## Question: Do you think evangelism can be idolized? Do you think in Baptist culture that’s a thing? I basically mean the level of importance we give evangelism in relation to how we live out our faith. There’s no question that in Southern Baptist culture we often structure church life through an evangelistic lens. Someone getting “saved” can feel like the climax of a Sunday service, or the biggest kind of celebration we have. I’ve been wondering if that lens can sometimes get placed too high on the priority list. Not because evangelism isn’t important, but because Scripture presents other priorities too, and I don’t think evangelism is meant to stand alone as the main measure of faithfulness. ## Response: > [!Logos Ref] > Evangelism means announcing the good news of Christ’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Discipleship is the task of training believers to become mature followers of Christ, growing in their knowledge of, love for, and obedience to the Lord. > [[Smither-2018|Smither-2018]] ^Smither-2018-1 I feel the discomfort you mean about the “invitation” too, but not in the way you explain. I believe that comes from the fact that those of our culture put too much emphasis on the “invitation” and celebration of salvation, which is not bad in itself. But I fear that many people in our culture look at it as a replacement for their personal evangelism. Our people LOVE to celebrate a Sunday salvation, and they LOVE having a missionary come in and speak. They also love one-time trips to the “outside world” to do missionary work. Then they fail to do their daily [[Great Commission]] duty: “Go therefore and make disciples of ALL nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (emphasis mine). So I think yes, [[SBC]] culture does like to idolize the IDEA of evangelism. But I am also hesitant to call the discomfort we share in the “invitation” to be part of that. It SHOULD be a great celebration, but it’s a direct response to the Lord facilitated by a pastor, not a form of evangelism.