To train or not to train for evangelism?
Go into all the world with little training. A Pentecostal weakness?
The training component intended as part of the evangelist’s role is lacking somewhat in the church and particularly in Pentecostal theology. Further to this, the overall attitude in Pentecostalism toward training and education is very poor[1] and a strong posture toward theological education is lacking. In as much as the Bible exhorts the concept to learn and be educated (Prv 1:5, 18:15, 9:9, Col 2:8, 2 Tm 3:16, 2 Tm 2:15) this is not a Pentecostal strength.
Whilst Pentecostals may be enthusiastic regard the work of evangelism, history shows a faith tradition with little theological underpinnings in the area of evangelistic training.
Pentecostals have engaged with short-term training at the expense of more thorough, analytical learning.[2] The reality has been believers receiving minimal training in evangelism where the learning has been “more experiential than cognitive, more activist than reflective, more actualized than analyzed.”[3]
In the early days of Pentecostalism there was an urgency to declare the Gospel, as many thought the return of Jesus was pending. The focus on the need to declare the Gospel before the return of Christ deemed the time needed for training to be unnecessary.[4] This, coupled with an attitude that all one needs is the Holy Spirit to train them (Jn 14:26), has not been helpful in encouraging a solid theology of education. Some Pentecostals have such disregard for training that “seminaries” have jokingly been referred to as “cemeteries.” Warrington concurs that, “Pentecostals have preferred to live in contexts dominated by exclamation marks and not questions marks.”[5]
Many Pentecostal churches have been enthusiastic to “Go into all the world” but have provided little training to the believers to do so effectively. Fortunately, extreme negative attitudes towards thorough evangelistic training and theological education have dissipated somewhat in the last decade. However, many churches still offer a limited amount of evangelistic training to their people. Thomas Rainer says, “Effective evangelistic churches advocate evangelistic training more than they practice it.”[6] This is a weakness for many churches that needs to be addressed if the Australian church is going to be effective in reaching the nation.
2019 was an effective year for me in this area of training. There seems to be a greater openness by churches to consider and invest in six to twelve-month training programs for their people. I have had the joy of seeing congregation members equipped to reach out after attending multiple training sessions where old mindsets have been challenged and new and refreshing ideas embraced and practiced to reach the Australian community. I will be continuing this journey in 2020 as churches continue to reach out for effective training in this area.
[1] Warrington, Pentecostal Theology, 152. [2] Ibid. [3] L.G. McClung, "Salvation Shock Troops," in Pentecostals from the inside Out, ed. Harold B. Smith (Colorado Springs, CO: Scripture Pr Pubns, 1990), 81-90. [4] Burgees and van der Mass, The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charasmatic Movements, 372-380. [5] Warrington, Pentecostal Theology, 154. [6] Thom Rainer, Effective Evangelistic Churches (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 1996), 36.
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