Pastor, I believe that their technique which is the "the law before grace" is the only biblical technique for evangelism. Their is a catch to this technique that I believe brother Brian pointed out but failed to articulate. The catch is this. "Law to the proud and grace to the humble". In Jesus' first sermon, his first words were, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" (Matt. 5:3,4). In addition to this James 4:8-10 says, "Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash you hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change you laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble your selves before the Lord, and he will lift you up".

No one in the Bible gives the grace of our God to the proud, arrogant and self-righteous. Do you think Jesus was telling his proud opposers to come to him so he could give them rest? Those who are humble of heart and sorry for sins are the only one's who are preached the gospel. Just look at Jesus' actual evangelism technique with the woman at the well. He no doubt knew this woman wasn't a raving pharisee, but still brought conviction using the 7th commandment before He gave the good news.

In addition, the NKJV states this truth very clearly in Psalm 19:7, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul". If someone came up to me and was mourning because they sinned against God and was asking how to gain eternal life because they could see they offended God, then I would just give them the gospel. There would be no need for the preaching the law because the law already did it's job. I am not saying there is no other method for relating to people, but the reality is that no one will truly want to be saved until they see they are in danger. Why else, what else would they be saved from? People's compassion, and love can attract sinners to the church, but only for a time. If they are comforted they may stick around, but we can only hope they will catch the truth about the sacrifice while they are being comforted. We are talking about conversion here, the winning of souls, not building the body.

I am utterly convinced that as Christian we need to avoid giving someone false hope. I am also convinced that Christians do not want to use this method because it is harder and more fearful than just telling people good things. We have to be the bearer of bad news first, the problem of sin. It can be done without pointing fingers or judging. Do not that that misinterpretation of judging discourage you from seeing sin for what it is. I cannot say to other Christians, "Use whatever method you want" because then they will not use this biblical method. They will put the brunt of the work on other Christians shoulders while they just preach the easy grace and lifting others up, attracting sinners with the fruits of the spirit. Since the workers are few, they need to be effective as possible, not throwing our "pearls to pigs" (Matt. 7:6).

Andy Litvinchuk