What is it to win a Soul? Part I

I have been a Christian for nineteen years. Within the first two years of my walk with Christ, I was introduced to a man who became a fast friend and godly example for both my life and future ministry. His name was Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892). Now of course I am not the only believer nor minister who has been so strongly shaped and influenced by Spurgeon. It would be probably incalculable to really know how many men and women in Christ have been richly blessed by the ministry of C.H. Spurgeon. All one can really say in view of Spurgeon's vast influence, is that it has simply pleased God for His own inscrutable purposes and good pleasure to use His servant to reach across generations with the Word of God.

One thing I have really settled in my heart over the years about Spurgeon, is that God has given the church only one Charles Spurgeon! Though there be many things about his character, doctrine, and ministry which are commendable for any leader or layperson to emulate; yet, there will not be another Spurgeon. And I believe this could be said for all of us. As Stephen Olford was always fond of declaring: "God never makes duplicates - only originals!" Hence, the Lord has taught me over the years (and continues to do so) to learn to be content with who and what His grace has made me for the glory of His name. Nevertheless, I love and admire Spurgeon and thank God for giving to His church this precious gift (cf. Eph.4:12; Heb.13:7).

Recently, I have begun reading again Spurgeon's classic work entitled, The Soul Winner. The subject of this book centers on the ministry of personal evangelism (if you couldn't tell by the title). If you were to rank this book among the many that have been written on this matter in the last 150 years, I would have to say that The Soul Winner is certainly going to be perched in the top five, if not in the top three. Other worthies in this catagory would be Will Metzger's Tell the Truth and J.I. Packer's Evangelism & The Sovereignty of God. What I appreciate so much about The Soul Winner though, is that Spurgeon takes nearly the first half of this book to speak directly to pastors. In fact, out of the fifteen chapters which make up the book, the first six were delivered at Spurgeon's Pastor's College to his ministerial students. So there is a wealth of godly wisdom and insight here for any pastor who cares about bringing the gospel to the lost. And for me personally, this is a high priority.

I want to be more intentional in this work of evangelism as a pastor; and yet at the same time, I want to be biblical. There is so much today that passes for evangelism, but it is not. Evangelism is the proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ (see Acts 5:42; I Cor.1:17; 2:2). It is nothing more nor less. Hence, if we as Christians are not telling others about Christ and pointing them to Christ for who He is and what He has accomplished by His saving work - then we are not "doing" evangelism. So although we must give ourselves to this glorious work for the sake of Christ and the privilege it is to proclaim His name; yet, we must be careful in how we take the gospel to others. It is not in our power to save a soul, but it is an entrusted stewardship from God to deliver the message through which God has chosen to bring that sinner to himself. Therefore the work of evangelism is, to say the least, a very weigthy work in the service of Christ.

Now Spurgeon, in the opening chapter of The Soul Winner, gives an excellent treament for pastors to understand what evangelism is and what it is not. He begins by saying very matter of factly, that "Soul-winning is the chief buisness of the Christian minister; indeed, it should be the main pursuit of every true believer." From here Spurgeon raises this great question: "What is it to win a soul?" And he starts answering this question with a list of negatives. In this present post I will look only at these negatives of what evangelism is not. I intend to follow this up in a future post with what Spurgeon deems as biblical evangelism. But for now, let's be negative!

First, he declares: "We do not regard it to be soul-winning to steal members out of churches already established, and train them to utter our peculiar Shibboleth: we aim rather at bringing souls to Christ than at making converts to our synagogue." It is very sad and deplorable to think that a pastor would make it his buisness to steal sheep, as it were. But I know first hand of men in the ministry whose verbally stated goal it is to empty out all the churches in their area to boost the numbers of their own. And to add to this sin of greed and coveting, they would even report such a swelling of new church members as the result of evangelism! It's lying and deceiving. But in addition to this practice, Spurgeon also denounces the act of converting men to "our own peculiar views of Christianity." Consider his wise and stinging counsel here:

We would do a great deal to make a Paedo-baptist brother into a Baptist, for we value our Lord's ordinances; we would labour earnestly to raise a believer in salvation by free-will into a believer in salvation by grace, for we long to see all religious teaching built upon the solid rock of truth, and not upon the sand of imagination; but, at the same time, our grand object is not the revision of opinions, but the regeneration of natures. We would bring men to Christ...Our first care must be that the sheep should be gathered to the great Shepherd; there will be time enough afterwards to secure them for our various folds. To make proselytes, is a suitable labour for Pharisees: to beget men unto God, is the honourable aim of ministers of Christ.

These words by Spurgeon are needed across all denominational and even theological lines. For me, no matter how strong my convictions are as both a Baptist and a Calvinist, I am not seeking to convert sinners to be Calvinists or Baptists. My hope and great aim must always be to "bring men to Christ." In other words, let's first give ourselves to seeing sinners become Christians by God's grace in Christ through the faithful preaching of the gospel. This is what matters above all else for the souls of men. And that was Spurgeon's great point.

Another matter Spurgeon raises which he decries as a false form of true evangelism he describes in this way: "we do not consider soul-winning to be accomplished by hurriedly inscribing more names upon our church-roll, in order to show a good increase at the end of the year." Spurgeon could not be more contemporary in this observation. In fact, he goes on to explain his point by describing a practice that is so fixed in many modern evangelistic enterprises, that to undo this practice would be to remove a very adored and idolized "sacred cow." Consider what Spurgeon says here:

By all means let us bring true converts into the church, for it is a part of our work to teach them to observe all things whatsoever Christ has commanded them; but still, this is to be done to disciples, and not to mere professors; and if care be not used, we may do more harm than good at this point. To introduce unconverted persons to the church, is to weaken and degrade it; and therefore an apparent gain may be a real loss...It is a serious injury to a person to receive him into the number of the faithful unless there is a good reason to believe that he is really regenerate...Some of the most glaring sinners known to me were once members of a church; and were, as I believe, led to make a profession by undue pressure, well-meant but ill-judged. Do not, therefore, consider that soul-winning is or can be secured by the multiplication of baptisms, and the swelling of the size of your church. What mean these despatches from the battle-field? "Last night, fourteen souls were under conviction, fifteen were justified, and eight received full sanctification." I am weary of this public bragging, this counting of unhatched chickens, this exhibition of doubtful spoils. Lay aside such numberings of the people, such idle pretence of certifying in half a minute that which will need the testing of a lifetime.

These comments by Charles Spurgeon need to be heeded by the majority of pastors and church members alike throughout American Evangelicalism. Especially among churches that use public "alter-calls" as the means of securing so-called decisions for salvation. I particularly long for the day when such practices will be abandoned completely (if such a day could come). For I am convinced that the number one problem facing churches across the land is a membership of people who have never been born again (Jn.3:3). And among the reasons which could be offered for such an epidemic, are in fact the aforementioned observations by Spurgeon.

We are counting chickens before they are hatched! We are playing the Holy Spirit and giving something which it is not our call to give; namely, assurance of salvation. This is not the work of biblical evangelism. It is rather in many cases emotional manipulation, though not premeditated I'm sure; but nevertheless, it plays on the feelings of people in order to secure a decision for salvation. What it really boils down to, is that many pastors do not believe in the sufficiency of the gospel nor in the omnipotence of God to save. Thus they turn to fleshly tactics to "get people saved" and end up unwittingly filling church rolls with sinners who are still lost and in spiritual death & darkness.

As a pastor, I can honestly attest to the fact that my own greatest struggles in church ministry have been with people who hold membership to a church but are still in the world. And when I have labored to proclaim to them Christ and Him crucified, they look at me as if I am speaking a foreign language. Of course, much worse than this - they become angry and hostile. They have no taste nor delight in the truth of the gospel. Yet, they hold positions in churches as deacons and Sunday School teachers, along with filling many other positions of influence and leadership. And why is this? Because at some point in their lives they made an emotional decision to join a church but never savingly came to faith and repentance in Jesus Christ. Moreover, as the result of staying a part of that church, they eventually secured positions which they were not spiritually qualified and able to fulfill. However, due to the loss of true evangelism and a ministry of expounding the biblical gospel, these "professing" church members remain settled in a self-righteous condition of thinking they are safe with God when in fact they are heaping up wrath for the day of wrath (see Romans 2:1-5). But if anyone will give an ultimate account to God for how many unconverted sinners fill church rolls and pews, it will be the pastors. Therefore, may all of us who have been privileged to shepherd the Church of God, be careful to handle accurately the gospel and its presentation to all men! Let's be faithful to preach the gospel in full and be content with how God chooses to bring the results of His Word going forth.