16 April 2015 A.D. Whiny Southern Baptist Arminians—Calvinism and Evangelism
16 April 2015 A.D. Whiny Southern Baptist Arminians—Calvinism and Evangelism
Busenitz, Nathan. “Does Calvinism Discourage
Evangelism?” Cripplegate. 14 Apr
2015. http://thecripplegate.com/does-calvinism-discourage-evangelism/. Accessed 15 Apr 2015.
Does
Calvinism Discourage Evangelism?
Seven years ago, a group of fifteen Southern Baptist evangelists met together to
bemoan the growth of Calvinism within SBC circles.
When asked about his concerns, Jerry Drace (the
evangelist who initiated the meeting) explained that some Baptist pastors are so
Calvinistic “that they almost laugh at evangelism. It’s almost to the
extent that they believe they don’t have to do it. So [Calvinism] gives them an
excuse not to do evangelism.”
Drace’s comments raise an important question. Does
an affirmation of God’s sovereign election in
salvation (commonly called “Calvinism”) discourage people from
faithfulness in evangelism?
An answer to that question could be approached
from several different angles.
One could, for example, consider evangelistic
efforts among Baptists — comparing those who embrace the doctrine
of election with those who do not. An SBC study “found that Calvinistic recent graduates report that they conduct
personal evangelism at a slightly higher rate than their non-Calvinistic
peers.”
A better place to go, of course, would be the Word
of God. There are many passages to which we could turn (from John 6 to Acts 13
to Ephesians 1); but I would start in Romans 9–10. Pardon the anachronism, but it is no
accident that one of the most “Calvinistic” chapters in the Bible (Romans 9) is
partnered with the one of the most “evangelistic” (Romans 10). Clearly, the
apostle Paul saw no disconnect between the reality of God’s sovereignty in
salvation and his own evangelistic zeal.
One needs only examine Protestant history to see
that Calvinists have been on the forefront of evangelism and missions. George
Whitefield was outspoken in affirming all five points of Calvinism, yet he was
one of the most zealous and effective evangelists of the Great Awakening.
Wherever he traveled, both in England and America, people would turn out by the
thousands to hear him preach in the open fields. The modern missionary movement
began in 1792 when the Calvinistic Baptist, William Carey, left England to
minister the gospel in India. With the help of William Ward and Joshua
Marshman, he founded 26 churches and 126 schools, and translated the Bible into
44 languages including Sanskrit. In 1812, Adoniram Judson, another Calvinistic
Baptist, sailed to Burma, becoming the first American to depart for the
overseas mission field. . . . Other Calvinistic evangelists and
missionaries of note include Jonathan Edwards, Asahel Nettleton and Charles H.
Spurgeon. More than this, the Protestant Reformation was perhaps the greatest
evangelistic movement of modern history. The Lord brought it about through the
evangelistic zeal and unfailing courage of men who believed that God is fully
sovereign in salvation—men such as Martin Luther,William Tyndale, John Calvin
and John Knox, as well as lesser known men such as William Farel, George
Wishart, Martin Bucer, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley and countless others.
One of my favorite accounts from church history in
this regard is the testimony of George Müller. When he first encountered the doctrines of
grace (such as mankind’s total depravity and God’s sovereign election), Müller
tried to reject them. He would later describe his initial distaste in
his autobiography, “Before this period I had been much opposed to the doctrines
of election, particular redemption, and final persevering grace; so much so
that . . . I called election a devilish doctrine.”
But as he continued to study God’s Word, Müller
reached an unexpected conclusion. He wrote:
I went to the Word, reading the New Testament from
the beginning, with a particular reference to these truths. To my great
astonishment I found that the passages which speak decidedly for election and
persevering grace, were about four times as many as those which speak
apparently against these truths; and even those few, shortly after, when I had
examined and understood them, served to confirm me in the above doctrines.
Müller initially feared that embracing the doctrine
of election would quench his passion for evangelism. But he soon found it had
the opposite effect. Consequently, he noted:
In the course of time . . . it pleased God then to
show to me the doctrines of grace in a way in which I had not seen them before.
At first I hated them, “If this were true I could do nothing at all in the
conversion of sinners, as all would depend upon God and the working of His
Spirit.” But when it pleased God to reveal these truths to me, and my heart was
brought to such a state that I could say, “I am not only content simply to be a
hammer, an axe, or a saw, in God’s hands; but I shall count it an honor to be
taken up and used by Him in any way; and if sinners are converted through my
instrumentality, from my inmost soul I will give Him all the glory;” the Lord
gave me to see fruit; the Lord gave me to see fruit in abundance; sinners were
converted by scores; and ever since God has used me in one way or other in His
service.
That perspective fueled Müller’s evangelistic zeal
— from the 10,000 orphans he helped to care for in England to the over 200,000
miles he traveled as an itinerant evangelist, taking the gospel to dozens of
foreign nations. Müller’s example is one of many powerful answers,
from history, to those who would allege that an affirmation of God’s
sovereignty in salvation kills evangelism.
Whether we look to Scripture or church
history, we quickly learn that a belief in God’s sovereign election — properly
understood — is no deterrent to a passionate witness. In reality, it has the
opposite effect.
A right understanding actually motivates the
missionary spirit. As Charles Spurgeon explained to his students, “We must have the heathen
converted; God has myriads of His elect among them, we must go and
search for them somehow or other.”
That is the
kind of passion for evangelism that ought to characterize all who
call themselves “Calvinists.” If it doesn’t, it calls into question the authenticity
of the label.
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