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Yesterday, we began looking at pastor Ichabod Spencer’s approach to evangelism in the 19th century. Today, I would like to evaluate some of the strengths and weaknesses in Spencer’s evangelism. Tomorrow, I will offer some practical insights that we can apply to our own witnessing efforts.

Strengths

Devotion of Time

One of the strengths evident in Spencer’s evangelism is the amount of time he is willing to devote to each person. To Spencer, nothing is more important than the lost person to whom he is witnessing. Many of the people in these sketches speak highly of Spencer’s insistence.

“You have given me much of your time,” says one man. “Your patience has not been worn out with me. You have done what few men could do…” (48).

In this area, Spencer resembles the Apostle Paul reasoning in the synagogues every week, continuing to press upon his listeners the claims of Christ.

Rational Apologetics

Another strength in Spencer’s approach is his willingness to engage in rational apologetics. Spencer understands that intellectual obstacles must be removed in order for people to accept the truth of Christianity.

“I wish ministers in their sermons would employ this way of reasoning more than they do,” confesses one young lady (218).

Yet Spencer also realizes that apologetics can only go so far. The private example of the individual is vitally important. Truth must be embodied, not merely spoken.

The Importance of Community

Furthermore, Spencer sees the community as an integral part of coming to knowledge of the truth. When one of his listeners desires to go away and consider salvation all by himself, Spencer counsels against it. The man disregards Spencer’s advice, but when he returns, he admits:

“I found my own heart the worst companion I could have. If I cannot come to repentance in the workshop, I am sure I never can alone” (68).

Engaging People at Multiple Levels of Education and Intellect

Another strength in Spencer’s approach is his ability to engage people at a number of intellectual levels. At times, he throws out highly sophisticated arguments. At other times, he simplifies matters for those who are less theologically astute.

He also recognizes the danger of letting doctrinal differences between Christians distract from the heart issue that is at the center of his attention (236). Because he believes that salvation is more than mere mental assent to propositions, Spencer continually focuses on the heart.

“You must have more. You must trust him. You must receive him as your own Savior, and give yourself to him” (97).

There is no wedge between doctrine and experience. He expects these two aspects to blend powerfully.

Reliance on the Holy Spirit

The most important insight that one can learn from Spencer’s approach to evangelism is his reliance on the Holy Spirit. He expects to see genuine conviction in the life of a sinner. Because he realizes that the Spirit is responsible for convicting and regenerating a lost person, he understands the inherent weaknesses of his own role.

“No man can preach so powerfully as the Holy Spirit,” he writes. “It is vastly important to know when to stop” (83).

Weaknesses

When it comes to weaknesses in Spencer’s method, there are only a few.

The Transition to a Pluralistic Society

The first weakness is not an inherent flaw in his own approach, but concerns the application of his method to our culture today. It becomes very clear upon reading Spencer’s book that the people in his day who were rejecting God knew precisely what God they were rejecting.

The cultural Christianity of the day brought with it an entire list of prevailing assumptions. Many of these assumptions have disappeared today, making the task of evangelism somewhat more difficult.

Take the idea of “religion” itself, for example. In Spencer’s sketches, the subject of “religion” is seen as a proper and noble topic of conversation. The bad connotations associated with “religious” or “religion” are not present. In fact, Spencer can say “public profession of religion” in the way we would say “public profession of faith.” The antipathy toward institutionalized Christianity is not yet widespread in his day.

Downplayal of Key Doctrines

The only weakness in his methodology is his downplaying of key doctrines. Spencer wants (rightly) to keep the focus on Jesus, and he (rightly) demonstrates a noble trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to convict people of Christian truth.

But at times he takes this desire too far. He tells one lady to “be a Unitarian, if the Bible will make her one” (120).

Spencer is right to point people to Scripture, but it is counterproductive to use the element of surprise in a way that downplays doctrine. When one lady demonstrates an aversion to public baptism, he tells her,

“Dismiss all that from your thoughts entirely. You need not be baptized. You need not join the church” (137).

He then writes,

“Many convicted sinners are kept from salvation by some mere trifle” (138).

Is baptism a mere trifle?

What about the costs of following Jesus?

Should these costs not be explained from the beginning?

One observes in Spencer’s method a hasty dismissal of key Christian doctrines in an attempt to secure initial conversions. While Spencer clearly expects such doctrines to be pressed upon the Christian’s heart after conversion, he is unwittingly setting the stage for future evangelistic endeavors that do not result in Christian conviction.

Tomorrow, I will offer some practical ways we can implement parts of Spencer’s evangelistic method.

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