"The Master Plan of Evangelism"

Introduction

 Coleman’s book offers helpful information which evangelists in the Christian world can apply in fulfilling the Great Commission. The author has a single purpose of challenging modern methodology in evangelistic ministry and offers a clear explanation of model that should be applied.  This is a must read book for people who needed to follow Christ and who are committed to spread the gospel to the whole world.  In spreading the good news to all people,   the church should follow the guiding principles of Jesus. For example, church leaders should select evangelists who will go to all nations and spread the Gospel of Salvation. In preparing to accomplish the Great Commission, church leaders and followers are expected to collaborate in spiritual growth, obey the God’s command, love each other and demonstrate the character of Jesus. Followers who are selected to follow Christ should be assigned task, leaders should supervise their performance and the evangelistic ministry should accomplish the mission of winning souls. Today, the church as well as the evangelical Christians should emulate the character of Jesus and his model   in order to fulfill the Great Commission of spreading the good news to all the nations.

 

Summary section

 Jesus acted as a perfect example in fulfilling the Great Commission and his central purpose in spreading the gospel was to redeem the world. However, rather than spreading the gospel to a multitude, his mission was to make disciples and teach them on how to spread the good news to all nations. In the concept of evangelism, Jesus had set guiding principles, objectives and relevance, and these assisted him in setting long-range goals and taking course of action[1].  The interesting thing with the ‘Master’s plan’ is that Jesus’ goal in preaching the gospel was to make disciples who would help other people to follow Jesus. In spreading the gospel, Jesus had clear objectives to save souls and ensure that through saving the world, all people are entitled to inherit the kingdom of God. He did not exclude nations of tribes; instead his objective was ‘all world evangelism’ so that all can have eternal life.  The overall purpose of the book is to make   a call to emulating the character of Jesus in fulfilling the Great Commission and use the Jesus’ approach to spread the good news to all the nations telling about them about the salvation, the love of God and his forgiveness[2].

 

In his evangelistic plan, Jesus had the following strategies; Firsts, Jesus selected   men who were willing to follow him and who could later spread the good news to the multitude.  In other words, Jesus wanted men who would offer proper care to the multitude and who would teach them the truth and help them stay away from the false prophet who would lead them astray[3].  After selecting a few men, Jesus developed a training program and taught them about the law, rituals and formulas which they were to follow to be different from world people. They walked with Jesus and witnessed his action and this helped them increase their faith and live a Christian life[4]. Third, Jesus ensured consecration in his evangelistic plan. The followers were taught to have self-denial and to obey his word.  In order to have a strong faith and trust Jesus, obedience was a key element. Fourth, Impartation was a principle in the Master’s plan. In this principle, Jesus wanted the disciples to receive the spirit of God for them to increase their faith. For this reason, he offered peace, joy glory and everything he had and by so doing, he showed them love in an infinite way[5]. After Jesus created a spiritual communion with followers, he guided them on how to live a Christian life. For example, he told showed how to pray and the need to pray without ceasing, reading the Holy Scripture, winning souls and teaching naturally.   In his evangelistic plan, Jesus sixth plan was delegation- assigned task to his followers. For example, Jesus assigned tasks such as caring, baptizing, healing,   casting out demons, raising the dead and more.  After assigned tasks, Jesus supervised their work for the purpose of rejoicing for the good work; making corrections and helping them achieve the goals. Jesus’ last element in his evangelistic plan was reproduction.  In this principle Jesus ensured that his followers’ work was productive in terms of being victories despite being in the mists of challenges, rejection, persecution and struggle[6].

Critique section

  In modern evangelistic ministry, evangelical Christians are called to apply the model which Jesus used in fulfilling the Great Commission. In the time of Jesus, disciples or the followers of Jesus played a significant role in spreading the gospel to the whole world[7].  However, the modern evangelistic ministry is flawed in that evangelical Christian is not following the model of Christ. Note that in modern world, the Christian population is increasing dramatically but evangelists are few. What happens is that the evangelical Christians are not winning the souls. Today the evangelical ministry starts by spreading the gospel to the multitude where they get many convert and baptized them. According to Coleman, the church leadership should first lay a strong foundation to the evangelical Christians through evaluating talents and training them. Church members are gifted with different gifts and these people should utilize their talents to perform the service of God to the multitude[8].  The argument is that it is the high time for the church to set evangelistic programs   where people who are committed to spread the gospel are trained.  The point is that before engaging   in the evangelistic ministry, the church should begin from the top and allow the few members who are willing to become the followers of Jesus get training. In evangelism, modern churches do not  provide  young converts with training program  or follow-up services,  but the converts are  left alone to  find own means for spiritual growth. The point is that in the evangelistic ministry, there should be a personal guardian   who will assist the new believes on growth and development in spiritual life[9].  There should be committed counselors who will to protect the converts from Satan’s snare.

            In the evangelistic ministry, the selected evangelical Christians should understand that as servants of God, they should adhere to the orders.  There is a big problem in modern churches in that evangelists have stunted growth and their faith remains weak. The reason is because they are indifference toward the God’s commandment and their life is characterized by complacency with mediocrity[10].  According to Coleman, this is high time for the evangelical Christians to emulate Jesus and present Christian discipleship. To accomplish this, there should be competent leaders in the church who will teach the evangelists to be obedient.  The problem with modern evangelical Christians is that they have not devoted their life for Christ. They fail to understand they should reflect the Christ while spreading the gospel.  Thus, evangelical Christians should reflect the character of Jesus and preach relevant gospel to all nations[11]. As stated above, the population is rising dramatically and churches may face challenges on how to spread the good news to them.  By following the model of Christ, the church leadership should   be Christ followers before training evangelists.  In other words, when the evangelical Christians enter in the world, they should present the character of leaders as disciples presented the character of Jesus. Leaders must have personal responsibility and present the spiritual realities. Thus, Jesus’ methodology is effective in that the evangelical Christians will gain knowledge   and skills on God’s salvation and they will have a high level of preparedness when entering in the world to save souls[12].

 

 

 The apparent problem with evangelical Christians today is that they perform the service for human impression.  In other words, their work is an optional accessory but not a call to spread the good news. However, Jesus ensured that disciple followed a definite command and that all followers   preached the gospel and fulfilled the mission.  To achieve this in modern world,   the church leadership should teach the evangelical Christians and assign them tasks[13].  After assigning role, church leadership should offer direct supervision to evaluate innumerable things that emerge and which may discourage them.    The role of evaluation is to encourage each others to move on without losing hope in order to accomplish the mission and win many souls. In  addition,  supervision  encourage the evangelical Christians that  the Holy Spirit  is with them and will renew their faith and  provide them  with power  and strength  reach  to all people.   Other change that modern churches should strive to achieve in spreading the gospel is great revival.  In the evangelistic ministry, the church should be influenced by the love of God and should be committed to present the character of God[14].  Nonetheless, the evangelical Christians should not be motivated by recognition, commission, ceremonies and more. Though the latter play role in helping the church achieve the mission, the church should incorporate the personal mission in the Christ model and selected evangelists who will deny their life for the sake of winning souls[15].

 

 

Strengths

Biblicism and simplicity are quality elements that make the work of Coleman to be amazing.  He uses a biblical perspective and shows that no skills or knowledge are needed in order to start the evangelistic ministry. The only thing   is to reflect on the work of Jesus and the model he used in the Great Commission[16]. The book is useful in modern Christian world as modern evangelical Christians   are allowed to learn the devotional theology useful in the spreading the gospel. Other  apparent strengthen  in this book is that before  telling the audiences the  needed changes in the evangelistic ministry, he reflects on the character of God and offer clear illustrations  which allows the audience  to emulate the character of Jesus as a  perfect example[17]. The model allows audiences understand the real meaning of the Great Commission in modern world.  Through the He offers thorough information on philosophy of evangelism,   those people who are willing to follow Jesus can derive an important message on how to spread the gospel. The message is rooted from Jesus’ work and the important point to derive is that discipleship and evangelism are two key elements needed in fulfilling the Great Commission. This means that in order to reach all nations, one should follow Christ and at the same   adhere to Christian obedience[18]. 

 

Weaknesses

 Coleman work is associated with weaknesses in that some theological formulations do not meet his purpose. For example,   he puts emphasize on the character of Jesus and how he accomplished his mission. However, he does not offer a theological perspective on what Jesus is revealed through his work.  He fails to offer important message regarding Christ especially the foundation role[19].  Generally, Coleman rests on the idea that in the evangelistic ministry, church or else leaders should be in the frontline to act the way Jesus acted in fulfilling the mission. However, the point is that evangelists should   reflect the image of Christ and avoid emulating the character of their pastors[20].  Even though his work   is based on theology, this book does not offer quality biblical information on someone who wants to grow spiritually.  Other weakness is that the book concentrates on Jesus life and fails to offer information on discipleship.  He could touch on discipleship growth so that modern believers can emuklate the human character and live a Christian life.

Conclusion

 In fulfilling the Great Commission, everyone should show faith in action, and go to the world to spread the good news to the people. Those who are willing to follow Christ are given the authority to spread the Gospel of Salvation.  The book by Coleman gives an analysis of the gospel of Jesus in a deeper way by telling how Jesus accomplished the Great Commission.  He  says that Jesus had a strategic plan  which started with selecting few men,  teaching them,  giving to  them  all he had including love and peace,  demonstrated  the  character of God toward them, assigned task and supervise the work. Today, the information offered by Coleman is applicable in our lives especially in our church and the evangelistic ministry. In order to accomplish the Great Commission, the only thing to do is to emulate the character of Jesus by applying his strategic plan.  

 

 

 

Reference

Coleman E. Robert.  1972. The MASTER PLAN of EVANGELISM. Fleming H. Revell Company

 

[1] Coleman E. Robert.  1972. The MASTER PLAN of EVANGELISM. Fleming H. Revell Company, 8

 

[2] Ibid, 9

[3] Ibid, 21

[4] Ibid, 24

[5] Ibid, 39

[6] Ibid,47

[7] Ibid, 19

[8] Ibid, 26

[9] Ibid, 34

[10] Ibid, 30

[11] Ibid, 40

[12] Ibid, 67

[13] Ibid,  53

[14] Ibid, 64

[15] Ibid, 70

[16] Ibid, 10

[17] Ibid, 11

[18] Ibid, 33

[19] Ibid, 10

[20] Ibid, 47