Reflections on evangelization from Ministry Magazine…
The wholistic and prophetic evangelistic task as exemplified in the ministry, life, and teaching of Jesus, John the Baptist, and the apostolic church this is what the twenty-first century church needs.
Evangelization has been traditionally defined as the verbal proclamation of the good news of salvation. This announcement, and the verbal dimension of the concept, is based on the Greek word evangeliz/evangelizomai, with its emphasis on proclamation.
That definition is, however, too narrow, failing to capture the richness of what the New Testament portrays as evangelism (a word, incidentally, not found as such in Scripture). Rather than focusing on a word or even a number of words, the student of Scripture should look at the full picture painted by the Gospels and Acts, which portrays Jesus and the apostles not merely as prepositional evangelists, but as situational evangelistic missionaries. Their evangelism was not merely the oral communication of some prepositional truth, but situational activities that aimed to bring about wholeness. Their evangelistic approach involved preaching and healing, teaching and acting out their message.
Luke’s paradigm
Luke illustrates Jesus’ social evangelistic outreach best through his interest in the poor and marginalized. These are the ones who needed the good news in all its dimensions. On the other hand the rich are illustrative of those who were challenged to change how they treated the poor, the weak, op pressed, and the marginal.
Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, selected and edited his material (see Luke 1:2,3) in order to focus on this social dimension. For instance, Luke’s narrative of the birth stories differs markedly from that of Matthew. In Matthew, kings, kingdoms, males, and the powerful are highlighted; Luke, in contrast, has none of Matthew’s stories. He focuses instead on Mary, shepherds, a stable, and elderly people in the temple. In Luke it is to the poor and simple that the angel or angels appear; it is to them the good news is given; to them the announcement of salvation and hope is presented. In this context Mary in her Magnificat sings.
Much has been written on Jesus’ paradigmatic manifesto in Luke 4:18-19. It is a defining passage in Luke’s under standing of Jesus’ evangelistic program. Luke strategically places the statement at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. As Matthew strategically has the Great Commission at the end of his Gospel, Luke places what it means for Jesus to be Messiah (“the anointed One”) front and center. Jesus is anointed to give good news to the poor, to heal the physically and emotionally sick, and proclaim over all good news. Again, Jesus’ salvation program is holistic.
Source: Ministry Magazine
