Is "soulwinning" a fundamental?

[sister christian]

Is soulwinning a fundamental? Should it be scheduled and required of members of a fundamental church?

 

[bapmom]

yes soulwinning is a fundamental. It's the last command that Christ gave us before He ascended. "Go into all the world..." was not a suggestion.

that being said, I know of very few fundamental churches that "require" things of their members - such as attendance at any functions. Things are preached about, expounded upon, and highly encouraged...but the command to go, tell, baptize and disciple was given to all saved people and it is recognized as something that needs to be happening daily, even outside of any church-organized times.

IMO, each church *should* have a scheduled soulwinning time because that is a time when the group can train new members in this area in an organized fashion.

 

[Dale-c]

No, "soul winning" is not a fundamental, nor is it even a Biblical doctrine in the way that most hyles type churches teach it.
That all said, preaching the gospel is important and it is commanded.

Being ready to share the gospel whenever the opportunity arises is important.

BUt going door to door like the JWs IMO is just an invention of man.

 

[Steven2006]

Hi Sister Christian,

May I suggest that you post your original instructions along with each question? Because if it is important to your studies to have only those that are practicing fundamentals answer your questions, many others may read your questions but never have seen your original post and intent, and unintentionally respond.

Greetings! I am doing a study on fundamentalism for one of my classes in Bible school. I would like to pose a series of questions over the next couple of weeks to get an overall picture of various beliefs and practices that are often associated with fundamentalism. I will be posing my questions here and ask that only those who consdier themselves practicing fundamentalists respond to the questions. Questions will be accompanied with an anonymous poll. You may answer only the poll response, but a narrative explaining your answer will be very helpful. Thank you so much.

 

[BaptistBarb]

I agree with dale, it is not a fundamental

 

[bapmom]

maybe we have a different definition of what "being a fundamental" means. Yes, it is a fundamentalist practice, and it is a fundamental thing to do....meaning it is one of the first things you should be doing.

Of course not going soulwinning doesn't mean you aren't saved.

 

[John of Japan]

No, "soul winning" is not a fundamental, nor is it even a Biblical doctrine in the way that most hyles type churches teach it.
That all said, preaching the gospel is important and it is commanded.

Being ready to share the gospel whenever the opportunity arises is important.

BUt going door to door like the JWs IMO is just an invention of man.

Hmm. So "every creature" in Mark 16:15 shouldn't be interpreted literally? I don't know any other sure way to get the Gospel to "every creature." Personally, I believe every method of evangelism that is not immoral, unethical or directly un-Biblical is to be commended.

Just curious, please don't be offended--does your participation here mean that you consider yourself a Fundamentalist?

 

[dcorbett]

No, "soul winning" is not a fundamental, nor is it even a Biblical doctrine in the way that most hyles type churches teach it.
That all said, preaching the gospel is important and it is commanded.
Being ready to share the gospel whenever the opportunity arises is important.
BUt going door to door like the JWs IMO is just an invention of man.

Hmmm....I consider it the greatest instruction that Jesus left us with when he ascended to the Father. Soul winning is NOT defined as just going door-to-door. Soul winning is having a burden for the lost and being a spirit-filled disciple and acting upon the Lord's commandment. The early disciples spoke to any and everyone, and they took every opportunity to witness. We are commanded to do this, it is not a choice. Seek the lost!!! Bring them to Jesus!! Out on the highways and byways of life, many are weary and sad.

It is indeed a fundamental value for our commission as Christians.

Debbie Mc :jesus:

 

[Daniel1654]

" Be a living Epistle, know and read of all men.
Your life is a witness and who you are says more than words.
There are so many who claim to be Christian and have done more damage to the Church of God than sin itself.
"many profess me with their lips, but I am far from them in their hearts".
"But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the son of man be"
Noah preached the whole time he was building the arc and not one person got saved.
My experience is plant the seeds of Gods word and God will do the rest.
The person who leads just one is as important as those who lead many.
We all shall share in the same reward.

 

[I Am Blessed 24]

Yes, soulwinning is a fundamental.

There are several verses that prove it is Biblical. Here are just three of them.

Notice that in all three verses, soulwinning is active...not passive. We are not told to wait for them to come to us...but we are told to go to them.

And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Matthew 4:19

And so [was] also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
Luke 5:10

If by any means I may provoke to emulation [them which are] my flesh, and might save some of them.
Romans 11:14

 

[Don]

Here's the deal: Why would you want to dig a hole and hide it in the dirt? So that when the Lord returns, you can uncover it, and proudly say, "Here's my salvation, Lord"?

Instead, share it with someone. Or several someones. You might see one or two other souls saved; or you might see a bunch.

"Soul winning" is taken from "he who winneth souls is wise." The proper soulwinner, though, realizes that he isn't winning anything; he's merely showing the way. As one old preacher said, "preaching is one beggar telling the others where he got the bread."

 

[Dale-c]

Hmm. So "every creature" in Mark 16:15 shouldn't be interpreted literally?

I never said it should not be, though it should not be taken personally and literally.
Meaning that one person does not have to go into all the world.
That would be impossible.
But the church collectively should go into all the world and preach to every creature.

Just curious, please don't be offended--does your participation here mean that you consider yourself a Fundamentalist?

Do I believe the "fundamentals"? Of Course.
What I reject is the legalism that has hijacked the term "fundamentalist"

 

[Dale-c]

"Soul winning" is taken from "he who winneth souls is wise."

Exactly, and "soul winning" is nowhere mentioned in the great commission.
There is a difference between soul winning and preaching the gospel.

 

[readmore]

And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Matthew 4:19

And so [was] also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
Luke 5:10

Jesus was talking to specific people in these cases. Why do these specific instructions apply to present day Christians any more than, say, Matthew 21:2-3 where Jesus is telling two of His disciples to bring Him a donkey and a colt?

And while we're on the subject, everyone is always talking about the great commission. The great commission included baptism, but it's never suggested that we go out to our neighbors' houses and baptize them after "soulwinning" them.

 

[Diggin in da Word]

The fact that Christ commanded to go, teach, and baptize in Matthew 28 tells me that we are to try to win souls for the Lord. Baptizing before faith is utter foolishness. Baptism will not save. One can baptize a person who does not place their trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour and the one being baptized will come out of the water a wet lost person still in need of a Saviour. Solomon wrote in the book of Proverbs, He that winneth souls is wise.

 

[4His_glory]

Exactly, and "soul winning" is nowhere mentioned in the great commission.
There is a difference between soul winning and preaching the gospel.

Could you elaborate Dale? I probably am in agreement with you if you mean what I think you mean.

No soul winning as defined by many is not a fundamental (a method). Evangelism is the NT pattern and it involves more than just sharing the Gospel. Evangelism is extremely important. One can not glorify God if they do not seek to declare the Gospel.

But does that make evangelism a fundamental. I guess it depends on what you mean by fundamental. If the fundamentals are the essential doctrines to which one must hold to be considered orthodox in the faith, then no its not fundamental. But if one is a fundamentalist, by nature because of what is dear to him, he should be evangelistic.

 

[readmore]

The fact that Christ commanded to go, teach, and baptize in Matthew 28 tells me that we are to try to win souls for the Lord.

My point is: why stop there? It also tells "you" to baptize. Or is it possible that the great commission isn't to "you", it's to the people that were assembled when Christ gave it?

Baptizing before faith is utter foolishness. Baptism will not save. One can baptize a person who does not place their trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour and the one being baptized will come out of the water a wet lost person still in need of a Saviour. Solomon wrote in the book of Proverbs, He that winneth souls is wise.

That's a great argument, but you're preaching to the choir.

 

[I Am Blessed 24]

I cannot imagine a Christian not wanting to lead people to the Lord!

When something good happens to us, we naturally want to tell people about it. Why is salvation any different?

What did the woman at the well do? She went and told everyone, "Come hear all that this man has done."

That is what we are to do today. We are to bring people to Jesus.

 

[John of Japan]

I never said it should not be, though it should not be taken personally and literally.
Meaning that one person does not have to go into all the world.
That would be impossible.
But the church collectively should go into all the world and preach to every creature.

So how does your church accomplish that in your town? How do you try to reach every single person in your town if you believe it is wrong to go door to door?

Do I believe the "fundamentals"? Of Course.
What I reject is the legalism that has hijacked the term "fundamentalist"

Simply believing the fundamentals is not enough to be a Fundamentalist. You have to be willing to stand and fight for the fundamentals. Billy Graham and Francis Schaeffer are two examples of prominent evangelicals who believed the fundamentals but rejected the term Fundamentalist.

 

[Dale-c]

So how does your church accomplish that in your town? How do you try to reach every single person in your town if you believe it is wrong to go door to door?

Actually, we have hit most of the doors in our town.
Our church was also on the radio for several years.
I currently produce a gospel radio show that airs every sunday.
My dad who is the pastor is also the chaplain for the county jail and has countless opportunities to evangelize. Out of that many have made professions and several has shown real evidence of being saved.

I am not in any way against sharing the gospel.

I am against churches legislating to it's members one form of evangelizing as required when the Bible does not say it is.

I care more about the faithfulness to the gospel than to the number of decisions that are made.