The Downside of Evangelism

As we visited with friends and missionaries in Ukraine, one thing became apparent.  Flash in the pan Evangelism crusades that save thousands of people can cause immense hurt feelings with the local church.  I have been to and a part of these crusades and I even got to talk to a couple of teens who gave their lives to Jesus at the altar call.  I then proceeded to talk with these 2 boys for a couple of minutes, even walked them to the exit door and then, they disappeared out of my life and quite possibly out of the church.  As I was walking with them, I mentioned they needed to go to church and grow in Christ, but I had no relationship with them, my words of wisdom were words from a stranger.

Missionary friends in Ukraine mentioned a similar story where a group came in and had hundreds of converts in the local villages, and then told the church in the big city of all these people that needed churches in their villages and the church worked overtime to see these churches flourish, but again, they didn't really have trained leaders who had relationship with the locals and the churches folded.  Often we focus on the immediate impact of the gospel instead of how to fan the immediate spark into a burning flame.

Up until this last week, I have always thought that when Jesus called His disciples, it was sudden and immediate.  Then I was reading through the Gospel of Luke.  Each Gospel writer had a different reason for writing and Luke's is quite obvious.  Reading through Luke and Acts, the reader sees the process of Jesus coming to Earth, teaching the disciples, dying on the cross, the Resurrection and the Gospel, through the disciples, spreading to the entire Roman world.

Reading Luke 4:38-5:11 one cannot help but see the process in the calling of Peter (Simon).

First, Jesus already was teaching, healing and had crowds following Him.  We gather from this that Jesus was a known person.  Second, Jesus personally went to Peter's home and healed his mother-in-law.  Third, Jesus got into Peter's boat and taught the large crowds from the boat.  Fourth, Jesus met Peter where he was at, by physically bringing in a large catch of fish.  Lastly, we see Peter's heart moved and Peter realizes his sin and from that point Peter left everything and followed Jesus.

I encourage you to read the passage yourself and see this progression.

I guess what I am trying to say is, we often focus on the immediate impact of the Gospel and forget the process and buildup of the relationship with the Almighty.  Remembering that God is concerned with the process as well as the product.