Worldview Evangelism
If you are engaged in personal evangelism, you will face the challenge of sharing the gospel with folks who cannot answer with certainty the most basic questions about their own existence: Who made me? Who am I? What am I? What is a human being? Is there a moral standard outside myself? Why am I here? What is the nature of reality? In worldview evangelism we seek to build a framework for the gospel by using the doctrine of creation as the answer to these ultimate questions. The gospel makes no sense in a chance universe in which there is no sovereign lawgiver and judge. Therefore we emphasize that reality itself is the Creator’s relationship to the creation. He made it; He owns it; He rules it; He upholds it; He defines it; and He will judge every rational creature in it.
In WV Evangelism, when we talk with a modern day unbeliever, we don’t normally begin with the doctrine of sin; but with the doctrine of God and creation (as Paul did in Acts 17). Repentance from sin makes no sense in a chance universe in which you create your own reality. Thus, when sharing the gospel I have to bring them back to the beginning point—God made the world out of nothing (Heb 11:3). He owns every molecule in the universe. This has tremendous ramifications for your life. He owns the universe and everything in it—He has the right to tell you what to believe and how to live. There is no other way to have a life of wisdom, purpose, and meaning.
In WV Evangelism we raise and answer ultimate questions such as: Why is there death and suffering? Why is mankind capable of nobility and cruelty? Is God knowable? What happens after death? Is there a destiny for the human race? Key in our approach in WV Evangelism is to raise this kind of question and then allow the unbeliever to attempt to provide an answer—then we give the correct answer from the Word of God. It is a powerful and wonderful way of using a diagnostic tool to uncover the assumptions of the unbeliever. It is incredibly effective because then the non-Christian is able to see in living color the contrast between his unexamined WV and what God says in His infallible Word—and what a contrast it is!
Though the unbeliever postures as an unbiased truth-seeker; he has an axe to grind; he is prejudiced against the light. His need is not merely proofs, or information—he needs the convicting work of the Spirit. I know this when I go into an evangelistic situation; but it is powerful for the lost individual to see this firsthand just how innately hostile his WV is to the testimony of God. So we begin our conversation with the confidence that the unbeliever already knows that the God of Scripture is the only true God (Rom 1:18-23). Talk about a cause of boldness in evangelism! We may come into a witnessing situation knowing God has written on that person’s soul the knowledge of Himself and the knowledge of His law. This biblical fact instills confidence in us as evangelists—namely that the Word of God spoken finds a perfect correspondence with what God has already written on minds, hearts, and consciences. I am introducing God to someone who already knows of His existence.