The Pastor in the Pub, and other Evangelism Questions

A number of weeks ago I raised the issue that a pastor going into a bar would bring serious questions about his qualifications as an elder.  A number of people later followed up on that with pastors they knew who did pub evangelism.  Would their qualifications still be in question if that is what they are doing?

So that gave me something to chew upon.  A pub would certainly be full of people who need to know the gospel.  But when does your gospel witness, not to mention your elder qualifications, get undermined by your presence in such a place?  

First, it is needful to make a comment on evangelism and methodology.  There are many who say that it doesn’t matter what you do for spreading the gospel, as long as the message is the true message.  The biblical backing for that is usually 1 Corinthians 9:22b “I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.”   Or to package it up short and sweet; the methods change, but the message stays the same.  

That sounds nice but it must be qualified. Paul was clear to qualify his own statements in the verses previous to verse 22.  In those he made it clear that whatever he was doing was not going to contradict the gospel (“as under the law though not being myself under the law”) nor bring a reproach (“as without the law, though not being without the law but under the law of Christ”). As our pithy statement stands (methods change, the message doesn’t), you could have somebody bringing wrestle-mania into the church for the sake of the gospel, and sadly, that has actually happened.  

So we have to say that your methods must match your message. You need a round-peg method with a round-hole message.  You can’t do bikini evangelism, drinking-party evangelism or sneaky bait-and-switch evangelism.  Those methods have bad morals dripping off of them, and they don’t match a message of holiness, forgiveness and transformation.  But what about 15 verses of Just As I Am or a massive kid rally where you get them to raise their hands if they love Jesus, and then run them through the baptism tank?  These methods look better because they sanitize out the stinky morals, but those manipulations are also at odds with the message.

So what about the pastor in the pub?  I like the desire to go where the sinners are, and I like the willingness to do whatever it takes.  Therefore I would say this, if the pastor can do something like that IN SUCH A WAY that no one can question his reputation of holiness, bring a reproach upon the church or challenge the wisdom of his approach, then I would say he has found a unique way to bring the gospel.  That is a pretty high bar to clear in such a pit of death. The three biggest challenges I see to this whole approach is (1) how not to have the appearance of evil, (2) how to patronize the establishment without drinking alcohol, and (3) how not to get kicked out because customers get irritated by you.  

Maybe a possibility is for the pastor to go to a pub with another church member and/or his wife so that there is always a witness to all that is happening.  Also, they both only order bottle cokes so everybody knows exactly what they are drinking.  Would this negate the appearance of evil? Additionally, they are clear with each person they speak to that they are here to share the gospel.  And they do that for as long as they can before someone gets them kicked out.  I don’t know anybody who has ever tried that, but perhaps that would cover all the bases.