Problems With Way of the Master.

By Kevin Williams

Problems With Way of the Master.

1) Another Hoop In Hoop Salvation. See sermon Hoop Salvation Kills by Paul Washer.

Also known as four spiritual laws in which people have packaged the Gospel into a checklist, Hoop salvation is the heretical practice of getting people to jump through several hoops; a) do you know you're a sinner, b) do you want to go to Heaven, c) tell them Jesus died for them and d) Get them to pray a prayer. My concern here is that some simply incorporate the use of the law as another hoop for people to go through. And salvation is still reduced to a "decision" as if it's a flu jab.

2) Combining WOTM with Modern Evangelism.

Despite WOTM themselves making the excellent videos God's Wonderful Plan, and also True & False Conversion warning of the errors of modern evangelism, many churches simply ignore this advice and just simply add the use of the law to the "God has a Wonderful plan" approach of modern evangelism. In fact, even though the need for repentance is clearly taught and emphasised in WOTM, I've seen some churches choose to ignore this part and just pick the bits they like and so just use the law to make it more likely to get the "decisions" they are seeking (see Heresy of Decisional Regeneration). I've seen some take people through the commandments, talk about Hell and the Good News of Jesus, but then completely skip over repentance of which the first mention of it is in repeating a prayer. (Again WOTM actually warns against doing this). How can someone repent if they don't even know what repentance is? Jesus didn't try to rush as many people as possible into a decision before they changed their minds, but rather He implored them to count the cost of following Him. It's almost as if Jesus was making an effort to scare them away.

3) Conveyor Belt Witnessing.

When the age of industry came, it seemed like America tried to fit everything in life onto a conveyor belt, and unfortunately church was no exception. Biblical practices were replaced by economic formulas, and one of the chief areas where this has happened is in evangelism. Frighteningly, I've even heard Pastors teach from the pulpit that we should be careful to invest our time wisely by praying and giving to those ministries that get the best "results". As Paris Reidhead noted in his sermon Ten Sheckels and a Shirt much of today's mission boards would have seen Noah, with just his family saved, Jeremiah and even our Lord Jesus, as a failure on the mission field and asked them to withdraw.
Now the problem sometimes observed when using WOTM, is falling into the trap of trying to rush as many people through an almost robotic presentation of the Gospel as possible, without spending the extra time to help them, on what are often genuine questions. Of course sometimes it can't be helped that we don't have enough time with the person we are witnessing to, but often we do.

4) No Love Or Concern.

When I hear Ray Comfort or Todd Friel witness I do not get the impression that there is a lack of concern in their voice and what they are saying. Yet sometimes when I hear other people using WOTM, although they reel off statements like "I'm not getting paid for this," "I'll probably never see you again," "I'm just concerned for your soul," it does seem at times more than a little plastic, going through the motions, and I can't imagine many awake at night praying and weeping over the eternal destiny of these people's souls. I remember hearing a story of a missionary of Gospel For Asia, who after witnessing to every person in a village, would then go to pray and fast for them for many days, crying out to the Lord to save them. Now whilst I'm not suggesting that everyone must also do that, it is a far cry from going out witnessing for an hour or two on a Saturday and then going for a coffee in Starbucks.

5) "We're Not asking You To Join A Church".

Often I hear people witnessing say "I don't want any money off you" which is great, but then they'll follow it by "I'm not asking you to join a church or anything like that". Now this rather gets up my nose, as not only is it misleading to the hearer, but I suggest that when people say it, they haven't really thought it through. Firstly, of course we want them to join the church of God which is the people. But secondly, we should also want them to join a good Biblical Church body of believers for the assembling of the Saints. Now of course, it is not the attending of church what saves a person, but by saying "I'm not asking you to join a church" what we are communicating to them is the impression that it doesn't really matter whether or not they become a 'practicing' Christian, so long as they just intellectually believe and "feel it in their heart", then they'll be okay.

6) Making A Light Hearted Joke of Sin.

Whilst there is no doubt that the use of the law in evangelism has been used by great preachers down through the ages, I am not aware of any that used it as light hearted fun, saying things like"So you're a lying, thief and a blapsheming, adulterer at heart", "Chuckle, chuckle." Now it must be noted that there is a large difference between when the evangelist is being serious about sin and the person being witnessed to nervously laughs, than when the evangelist uses "so you're a lying thief" in almost a comedy way, having a giggle with the person they're witnessing to, to soften the blows. How can we expect someone to be serious about their sin against a High and Holy God if we are laughing and joking about it? It almost makes God seem unjust, as the evangelist will then tell the person that God is going to send them to eternal punishment in Hell for something that they have only a few seconds before been laughing and joking together about.

7) The Neglect of Discipleship.

Matthew 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations," is only half of the command, and it can not be separated from: "...baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;..."

Now whilst there are times when this is not possible, like when you are witnessing away from home, or like in the case of Todd Friel witnessing on the radio, or an event like the Minnesota State Fair, in which cases it is just not practical. For most of us, discipleship is practical. Just because for many years part of the church has made the mistake of trying to prop up the bones of unconverted church members with seeker friendly discipleship programs does not mean we have to run the other way in error .

The excuse often given for the neglect of the 2nd half of the Great Commission is that if the person is truly converted then the Holy Spirit in them will make them seek good discipleship. But what this fails to take into account is that probably 99.9% of the people who seem "heartfully convicted" when we witness to them, despite what the evangelist has told them, have not yet crossed that threshold of salvation and are still in the 'seeking' stage. I suggest the reason people (when it's practical) don't take the time to try and and get the "convicted" person to their fellowship (and if their church isn't okay then I'd ask why are they going there themselves?), is because most of those "divine appointments" we feel good about would suddenly turn into nothing more than a 'surface conviction'. Also how can we tell people we are concerned for their soul, if we are then willing to let them go to any wolf in sheep's clothing?

I would also encourage anyone to listen to this Six Sermon Series by Paul Washer and also read this book by Charles Leiter Justification and Regeneration, to get a Biblical understanding of Salvation.