How did the early Church approach evangelism and make new converts? When we compare their methods with ours today, some major differences emerge. Let’s focus on three that are more obvious:

 

• Random outreach programs

• Preaching a Gospel without repentance

• Preaching a Gospel without power

 

Random Outreach Programs

In many churches today, outreach often feels like it's thrown together at random—without spiritual direction or intentionality. Consider the following scenario:

 

Cornerstone Bible Church on Fourth and Main is highly mission-oriented and runs multiple local outreach programs every week. Monday nights, a group of five men visits the local prison for one-on-one evangelism with inmates. On Wednesdays, they hand out hundreds of gospel tracts within a 50-mile radius of the church. And on Friday nights, they take two hours for open-air preaching in the town square. But despite all their efforts, in three years, they’ve only seen one new convert—a person struggling with alcohol addiction who hasn’t even been baptized yet.

 

Does this sound familiar? For many churches, outreach is done exactly this way—year after year—with little to show for it. So, why does this happen? To answer that, we need to look at how the early Church approached evangelism and compare it to our modern methods.

 

The Apostles didn’t engage in random outreach at all. In fact, Christ specifically warned them against it:

 

“Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves… And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house… And in the same house remain… Go not from house to house” (Lk 10:3-5).

 

“And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence” (Mat 10:11).

 

“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you” (Mat 7:6).

 

If the early Church didn’t rely on random evangelism, what was their approach? The difference is clear—they were led by the Spirit in everything they did, and their evangelism was guided by divine appointment. Scripture shows us how their efforts were supernaturally directed by God:

 

• In Acts 10, Peter receives a vision while praying and is then approached by men sent by Cornelius. The Spirit prompts Peter to go with them, leading to Cornelius and his household hearing the Gospel and being saved.

• In Acts 8, Philip is led by an angel to meet the Ethiopian eunuch, a high-ranking official, and shares the gospel with him, resulting in his conversion and baptism.

• In Acts 13, the Holy Spirit specifically directs the early Church to set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which they had been called, and they were sent out under divine guidance.

 

Every evangelistic mission in the early Church was Holy Spirit-led, and because of this, it was highly successful. They didn’t have to argue people into the kingdom or use human intellect to convince others of God’s existence. Their message was accompanied by power, and as a result, their efforts bore fruit.

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Preaching a Gospel Without Repentance

Borrowed from an online source (in blue)

When trying to decide how to share Christ with someone, the starting point should be the same as that of John the Baptist and Jesus Himself. Matthew 3:2 tells us that John began his ministry with the words “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

 

Repentance refers to a “change of mind,” which implies sorrow for past offences (2 Cor 7:10), a deep sense of the evil of sin as committed against God (Ps 51:4), and a conscious decision to turn from sin to God. The first words Jesus spoke when He began His public ministry were identical to John’s (Mat 4:17). Later the Apostles would begin their own public ministry proclaiming the same message of repentance (Act 2:38; 3:19; 17:30).

 

Biblical evangelism – The good news and the bad news

The word "gospel" means "good news." While many well-meaning Christians begin their evangelistic efforts with the good news of God’s love for mankind, that message is lost on unbelievers who must first come to grips with the extent of the bad news. First, man is separated from a holy, righteous God by sin. Second, God hates sin and is “angry with the wicked every day” (Ps 7:11). Third, death and judgment are inevitable (Heb 9:27). Fourth, man is wholly incapable of doing anything about the situation. Until the full extent of this bad news is presented, the good news cannot be effectively communicated.

 

Biblical evangelism – The holiness of God

What is missing from much modern evangelism is the holiness of God. In Isaiah’s vision of heaven, God’s holiness is being extolled by the seraphim around the throne. Of all the attributes of God they could have praised, it was His holiness—not His love—of which they sang: “And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory’" (Isaiah 6:3).

 

When we understand just how holy God is, we can begin to understand His hatred of sin and His righteous wrath against sinners. Zechariah 8:16-17 and Proverbs 6:16-19 outline the sins God hates— pride, lying, murder, false witness, those who stir up trouble, and those with evil in their hearts. We cringe at the idea of God actually hating, because we are more comfortable with Him as a God of love, which He certainly is. But His hatred is real and it burns against evil (Is 5:25; Hos 8:5; Zec 10:3).

 

The unsaved person stands in mortal peril of the wrath of holy God, as Hebrews 10:31 reminds us: “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” An unbeliever is separated from God by his sin, which God hates, and there is nothing he can do about it. His nature is corrupt and fallen and he is “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1) with no hope of redeeming himself. He cannot save himself, in spite of good intentions or good works (Rom 3:20).

 

Every good work that man thinks he can do is as “filthy rags” in God’s sight (Is 64:6). No amount of good living will make us acceptable in God’s eyes because the standard is holiness, without which no one will see God (Heb 12:14). So the next time we attempt to share the Gospel with the unconverted, it is best to remember the biblical formula of evangelism. We should begin by reiterating the importance of repentance from sin in light of God’s holiness, before presenting man with the Good news of salvation.

 

Preaching a Gospel Without Power

“And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you… heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you” (Lk 10:8-9).

 

“And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles” (Act 2:43).

 

The apostles didn’t preach a powerless Gospel. They relied on the Holy Spirit to confirm their message with signs and wonders, and because of this, thousands were added to the Church in a short period of time.

 

But why does it seem so difficult to grow the Church today? Why do so many seem indifferent to the message of Christ? Could it be that we are preaching a Gospel that lacks the power of God’s supernatural confirmation? People aren’t just looking for intellectual arguments; they want to see the evidence of God’s power in our lives and ministries. And if they don’t see it, they may not be convinced that God is real.

 

Scripture tells us that God is just as capable of working miracles today as He was in the early Church. The problem isn’t with Him—it’s with us:

 

“Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear” (Is 59:1-2).

 

God won’t bless or endorse our evangelistic efforts if we aren’t following His instructions. We can’t expect to see the same results as the early Church if we aren’t operating under the same divine guidance.

 

Conclusion

So far, we’ve seen that the early Church didn’t engage in random evangelism. Their outreach was directed by the Holy Spirit, and they didn’t rely on human arguments to convince others of the truth. Instead, they called for repentance, preached the Gospel, and allowed the Holy Spirit to demonstrate God’s power.

 

What can we learn from this? It’s time to reconsider our approach to evangelism. If we want to be truly effective, we need to return to the methods of the early Church—Holy Spirit-led, full of power, and always pointing to Christ. After all, Paul himself reminds us:

 

"Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you” (Phip 4:9).

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