What the Early Church Can Teach Us About Evangelism Today

There has been no perfect period in church history. The First Century church must not be over-idealized. According to theologian Walter Elwell, in the New Testament epistles alone, the church had to be corrected some 150 times. We must always be careful to avoid projections and over-idealizations of any time or place.

Nevertheless, the early church still has much to say to us today, and it is wise to be attentive to its lessons. There are two mistakes that can be made about traditions of the past: (1) to reject the past altogether as archaic and irrelevant and move on to questions of the present; and (2) to be dominated by the past, letting the calcifying conventions of days gone by tyrannize healthy communal development.

G.K. Chesterton says a proper understanding of the past is to make some accommodation so its voice might still be heard. Every time a given age sits at the table to consider an event or challenge, it should always give a seat to the voice of the past. It is, according to Chesterton, democracy extended through time.

A true grasp of tradition gives a vote to the dead. This way, the wisdom of the past is not neglected and the challenges of the day benefit by such wisdom while also being infused with fresh ideas. Bringing this kind of balance into the discussion, we must consider:

Does the early church contribute anything to today’s church relative to its mission in the world?

What are the ways Christians in the past shared their faith in Christ, and can that positively affect the ways Christians share Christ with others today?

The Evangelism Methods of Jesus

When Jesus gathered his disciples to himself, he used one of two methods:

1. Contact Evangelism: Reaching the One. Jesus simply came to some and called them to follow. One example of this is Matthew. There may have been an earlier relationship that existed between Matthew and Jesus, but there is no textual reference to it. Therefore, it can be imagined that Jesus simply encountered some people and called them into relationship. Similarly, some people can be led to Christ after an initial contact. It is wise to be sensitive to how the Spirit of God may be moving in any given conversation as he woos others to himself through us.

2. Relational Evangelism: Reaching Through Relationships (that is, “webs of relationship”). In John 1, Andrew went and brought his brother, Peter, to Jesus. Likewise, Philip found his friend, Nathaniel. So too, God may have us share Christ through friendships we already have. We must not neglect the fact that God often reaches out through established relationships in order to make Christ known in the world.