Dr. Bob Gonzales
Puritan Board Junior
According to Reformed theologian R. Scott Clark, R. Scott Clark, “There’s not a lot of evidence in the NT that unordained Christians did much ‘evangelism.’ This is the Achilles’ Heel of modern, populist, democratic, egalitarian evangelicalism.” (see “Missional Monday: Should Evangelism Happen Only in the Church?”). Clark's sentiment is shared by a number of members on the Puritan Board, as evidenced in the following two threads:
“Do the Reformed Confessions Affirm the Duty of Evangelistic and Missionary Outreach?”
“The Pastor Only Should Evangelize”
I am concerned about what I perceive to be an imbalanced tendency in some Reformed circles. This “tendency” is often expressed in an overemphasis on the importance of the ministry of the ordained man and an underemphasis on the importance of the ministry of the layman. Certain Reformed leaders and scholars seem inclined to define the life and ministry of a local church more narrowly in terms of what happens in the pulpit on Sundays rather than more broadly in terms of what happens in the pulpit, pew, and outside the church all seven days of the week. Healthy church life and ministry is construed mainly in terms of “the preached Word and sacraments” rather than holistically, in terms that give proper place to lay-ministry and lay-evangelism. While in no way denying the unique role of the pastoral office or the reality of varied levels of gift, I have attempted to show that the activities of ministry and evangelism are not the sole province of the ordained man. In this 3rd installment of the series, I attempt to provide a biblical defense for "lay-evangelism":
Giving Proper Due to the People in the Pew: A Biblical Defense of Lay-Ministry and Lay-Evangelism, Part 3
Your servant,
“Do the Reformed Confessions Affirm the Duty of Evangelistic and Missionary Outreach?”
“The Pastor Only Should Evangelize”
I am concerned about what I perceive to be an imbalanced tendency in some Reformed circles. This “tendency” is often expressed in an overemphasis on the importance of the ministry of the ordained man and an underemphasis on the importance of the ministry of the layman. Certain Reformed leaders and scholars seem inclined to define the life and ministry of a local church more narrowly in terms of what happens in the pulpit on Sundays rather than more broadly in terms of what happens in the pulpit, pew, and outside the church all seven days of the week. Healthy church life and ministry is construed mainly in terms of “the preached Word and sacraments” rather than holistically, in terms that give proper place to lay-ministry and lay-evangelism. While in no way denying the unique role of the pastoral office or the reality of varied levels of gift, I have attempted to show that the activities of ministry and evangelism are not the sole province of the ordained man. In this 3rd installment of the series, I attempt to provide a biblical defense for "lay-evangelism":
Giving Proper Due to the People in the Pew: A Biblical Defense of Lay-Ministry and Lay-Evangelism, Part 3
Your servant,