To evangelize is (in the words of the
Manila
Manifesto) "to make an open and honest statement of the gospel, which
leaves the hearers entirely free to make up their own minds about it. We wish
to be sensitive to those of other faiths, and we reject any approach that seeks
to force conversion on them."
The Scriptures declare that God himself
is the chief evangelist. For the Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth, love,
holiness and power, and evangelism is impossible without him. It is he who
anoints the messenger, confirms the word, prepares the hearer, convicts the
sinful, enlightens the blind, gives life to the dead, enables us to repent and
believe, unites us to the Body of Christ, assures us that we are God's
children, leads us into Christlike character and service, and sends us out in
our turn to be Christ's witnesses. In all this the Holy Spirit's main
preoccupation is to glorify Jesus Christ by showing him to us and forming him
in us.
All evangelism involves spiritual warfare with the
principalities and powers of evil, in which only spiritual weapons can prevail,
especially the Word and the Spirit, with prayer. We therefore call on all
Christian people to be diligent in their prayers both for the renewal of the
church and for the evangelization of the world.
Every true conversion
involves a power encounter, in which the superior authority of Jesus Christ is
demonstrated. There is no greater miracle than this, in which the believer is
set free from the bondage of Satan and sin, fear and futility, darkness and
death.
Although the miracles of Jesus were special, being signs of his
Messiahship and anticipations of his perfect kingdom when all nature will be
subject to him, we have no liberty to place limits on the power of the living
Creator today. We reject both the skepticism which denies miracles and the
presumption which demands them, both the timidity which shrinks from the
fullness of the Spirit and the triumphalism which shrinks from the weakness in
which Christ's power is made perfect.
We repent of all self-confident
attempts either to evangelize in our own strength or to dictate to the Holy
Spirit. We determine in the future not to "grieve" or "quench" the Spirit, but
rather to seek to spread the good news "with power, with the Holy Spirit and
with deep conviction". (2 Co. 5:20; Jn. 15:26,27; Lk. 4:18; 1 Co. 2:4; Jn.
16:8-11; 1 Co. 12:3; Eph. 2:5; 1 Co. 12:13; Ro. 8:16; Gal. 5:22,23; Ac. 1:8;
Jn. 16:14; Gal. 4:19; Eph. 6:10-12; 2 Co. 10:3-5; Eph. 6:17; Eph. 6:18-20; 2
Th. 3:1; Ac. 26:17,18; 1 Th. 1:9-10; Col. 1:13,14; Jn. 2:11; 20:30,31; Jn.
11:25; 1 Co. 15:20-28; Jer. 32:17; 2 Ti. 1:7; 2 Co. 12:9,10; Jer. 17:5; Eph.
4:30; 1 Th. 5:19; 1 Th. 1:5)