GREAT COMMISSION: Evangelism or Proselytism?

Christianity is a missionary religion. It needs converts to survive. Whereas membership in some religions is dependent on birth, Christianity depends on belief. Believers are called converts.

Traditionally, the process of seeking converts is called evangelism. For Christians, evangelism is not an optional novelty, it is a biblical mandate. Very early in His ministry, Jesus sent out His disciples in groups of twos (Mark 6:7). In what has come to be known as The Great Commission, Jesus literally commanded His disciples to “make disciples” as they were going into the world (Matthew 28:19).

The disciples of Jesus understood this mandate and evangelized their world. Actually, within forty days of His resurrection, more than 500 converts assembled to hear their Master teach (1 Corinthians 15:6). We can only assume that smaller groups of converts gathered to hear Him. One such group of 120 persons met shortly after His ascension (Acts 1:15).

Fifty days following the resurrection of Jesus, the rate of converts to Christianity was phenomenal. Luke tells the story in the book of Acts. Here he records the first 35 years of church history and clearly identifies patterns of growth among converts, as a result of evangelism:

ACTS 2:41

“…about 3,000 were added to their number that day.”

ACTS 4:3-5

“But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about 5,000”

ACTS 5:14

“Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added.”

In response to this rapid growth of converts, the High Priest in the Jewish Sanhedrin declared, “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching…”

(Acts 5:28).

The pattern of growth increased following the conversion of Paul, some three years after the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 9). Actually, within the first 30 years of Jesus’ commission, all the main cities of the Mediterranean had converts.

Today, some 2,000 years later, the conversion rate continues to increase around the world. About 33% of the world’s seven billion people claim to be converts to Christianity.

The response to this phenomenal growth has always made opponents to Christianity uncomfortable. The history of objection has resulted in torture, various forms of persecution and death. Within recent years, more developed countries have resorted to more sophisticated methods to dissuade conversions to Christianity.

In today’s post-modern world, it is not unusual to hear Christian evangelism being referred to as proselytism. The connotations of proselytism are often negative and used to describe attempts to force people to convert from one tradition to another. Historically, Jews used the term to describe a non-Jew who converted to Judaism.   

Whereas proselytism implies, an obligation to convert, evangelism is different. Etymologically, evangelism comes from two Greek words, meaning good and message/news. The focus is on the content of the message and not the response of the hearer. Hence, evangelism is sometimes defined as the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold to those beliefs.  

Evangelism anticipates one of three responses to the message – delay, rejection or acceptance. Jesus got these responses and told His disciples to expect similar responses. Paul experienced each of those responses following his address in Athens – “some of them sneered…others, we’ll hear you again… and a few became followers…” (Acts 17:32-34).

Are Christians then guilty of proselytism? In the process of doing evangelism, some are guilty of proselytism. We are called to evangelize - in the process, God will do the converting. Thankfully, we will be rewarded for faithfulness as witnesses or evangelists. Hearers are responsible for their response to the Good News.