Does a Belief in Inclusivism Weaken Motivation for Missions and Evangelism?

One of the most important issues in the debate over inclusivism is how it impacts missions and evangelism. Does the inclusivist view undercut the biblical motivation for missions? In the January issue of Credo Magazine, “In Christ Alone,” Timothy Beougher argues that it indeed does. First, a little about Dr. Beougher. Timothy K. Beougher (Ph.D., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is Billy Graham Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth (1996); Associate Dean; and Director of Research Doctoral Studies, Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism, at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Prior to coming to Southern Seminary, Dr. Beougher served for six years as Assistant Professor of Evangelism at the Wheaton College Graduate School and was the Associate Director of the Institute of Evangelism at the Billy Graham Center of Wheaton College. He has written and edited numerous materials related to evangelism, discipleship, and spiritual awakening, including Overcoming Walls to Witnessing, Training Leaders to Make Disciples, Evangelism for a Changing World, Accounts of a Campus Revival: Wheaton College 1995, and Richard Baxter and Conversion. He has ministry experience as an evangelist, church planter, pastor, and interim pastor.

Beougher begins his article as follows:

With none to heed their crying

For life, and love, and light

Unnumbered souls are dying

And pass into the night.

 

Or do they?  Do all people who die without acknowledging Christ as their Savior really “pass into the night?”  Or should that hymn, which embodies traditional evangelical thought about the fate of those who die apart from trusting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, be abandoned along with other “outdated” beliefs?  Should traditional Christian teaching concerning the exclusivity of the gospel be “brought up to date,” modified to fit the tolerant spirit of the times?

The heart of the matter can be summed up with this question:  “Must persons exercise conscious faith in Jesus Christ in this life in order to be saved?”  While historically evangelicals have answered that question with a resounding “yes,” some professing evangelicals in recent years have answered the question with a firm “no.”  While various positions could lead one to answer “no” to that question (e.g. a belief in “post-mortem evangelism” or a belief that there are many ways to God), this article focuses on the belief known as inclusivism.

Inclusivism teaches that while Jesus is the only Savior, people do not need to hear and respond to the gospel message to be forgiven, but can be saved by “implicit” faith in Christ.  According to inclusivists, “explicit” faith in Christ in this life is not necessary for salvation.  It is possible, they argue, for someone who has never heard of Christ to benefit from His atoning sacrifice and be saved.  This teaching opposes the historic Christian position know as exclusivism (also variously called restrictivism or particularism), which argues that explicit faith in Christ in this life is necessary for salvation.

This article does not presume to describe all aspects of the inclusivist position or all the arguments set forth by its proponents, nor will it give corresponding critiques of all those issues from the exclusivist position. The purpose of this article is to ask and answer the question, “Does a belief in inclusivism weaken motivation for missions and evangelism?”

Read the rest of Beougher’s article today!

The January issue argues for the exclusivity of the gospel, especially in light of the movement known as inclusivism. This issue will seek to answer questions like: Can those who have never heard the gospel of Christ be saved? Will everyone be saved in the end or will some spend an eternity in hell? Must someone have explicit faith in Christ to be saved? Contributors include David Wells, Robert Peterson, Michael Horton, Gerald Bray, Todd Miles, Todd Borger, Ardel Caneday, Nathan Finn, Trevin Wax, Michael Reeves, and many others.

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