• Directories
    • Business Directory
    • Church Directory
    • Organization Directory
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Help
  • Log In
MENUMENU
  • Learning
        • Leader’s Edge
          • Author Interviews
          • Book Summaries
        • Book Reviews
          • Book Look
          • EMQ Book Reviews
        • Publications
          • Anthology
          • Evangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ)
          • Missiographics
        • Podcasts
          • The Mission MattersNew
          • Missio Nexus
          • People First HR
          • Members Only Feed
        • Blogs
          • Global Issues Updates
          • Member Highlights
          • Mission Advisors
        • Topics
          • COVID-19 ResourcesNew
          • Diaspora Missions
          • Mobilization
          • Muslim Missions
          • Support Raising
        • Media Library
          • Conferences
          • Global Issue Updates
          • On Mission
          • Thought Leader Briefings
          • Webinars
          • Workshop
          • View All
  • Programs
    • Accreditation
    • Alliance for Benefits
    • Bible CertificateNew
    • Church Missions CoachingNew
    • Cohorts
    • Cybersecurity
    • Emerging Leaders
    • Mission Jobs
    • OnBoard
    • RightNow Media
    • The Mission AppNew
    • Women’s Development
  • Events
          • Calendar
          • In-Person Events
          • Virtual Events
          • Event Recordings
          • Awards
        • Upcoming Events

          • Webinar: Through the Wall
            Thu Jan 28 2021, 02:00pm EST
          • Three Steps to Kickstart Your Fund Development Program
            Tue Feb 16 2021, 03:00pm EST
          • Webinar: Innovating Theological Education: How BibleMesh can Prepare your Staff for Ministry
            Thu Feb 25 2021, 02:00pm EST
        • View All Events
  • Research
          • Missiographics
          • Mission Handbook
          • Research Reports
        • Popular Research
          • Compensation Reports
          • COVID-19 ResourcesNew
          • Field Attrition Report
          • View All Reports
        • Contribute
          • Current Research Projects
          • Submit Data for Mission Handbook
          • Volunteer
  • About Us
        • Who We Are
          • Our Contribution
          • Meet the Team
          • Board Members
          • History (1917–present)
        • Our Beliefs
          • Statement of Faith
          • Community Standards
        • Awards
        • Partner with Us
          • Advertise
          • Donate
          • Sponsorships
          • Volunteer
        • Help
          • Contact Us
          • Advertising Specs
          • Branding Guidelines
  • Join
        • Learn
        • Learn what you cannot learn anywhere else.

        • Meet
        • Meet people you otherwise won’t meet.

        • Engage
        • Engage in a community like none other.

          • Benefits
          • Benefits for Churches
          • Pricing

Sponsored Content

Upcoming Events

  • Webinar: Through the Wall
    Thu Jan 28 2021, 02:00pm EST
  • Three Steps to Kickstart Your Fund Development Program
    Tue Feb 16 2021, 03:00pm EST
  • Webinar: Innovating Theological Education: How BibleMesh can Prepare your Staff for Ministry
    Thu Feb 25 2021, 02:00pm EST
  • Association Leaders Gathering
    Tue Mar 2 2021, 08:30am EST
  • Innovation Labs - Session 1
    Tue Mar 2 2021, 10:00am EST

View all events »

Topics

author interview Canada CEO Church Church Missions Church Mission Team Church Planting Coaching Conference Proceedings COVID-19 Cross Cultural Skills Diaspora Evangelism Focus Future Globally Engaged Churches Islam Justin Long Leadership Management Missiology Missionaries Mission Finance and Administration MLC2019 MLC2020 Mobilization muslim Muslim Diaspora Networks Partnership Personal Productivity Podcast Presenter Research Security Short-Term Missions Spirituality support raising Training Trends Unengaged Unreached unreached people groups Weekly Roundup Women

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Clarifying the Invitation

Posted on April 1, 2001 by April 1, 2001

by Stan Nussbaum

We must take utmost care about how we invite people into the Kingdom of God.

No privilege is greater and no trust is more sacred than that of inviting people into the Kingdom of God through Jesus the Messiah. One would therefore expect that we would take utmost care about how we do the inviting. Instead we have slipped into use of (and even come to cherish) a phrase and concept that betrays our trust in the unbiblical idea of accepting Jesus as Savior.

That idea has been the thin end of a hellish wedge effectively splitting evangelism from discipleship, though in theory we still insist they are inseparable. We need to clean up the way we phrase our invitation to potential converts, telling them up front that Jesus must be accepted as Lord and not as Savior.

Is this nitpicking? Consider these analogies: If someone in the personnel office of AT&T started signing people up for the AT&T retirement plan, what would the company say? The retirement plan is only open to people who accept AT&T as an employer.

If a Catholic priest encouraged people to accept the Catholic Church as their burial society, what would the Church tell him? He is demeaning the Church and encouraging people to manipulate it by presenting one of its parts as if it were the whole.

If a member of the British Labour Party came to America to encourage Tony Blair fans to "accept him as their personal Prime Minister," would any of them take such nonsense seriously?

If Bill Gates asked a woman to accept him as a husband and she replied, "I will gladly accept you as my inheritance provider," might he not have second thoughts about his proposal?

If a recruiter for the U.S. military urged people to accept the Army as their health care provider, what would the Army say to the people who signed up for medical coverage? "Sorry, that recruiter gave you phony papers. You can’t accept the Army as a health care provider. The Army provides health care to people who accept the Army as the Army."

If it is so ridiculous for anyone to invite people to accept AT&T as a retirement plan, the Roman Catholic Church as a burial society, Tony Blair as a personal prime minister, Bill Gates as an inheritance provider, or the U.S. Army as a health care provider, why is it not equally ridiculous to invite people to accept Jesus as Savior? It is a gross misrepresentation, a glowing offer which will turn out to be null and void.

We may protest that our offer is valid because we combine the two ideas, inviting people to "accept Jesus as Savior and Lord," but does this solve the problem? Would Bill Gates be relieved to hear his fiance accept him as "husband and inheritance provider"?

Why do we emphasize Jesus as Savior so much more than Jesus as Lord when the New Testament has the opposite emphasis? Jesus is referred to as Savior only seventeen times in the New Testament, but he is called Lord hundreds of times. When the ideas of lordship and salvation occur together, lordship consistently comes first. For example, we must confess that Jesus is Lord (not Jesus is Savior) and then we are saved (Romans 10:9). We believe in the "Lord Jesus Christ"(not the "Savior Jesus Christ") and then are saved (Acts 16:31). The only people in the New Testament who tried to "accept Jesus as Savior" were the crowds at the Triumphal Entry shouting, "Hosanna!" (Save us; Matthew 21:9). Like many "converts" today, they never got around to accepting him as Lord.

Perhaps we shy away from lordship language during evangelism because we think it will imply salvation by works. This is a groundless fear. Consider the Army analogy again. Once in the Army I do not "earn" my health care benefits by obedient service or increase my coverage by volunteering for dangerous assignments. I am either in the Army or I’m not. If I am in, I have all the health care there is.

To use a different image, Jesus is the door. On the outside of the door the sign says, "Jesus is Lord." That is the door we knock on. When we accept Jesus as Lord and enter the lord-ship/discipleship door, only then do we see the sign on the inside: "Jesus is Savior." As we call others to come through the door, what business do we have swapping those signs? It corrupts our evangelism and cripples our discipleship efforts.

Let’s set the record straight-no one can "accept Jesus as Savior." He only becomes the Savior of people who "accept him as Lord." His trademark terms were not, "Let me save you," but, "Follow me." We, his representatives, would do well not to alter that trademark.

———-

Stan Nussbaum received his doctoral degree from the University of South Africa where he studied under David Bosch. He now serves as staff missiologist for Global Mapping International, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Copyright © 2001 Evangelism and Missions Information Service (EMIS). All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from EMIS.

GoToOlder PostNewer PostAll PostsEMQPerspectives: EMQ Guest EditorialSectionVolume 37 - Issue 2

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to Our Mailing List

Keep up to date with our community.

Menu

  • Join
  • Directories
  • Events
  • Donate

About

  • Who We Are
  • Statement of Faith
  • Awards
  • Resources

Help

  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Cookies Policy

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Google+

PO Box 398
Wheaton, IL 60187-0398

Phone: 770.457.6677
678.392.4577

© Missio Nexus.
All Rights Reserved.

Membership website powered by MembershipWorks