What Is Lifestyle Evangelism?

What is lifestyle evangelism? Have you even heard of it?

Loving our Enemies

Jesus never verbally rebuked anyone that attacked His Person, even at the cross. He only took issue with someone over their false teachings of Scripture, desecrating the temple, and criticizing the disciples. When the Jews had made the temple of God a den of thieves, Jesus had every right to hold a righteous indignation in overturning the money changers tables and driving out all of the animals (Mark 11:15-19). Loving our enemies doesn’t mean we condone what our enemies do and when a law has been broken, they, like we, must be held accountable before the law. Having said that, Jesus tells us, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt 5:44-45) because “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same” (Luke 6:32-33) or how are we any different from the world? Jesus concludes, “love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil” (Luke 6:35), therefore “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).

Praying for our Persecutors

Luke records Jesus as saying, not only do we do good to our enemies, and bless them that curse us; we are to pray for those who abuse us. Wow! That’s an astounding statement to make. It’s totally radical compared to the way the world operates. It is contrary to the way they react when attacked, but we are called to a higher standard. We must remember that God died for the ungodly (Rom 5:6), wicked sinners (Rom 5:8), and even those who were His enemies (Rom 5:10). We were all, at one time, in each of those categories; however those who have scorned and rejected Jesus are still enemies of God. Their only hope of escaping the wrath of God is through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12), but sadly, most will not because of their pride and/or they don’t want to give up their sin. Our Christian duty is to warn them of the coming wrath of God but also to pray for them so that they might be saved. It’s okay to have enemies; in fact, it’s a vital sign of a person’s spiritual health. Anyway, an enemy of the world is typically a friend of God while being friends with the world makes you an enemy of God (James 4:4).

Doing Good to those Who Hate Us

Luke, the Beloved Physician wrote of Jesus saying “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:35-36). Furthermore, Jesus commanded us to “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28). How can you do good to those who hate you? First of all, Jesus didn’t say to do good to those who hate you if you feel like it. No, love is a verb and it is expressed in the verb form; in action. Love is what you do so you can pray for them to be saved, ask God to bless them, and do whatever good you can for them; whether they accept it or not is out of your control.

An Evangelistic Lifestyle

Jesus told the disciples how others would recognize who was and who wasn’t a disciple of His. The Apostle John records Jesus’ words, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). What Jesus is obviously saying is that all men, both the lost and the saved, will recognize Jesus’ disciples by the way they love one another. This was not something Jesus hoped they would do but in fact He said, “A new commandment I give to you, you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34). The premise is “as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them” (Luke 6:31) but we are to go even further; we are to do good things unto others regardless of what they do to us. That’s a radical, evangelistic love; it’s a love that is apologetic in effect. That is “lifestyle evangelism.”

Conclusion

If you are hated the sake of Jesus Christ, then you are most blessed Jesus Himself said “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt 5:10-12). The Apostle Peter added we are to “rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1st Pet 4:13-14). Praying for our enemies, blessing those who curse us, and doing good to those who hate or abuse is living a life of evangelism that people will either love you for or they will hate you for. That’s okay because to be loved by the world and to love the world is to have God as your enemy. Persecuted for your faith? Good, because your lifestyle evangelism must be showing. The truth will set them free or it will make them really mad.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.