There is a widespread belief among some in the church that evangelism is simply a matter of “good sales technique.” This philosophy teaches that if you take the same methods used to sell cars then you can persuade people to “buy the gospel.” They will believe your sales pitch, make a profession of faith, be baptized and live happily ever after.
Several years ago I read an article by one of the most successful mega-church pastors in America. In the article he stated that his family had been selling produce for years and he simply took the methods they had used to sell tomatoes and began selling the gospel. Using this method he built the largest church in North America, though now he has admitted that it did not work quite as well as he first thought.
The problem with this approach is that it is simply not Biblical. Evangelism is not the job of a salesman who persuades people to believe in Christ. Evangelism is nothing less than the raising of those who are dead in their trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1).
In Luke 7:7-11 we find the story of Jesus raising a man from the dead. It is interesting that every time Jesus raised someone from the dead He did it the same way, by the power of His word. He spoke to the corpses and they came from the dead.
Since the miracles of Jesus are also signs to us (according to the apostle John) we can conclude that what is required to bring people to life who are spiritually dead is not clever sales techniques, or marketing prowess but the life giving word of God found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It is our task as Christians to proclaim the gospel, it is God’s task to raise sinners to life by the power of that word which we proclaim.
