View From the Bridge – Evangelism? Let’s just be friends.
A look at Watchman Nee on evangelism, from his writing, “What Shall This Man Do?”
Presented by Jeff Hamm
In regards to evangelism, Watchman Nee asks this question;
“What is necessary for a person to come into the kingdom of God?”
Now he has a number of answers, but the one we will deal with here is that they must meet Christ. And in regards to meeting Christ, Nee asks the question, “What is salvation?” Now he begins to answer it by saying that many think that to be saved we must first believe that the Lord Jesus died for us. But it is a strange fact that nowhere in the New Testament does it say precisely that. Indeed, we are told to believe in Jesus or to believe on Him, but not to believe that He died for us. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved,” were Paul’s words. We are to believe first of all in Him then, and not specifically in what He has done.
Now Nee does believe in the necessity of Christ’s atonement in case some of you were wondering about that. It’s just that the appreciation and understanding of that work may not be the first step in a person’s initial contact with the Lord. Indeed, that appreciation and understanding must follow, but the main question is whether or not we have the Son, and not first of all, whether or not we understand the whole plan of salvation. The first condition of salvation then is not knowledge, but rather, meeting Christ.
And so, exactly what is involved in meeting Christ? Well, it should mean that the person should experience a personal touch with God. For without a doubt, when that happens, the rest of all that is required for salvation will surely follow. You see, in the initial step, understanding is not as important as we often make it out to be. For instance, we do not need to study the theory of electricity and to understand it thoroughly before we can turn on the electric light. I mean, the light does not say, “I am not going to shine for you, for you know nothing of the principle on which I work.” That just isn’t reality. Therefore, God doesn’t set understanding as the condition of our approach to Him. As it says in Scripture,
“This is life eternal, that they should know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent.”
So then, in regards to meeting Christ and receiving a touch from Him, let’s look at 2 examples from the Gospels. First, there is the thief on the cross. When he asked the Lord to remember him when Jesus came into His kingdom, Jesus did not remind him of his evil life and that he had to repent. He did not explain the plan of redemption to him so that he would understand. No! The Lord had only one answer and that was,
“Today you shall be with me in paradise.”
The thief then recognized who Jesus was, and he believed in the Lord and that was enough.
Or recall the incident of the Pharisee and the Publican at prayer in the temple. The Pharisee understood all about offerings and sacrifices and tithes, but there was from him no cry of the heart to God. However, the publican cried out, “Lord have mercy upon me!” And so what happened as a result of this honest cry from the heart? Well, something went out from him to God, which was met with an immediate response. And that immediate response was that God declared him as righteous. And so then, what is necessary to be declared righteous? It is to touch God and to be touched by Him. That is why our first objective must be to lead people to meet Christ so that they will be able to enter into the kingdom and not be so caught up with whether they understand the plan of redemption. They need to meet Christ first.
And we as Christians can help in this regard by following Christ’s example of being a friend of sinners or of people. You see, Jesus was found first of all moving among the people as their friend before he became their Savior. For instance, we see Him mingling with other human beings at a wedding banquet as a friend would do. We see him as a friend hanging out with the people of his day by eating and drinking and having conversations with them. In the same way, we need to be friends with people who don’t know Christ, so that through us, they may see Jesus as a friend.
And this is important, because unless a person is able to see and experience Jesus Christ as a friend, it is unlikely that they will accept Him as their Savior.
Let them meet Christ then, through us, and the rest of what is necessary for salvation will follow.
~Jeff Hamm