This is part four of a series (read part 1 here, 2 here, and part 3 here). In this series, I am confronting egregious arguments put forth on almost a daily basis by IFB pastors on social media, attacking Calvinism and slandering our Calvinist brothers (Arminians as well, but they don’t get nearly as much heat, so I won’t give them as much attention). As an Independent Baptist pastor, I’m not writing to defend these positions per se, but rather to deal with the terrible arguments against them. It’s time to deal with strawman #4.
Strawman #4: Calvinism Kills Evangelism
Whenever I see someone post this claim online, I can feel my spiritual gift of sarcasm start to well up in a double portion within my soul. I know when a person says this, they are repeating something they have heard, from somebody else who heard it, from somebody else who just made it up. I suppose it can be argued that Hyper-Calvinism kills evangelism, but that’s not what we are talking about here (see part 3 for the differences). This blog probably won’t be as long as the others, simply because this claim is so easy to refute.
The Missionary Hall of Fame is Filled With Calvinists
The vast majority of the early mission societies were Calvinist organizations (for example, the Massachusetts Missionary Society (1795), the Missionary Society of Connecticut (1798), the London Missionary Society (1795), the Female Society for Missionary Purposes (1800), and the Baptist Missionary Society (1792)).
It stands to reason that since most of the early Mission Societies were Calvinist organizations, most of the missionaries and evangelists would also be Calvinists. This is certainly the case. I will list several examples with a brief biography of each. (though not all of them belonged to the aforementioned Mission Societies).
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758). Edwards preached the most famous sermon since the time of the Apostles, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Many historians consider this sermon to be the spark that lit the fire of the Great Awakening. Over half a million people have downloaded this sermon across all major platforms (just to hear someone else read it word for word). After Edwards' church booted him for refusing to practice open communion, Edwards and his family became missionaries to the Mohican Indians in Massachusetts. Edwards also had a huge influence on many of the Mission Societies in New England.
John Bunyan (1628-1688). Bunyan was imprisoned for 12 years for refusing to stop preaching without a government license (which would have controlled what he was allowed to say). While in prison, he wrote Pilgrim’s Progress, much of which was written on the prison wall. To date, Pilgrim’s Progress has sold more copies than any other work in the English language, with the exception of the King James Bible. Not bad for an uneducated tinker. His preaching was so popular that thousands would gather to hear him preach in a field or a barn. Oxford graduate, John Owen, said of Bunyan, “Could I possess the tinker’s abilities, please your majesty, I would gladly relinquish all my learning.”
George Whitefield (1714-1770). Whitefield was one of the most prominent voices of the Great Awakening. He walked up and down the Eastern Seaboard, open-air preaching in the American Colonies. His booming voice was legendary and reportedly heard for miles. It is estimated that Whitefield preached to crowds ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 people.
Shubal Stearns (1706-1771). A convert of George Whitefield, Stearns was a powerful preacher during the Great Awakening. He was the founder of Sandy Creek Baptist Church in North Carolina. Under Stearns' leadership, this church produced some 125 ministers, who went on to plant 42 churches accross the South.
Obediah Holmes (1610-1682). Holmes is famous for taking 30 public lashes for refusing to stop preaching, as well as a refusal to acknowledge infant baptism as a sufficient mode of Baptism. He could have paid 30lbs and avoided the beating, but refused.
William Carey (1761-1834). Carey is known as the father of modern missions because he founded the Baptist Missionary Society and spent over 40 years as a missionary in India without a single furlough. He is famously quoted as saying, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”
Adonirum Judson (1788-1850). Judson was a disciple of Carey. Just weeks after marriage, he and his wife travelled to Burma to be missionaries. Judson spent nearly two years in prison for preaching the gospel in the infamous Ava and Aung Pinle prisons. He also lost his wife and young daughter to smallpox in 1826. Judson didn’t see his first convert until after spending 7 years in Burma, but would see nearly 700 converts in his lifetime. He planted several churches and translated the Bible into the Burmese language.
Luther Rice (1783-1836). Rice rode thousands of miles on horseback, up and down the Eastern Coast, visiting churches and raising mission funds for Judson and others. He died in the saddle in South Carolina in 1836. Perhaps no other single individual has raised more money for missions than Luther Rice.
Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892). This man needs no introduction (but if you want to know more, see blog 3 in this series).
Jim Elliot (1927-1956). Elliot sought to share the gospel with the Huaorani people of Ecuador. Sadly, he was murdered at spear point (with four of his missionary friends) by the very people he sought to reach. His wife and children, as well as the families of his deceased friends, stayed and reached the Huaorani with the gospel anyway. His story was put into a book and a major movie production called “The End of the Spear.” Elliot is famously quoted as saying, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
I could list countless more examples, but I think the reader gets the idea. Imagine someone walking up to George Whitefield as he was preaching in the streets (many times to the chagrin of the crowd), or John Bunyan as he languished in prison, or Luther Rice as he was dying in the saddle, or Jim Elliot as he was about to be murdered, and saying, “It’s just too bad that Calvinists don’t believe in evangelism.” In the words of Michael Jordan, “Please stop, get some help.”
Does Calvinism Kill Evangelism Today?
I actually had someone argue that, given all the examples of Calvinist missionaries and preachers in the past, it probably wasn’t wise to say that Calvinism killed evangelism back then, but it definitely kills evangelism today. Ok, let’s examine that statement, shall we? Who has the greatest online presence in the conservative, non-Catholic church world? Love them or hate them, it’s the Calvinists (Apologia, Wes Huff, James White, Allie Beth Stucky, Chadd Wright, etc.). The only “Big” IFB online influencer right now is Spencer Smith, and he can’t even call out perverts or a cheap gospel among our own ranks without many in the IFB wanting to tar and feather him for it.
Who is leading the fight against abortion in this country? It’s the Calvinists. Who is hitting the street corners? It’s Calvinists. I went down to the LDS General Conference this past weekend to try to hand out gospel tracts to some of the over 20,000 in attendance. There were several churches there doing the same thing, with nearly 80 people total (despite the pouring cold rain). 90% of them were Calvinists. In fact, if you’re like Tony Hutson and don’t want to rub shoulders with Calvinists, you’d better stay within the safety of the four walls of the church. Because if you ever want to hit the highways and hedges, there will be Calvinists waiting on you there.
Is Calvinism Inconsistent With Evangelism?
Some might say, ok, but if Calvinists evangelize, they do it in spite of their beliefs and not because of them. I might agree with that statement if we are talking about Hyper-Calvinism, but not Calvinism. We see this contrast so clearly when William Carey (a Calvinist) was talking to his pastor, John Ryland (a Hyper-Calvinist), about going to the mission field in India. Ryland said to Carey, “Young man, sit down. When God pleases to convert the heathen, he’ll do it without consulting you or me.” (Thomas Schirrmacher, William Carey: Theologian, Linguist, Social Reformer, p. 100).
Why would anyone want to evangelize if God elects? My question would be, why would anyone want to evangelize if God doesn’t? Think about it. Either God can change hearts or He can’t. Either He can save anybody, or He can’t. You don’t have to agree with the theology to understand the premise that it’s a huge motivation and confidence booster to believe that God is going to save His people. He is going to call His sheep, and they will hear His voice and follow Him (is that in the Bible somewhere?). Charles Spurgeon said,
“If God would have painted a yellow stripe on the backs of the elect I would go around lifting shirts. But since He didn't I must preach "whosoever will" and when "whatsoever" believes I know that he is one of the elect.”
On the other hand, imagine how burdensome it would be to hit the highways and hedges and think that the results are up to us. These souls hang in the balance, and it’s up to our powers of persuasion and debate to win them. As a minister of the gospel, I couldn’t function in a world like that. We are responsible for sowing the seed. It is God who brings the harvest.
Conclusion
Calvinism doesn’t kill evangelism, but I’ll tell you what does: apathy; and a cheap gospel. Unfortunately, our independent Baptist churches are full of both. Just this morning, a well-known IFB evangelist tweeted this,
“Did you hear about the Life Guard who took 1 hour and 45 minutes making sure the drowning man understood everything there’s to know about the Life Preserver before he threw it to him? Nope, me either, so stop doing that with Salvation’s Soul Saving Preserver!”
In other words, John 6:44 isn’t in the Bible. It doesn’t matter if the Lord is dealing with their heart or not. Walk them through a 123 repeat after me prayer, and then you can post a picture online about winning this person to the Lord. Fruits of repentance, what is that? Perhaps it’s time that we, as Independent Baptists, get our own spiritual house in order and give the Calvinists a break.
Read part 5 here
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