessary for left-brainers, logical thinkers, and engineers (people like me).
For whatever its worth, I also like Bell’s statement, “I am learning that the church has nothing to say to the world until it throws better parties.” I think that’s true and it’s why the Alpha Course has been so successful around the world– it’s centered on doing what Matthew did– throwing a party for his friends to meet Christ.
March 6th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
I love these comments - I think it shows 2 different sides to this story. And just a clarification - I don’t think we should get rid of the 4 Spiritual Laws. But I do think that we should be more creative and less programmatic in our presentation of Christ. Let’s consider the 4 Spiritual Laws as an important part of the story we are telling, but not the whole story.
March 7th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Like many, I was taught the 4 Spiritual Laws at my last church. While they are true, I agree with Elaine that they are not the whole story. Not once have I ever said to someone, “Here, let me share these 4 Spiritual Laws with you.” Neither have I said, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” Maybe those statements would be relevant to someone, but I haven’t found them to be exciting for the people I’ve spoken to. In a culture where young (and older) adults have sex with no thought about the long term consequences, where first marriages are treated as trial relationships, where the concept of living in the same community for your entire life is almost non-existent, why would we think that the long-term future-based “someday this is going to matter to you” approach would work when talking to people about God? And, that “wonderful plan” He has may not seem so wonderful to someone who doesn’t know Him well.
The poverty that I see in our society is a poverty of significance. The people I see are desperately trying to prove that they are worth something, they matter. They are looking for someone to say, “I will stand by you no matter what. I will not walk away. Thirty years from now, I’ll love you even more than I do today. You are precious to me.†What I tell people is that God is absolutely gobsmacked crazy about them. He desperately wants to be let into their heart and He desperately wants them to see that they can trust Him. He’s got such a better way of living this life that it spills over into the “next.†Of course He desires that none should perish and that all should have everlasting life. He desires that for us, in the here and now, not just in the life to come. Life with God is so much bigger than just getting your entrance ticket into heaven…why have we reduced it to that?