Scriptural Evangelism - Forward- C.K. Solberg

Pastor Householder had a blog post last year, "Why Lutheran can't Evangelize?" His post has had over 72,000 views and over 130 comments. So it's obviously gotten alot of attention. I think he got the question wrong. The question should be, "Why won't Lutherans Evangelize?"

Fifty years ago we didn't have such confussion in the Lutheran church. I grew up in a church where everyone understood that as a Christian you were called to share your faith with the lost.

I found an interesting book by C.K. Solberg written in 1935. He was Pastor of St. Pauls Lutheran Church in Minneapolis at the time. the book is titled "Scriptural Evangelism" or "Saved To Serve" in Prose and Verse.

FOREWORD

IT IS not only true that we are saved by grace; but it is equally true that we are saved to bear the fruits of faith in an obedient life of service. We are not only justified by faith in Jesus Christ, but we are set apart for a life in sanctification to grow in grace in a humble and useful life. We are not only to cling to the Cross with the right hand of faith, but with the left hand of love we are to seek to rescue the perishing and help them to reach the same safe place that we have found at the foot of the Cross of the Crucified One. We are not to be so one-sidedly objective in stressing what Christ has done for us that we neglect the subjective and experiential side of Christianity, what Christ will do in us and through us. In our teaching and preaching we must stress the practical as well as the doctrinal phase of Christian faith. Christianity is real, vital, fruitfull. Faith without works is dead, says James.

We thank God for the uncompromising doctrinal stand of our Lutheran Church in these days of modernism. But we need emphatically to re-state and put into practice the doctrine of the “Priesthood of Believers” in all its practical implications. We need to emphasize individual responsibility in personal soul-winning work, and the stewardship of time, talent and money. It is not enough to stress the teaching and training of children and youth, that they may be soundly indoctrinated and helped to remain faithful and loyal to the Lutheran Church and to Christ. Evangelistic preaching in our pulpits and personal work on the part of all believers must be urged to win back the many unsaved without and within our congregations.

The great need of the church today is a God-sent, Spirit filled revival to awaken the many lukewarm and neglectful Christians to a personal responsibility in soul-winning, and to
revive and win back the large number of worldly-minded and unsaved, who have either drifted away from the church or are still members of our congregations.

It is my purpose in publishing the contents of this book to call attention to the important phase of Christian life and activity, known as “Scriptural Evangelism.” My prayer is that these plain testimonies in prose and verse may be blest upon the heart of the reader and serve to increase the sense of personal responsibility in the soul-winning mission, that we are saved to serve in winning others for Christ.

Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1935.
—C. K. SOLBERG.