“As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” – Luke 19:37-40
Did the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rev. Justin Welby, actually just advise Christians to ignore Matthew 28:18-20? This comes from a report by the Daily Express on Saturday 21st May:
“Speaking at a reception for leaders of other faiths, the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury insisted that Christians should not actively “proselytise” towards non-Christians.”
Now perhaps it’s because he was at a reception for leaders of other faiths that the Archbishop was trying to be diplomatic, but I can’t help but feel that this is a dangerously unbiblical compromise.
When Paul was invited to speak at the Areopagus, he did not couch his speech in “inclusive”, politically correct language; he boldly challenged the religious presuppositions of his hearers. He told the Greeks, in no uncertain terms, that God who made all things does not dwell in temples made by human hands and is not served by men as if He needs anything.
It would be the equivalent of walking into a masjid in an Islamic city and saying before the Imams “God does not only have ears in the East. Neither does He require you to pray in Arabic.”
The report from the Daily Express goes on to say:
When he was asked where he drew the line between evangelism and proselytism, he said: “I draw the line in terms of respect for the other, in starting by listening before you speak; in terms of love that is unconditional and not conditional to one iota, to one single element, on how the person responds to your own declaration of faith; and of not speaking about faith unless you are asked about faith.”
Now, let’s examine this carefully. The question assumes that there is a difference between evangelising and proselytising. On a base level you could say: “One is proclaiming the Gospel, the other is trying to convert unbelievers into Christians.”
But is there really a difference biblically? Is it not the objective of proclaiming the Good News to convert unbelievers into disciples? Is it not to call the lost sheep? Why else would you speak?
The book of Romans says:
Romans 10:14-17 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
In other words, why would someone ask about your faith if they’ve never heard of it, and how will they hear of it unless someone first proclaims it? Biblically speaking, the Archbishop of Canterbury has got it horrifically backwards!
What the Archbishop is implying is that to preach so that one may hear, receive faith and believe is disrespectful! If we don’t wait to be asked, we are being rude. But how will they ask unless they first hear?
He implies that seeking to persuade someone of the truth of scripture is to make love conditional on how they respond. Why this is so, I have no idea.
Secondly, isn’t the Good News conditional on one pledging their allegiance to the Lord of all creation? Is the Archbishop not straight up denying the Gospel?
Now if he means that we should treat others with love and respect irrespective of how they respond to the preaching of the Gospel; amen, hallelujah, praise the Lord! But that has little to do with the difference between evangelising and proselytising. It presumes that one is ok and the other is not.
Biblically speaking, there is no reason to do the former if the aim is not the latter. It’s like that old scripture that no one can seem to find in their bible:
“Don’t speak so that the lost sheep may hear the voice of the Shepherd and come to Him. Speak about your faith, but by all means don’t try to convince people that it’s true and under no circumstances must you speak about it unless asked to!” – 1 Contradictions 3:15
And this coming from the so-called leader and chief figure of the Church of England. Had the Lord not promised to build His Church, I would fear for the Gospel in England.
