“… We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow … For we are both God’s workers …” 1 Corinthians 3:5
The work of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ is a multi-faceted endeavor. In other words, it is not one-dimensional or one-sided. It has many forms or may employ different methods that work together toward its objective of winning souls to Christ. For instance, God used Paul to plant and Apollos to water. They each had a role in the process of people coming to Christ.
There is a three-dimensional model called the 3 P’s of evangelism that depicts three levels of action in spreading and sharing the gospel through the ministry of evangelism — presence, proclamation and persuasion. A person or church’s role varies at each level, yet is a vital and integral part in spreading the good news.
The first level is presence. This level is foundational to the other levels of evangelism because it prepares the pathway for furthering the work of evangelism. It is at this level that we show the love and good works of the gospel by letting our light shine and sprinkle our savory salt (Matthew 5:13-16). This level is where we let our presence be felt and known particularly outside the four walls of the church into the community.
The goal is helping and loving people — feed the hungry and homeless, provide clothing, visit the sick, advocate for the hurting, helpless and for social justice. This level is the music of the gospel: witnessing in warmth. Presence evangelism enables people to feel and see the “good news” of the gospel. It has been said “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Additionally, in our post-modern society, people won’t come to church until we show we care first.
The second level is proclamation. At this level, we make the gospel known. This is where good words are added to good works. Proclamation is presenting and preaching the gospel message of God’s love and forgiveness to people and to help them understand the implications of the gospel to respond to it. People are evangelized by the preaching of the gospel (Romans 10:14, 17). Proclamation is the sound of the gospel; witnessing in word, whereby people hear the “good news” of the gospel.
As individuals we connect with people by sharing our personal stories of finding and experiencing life as God intended for us. As a church community, proclamation is done through many means including church services, distribution of gospel literature and group Bible studies. Social media is a premier tool to use in this post-modern era for proclamation evangelism.
The third level is persuasion. Grounded in the fact that we all will be judged by Christ, we endeavor to persuade people of the truths of the gospel, and to live a life pleasing to God (2 Corinthians 5:9-11). Persuasion evangelism is a tug of the gospel on the heart, whereby people are encouraged to respond to the “good news” of the gospel. This persuasion to believe is not a forceful manipulation but a convincing, reasoned argument or a reasonable response coupled with the conviction of the Holy Spirit (Acts 17:2-4; John 16:8-11). The true persuader is the Lord who opens people’s hearts to respond to our proclamation (Acts 16:14-15).
Foundational in spreading the gospel is building caring relationships through our presence with people and the community. From that, people are softened to hear its proclamation and conditioned to appropriately respond.
For further reading on these three levels of evangelism, consult “Growing God’s Church: How People Are Actually Coming to Faith Today” by Gary L. McIntosh and “Life-Style Evangelism” by Joseph C. Aldrich.
Rev. Johnson A. Beaven III is pastor of Citadel of Faith Church of God in Christ. He can be reached at jabeaven@gmail.com.
