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The Master Plan of Evangelism
The Master Plan of Evangelism
The Master Plan of Evangelism
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The Master Plan of Evangelism

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For more than forty years this classic study has challenged and instructed more than 1.5 million readers in reaching the world for Christ. With a foreword by Billy Graham and now repackaged for a new generation of readers, The Master Plan of Evangelism will show every Christian how to minister to the people God brings into their lives.

Instead of drawing on the latest popular fad or the newest selling technique, Robert E. Coleman looks to the Bible to find the answer to the question, What was Christ's strategy for evangelism? Through a thorough examination of the gospel accounts, Coleman points out unchanging, simple, yet profound biblical principles of how to emulate Christ to others.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 1, 2006
ISBN9781441200044

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Coleman's classic book on discipleship (yes, that's right) is titled The Master Plan of Evangelism. The thesis is that Jesus' plan for evangelism was the making of mature disciples. Little more than an examination of the gospels to study Jesus' example of discipleship, this little book provides needed insight into what discipleship is and isn't in a day when the church has largely forgotten it's call to make disciples rather than converts.Coleman lays out 8 basic principles gleaned from study of the gospels: Selection, Association, Consecration, Impartation, Demonstration, Delegation, Supervision, and Reproduction.While not spell-binding, a very worthwhile read!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The best book outside of the Bible I have read about evangelism, and one that truly needs to be studied by more pastors and anyone who wants to be used by the Lord in this manner. Coleman's vision is one that we are probably not used to. In fact, it can make us a little uncomfortable. Basically, what he advocates above almost anything else in evangelism is time. Cold evangelism in a mall may cause many to profess a belief, but it is usually either a stunted belief that will never grow or a false convert. Christ did it differently. He dedicated the time it took to raise up leaders rather than simply settling for a conversion. Those leaders then raised up their own students, and the world was changed.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Coleman, Robert E. The Master Plan of Evangelism. Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell. 200 pp. $12.99If one judges a book’s worth by its length of continuous years in print, then Robert Coleman’s Master Plan of Evangelism may well be accurately considered the master plan. At the very least it should be in the running if such a designation existed. This unpretentious little book has been in print for over forty-seven consecutive years now. Another testimony to its significance is that I have been in three degree programs in the field of biblical and theological study and this book has been required in each of them. Surely, this warrants the status of classic.Robert E. Coleman is professor emeritus of evangelism at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He has been at Trinity since 1983. Dr. Coleman came to Trinity from Asbury Theological Seminary, where he taught evangelism for 27 years. Prior to that, he spent six years pastoring United Methodist churches in Indiana, New Jersey, and Iowa.Dr. Coleman’s areas of expertise include the evangelism of Jesus, discipleship, the theology of evangelism, contemporary church evangelism, the history and theology of revival, evangelistic preaching, and the songs of heaven. He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, the Evangelical Missiological Society, and the Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education. He is director of the Billy Graham Institute of Evangelism at Wheaton and dean of the International Schools of Evangelism. He is a founding member of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism and the president of the Christian Outreach Foundation. He serves on the board of the OMS International.Coleman has written 21 books, and his books have been translated into 95 languages, English editions alone having a total circulation of more than five million copies. Dr. Coleman also wrote The Master’s Way of Personal Evangelism, The Heartbeat of Evangelism, The Mind of the Master, The Master Plan of Discipleship, The Great Commission Lifestyle, Nothing To Do but Save Souls: John Wesley’s Charge to His Preachers, and The Coming World Revival, among others.In a day of novelty and innovation for the sheer purpose of standing out, the genius of The Master Plan of Evangelism is that it is based on indisputable biblical principles set in a very simple and straight-forward format. Coleman’s teaching gift is self-evident by the manner in which he organizes his material. The sad part is that despite the soundness of the principles set forth, and the ease with which the book’s content can be accessed, some churches and pastors seem to have missed the message. Many, however, have responded positively to some of Coleman’s admonitions. As I reread the pages of this book, I recollected how it shaped my own thinking about means and methodologies of evangelism and disciple-making.The book’s stated aim is to discover, from the pages of the gospels, and set forth the underlying principles that guided Jesus’ methods of evangelism and disciple-making. Coleman’s driving contention is that the Bible, particularly the gospels, is our best textbook for evangelism. The book is organized around eight principles that are derived, described, and demonstrated in each of their respective chapters. One word descriptors of the principles serve as the chapter headings. These one word headings serve to make the principles an ease for commitment to memory. In addition, if one is not careful, this may be missed. Each chapter head has a key verse associated with it. For instance, for chapter 2 whose heading is the principle of association, the corresponding verse is Matthew 28:20, “Lo, I am with you always.” For chapter eight the principle is reproduction, and the supporting verse comes from John 16:16, “Go and bring forth fruit.” I love the accessibility and ease with which Coleman has arranged his material. The book is clearly written with the goal of imparting knowledge, not novelty.The eight one word principles that Coleman sets forth as the underlying principles of Jesus’ ministry are selection, association, consecration, impartation, demonstration, delegation, supervision, and reproduction. Coleman insists that these are not necessarily in chronological order, however, selection will likely be first and reproduction will always be the goal as disciples inherently multiply themselves. Coleman’s work here endures because he has not written a book here on methodologies, but principles that must guide us into faithful and fruitful methods. The methods may change due to contextual considerations, but the principles, if sound, should in fact work cross-culturally.The aspect of fruitfulness or outcomes brings to mind another helpful attribute of this work. Coleman has written a patient book here. By that I mean he makes clear that Jesus was not haphazardly or hurriedly aiming to amass crowds, but rather he was intentionally and patiently building his kingdom. Coleman makes no effort here to give eight ways to triple your baptisms this year. Instead, he readies his reader for the difficult work of evangelism and disciple-making.One of the strengths of Coleman’s approach to evangelism in this book is that it unites evangelism and discipleship. Though one ought not to have to unite what the Bible never separates, we know this happens. It happens with justification and sanctification, and in some ways these woeful but real man-made dichotomies are connected. Many treat evangelism as a program within the church that folks can either sign up for or not. They do the same with discipleship, making it seem as though discipleship is for the really serious church members in the congregation, and evangelism is for the really weird ones. Coleman convincingly shows that Jesus intentionally invested himself on various levels concentrically with increasing attention to intention, given the size of the group with which he was working. One might consider the crowd, congregation, core model as the visual for how Jesus invested himself. This method should not be interpreted, as some obviously have, to think that only the core represent evangelistic disciple-makers. Coleman demonstrates how Jesus invested in the select core to go reproduce themselves in others who will do the same. It is the principle of multiplication or to be consistent with Coleman’s terminology, reproduction. Every believer should be enlisted, equipped, and encouraged to go and make disciples, a reality that Coleman designates, delegation.As many in the church today are trying to figure out where all the men have gone in our congregations, church leaders would do well to be reminded of the principle of association that Coleman draws out. Jesus selected and used men, ordinary men, to be with them and thus replicate his ministry in them. Pastors cannot be with everyone, in the same way and with the same amount of influence, but they can invest in others in a concentrated and intentional way that will equip men to reach and teach others. Some pastors have chosen, because the relational challenges that have to be navigated in order to intently focus on the few while ministering to the many, to not be with anyone. This is a fatal mistake. Perhaps what needs to be written about is how a pastor might communicate the need to employ Jesus’ methodology while at the same time implementing it in the life of the church so that others don’t feel neglected. When we do ministry Jesus’ way, we can be certain that we will find ourselves dealing with the same sinful social dynamics in our church life that our Lord dealt with among the twelve. Remember the “who is the greatest” debate? A servant is not greater than his master. This difficulty in the church setting does not warrant the reality that if we are going to win and make disciples who duplicate themselves, then we are going to have to spend time with people. Some may argue that in mega church settings pastors do this without such close and intentional attention, but I would argue that they may be duplicating their pulpit personality from afar. However, it is not likely they are discipling others within the congregation. Even those pastors should be involved in the process of winning and making disciples.The usefulness of this book is its simplicity. I believe that the principles are biblically sound and universally applicable. This is not, nor is it intended to be a “What would Jesus do?” book. Rather, Coleman has keenly identified the underlying principles that help us understand the unobtrusive method of Jesus, so that we ourselves might readily employ them in our setting. Later versions of Master Plan have included a study guide so that the book is perfectly suited for small group study or leader retreats. Coleman has written in such a way that a pastor may confidently place it in the hands of the most humble member and not be afraid of intimidating them and yet at the same time challenges the most seasoned believer. What an accomplishment!Correctly understood and applied, the principles contained herein can effectively help us rescue evangelism from being something seen as seasonal or special and bring it where it belongs as the normative activity of every born again believer. In addition, it reminds us that the converted are also committed to an obedient pattern of discipleship which grows outward into the world.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Good content. I just got tired of it by the end. I felt like I understood the basic principles less than halfway through, and it was kind of monotonous to keep reading after that.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is the kind of work that deserves to have "paradigm shifts" attributed to its pages. It is my belief that the lack of qualified leadership in the Church is a result of the rejection of Christ's model as understood in Coleman's book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    great
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    solid principles on discipleship to reach the world for Christ
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The world is desperately seeking someone to follow. That they will follow someone is certain, but will that person be one who knows the way of Christ, or will he or she be one like themselves, leading them on only into greater darkness?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A great book. i would recommend for all true believer in Christ to chew and digest it for proper evangelism.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Good one.. Is it available for download?
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    The book provides information for modeling Christ and his way of ministering as a sound method for doing evangelism.

Book preview

The Master Plan of Evangelism - Robert E. Coleman

© 1963, 1964, 1993 by Robert E. Coleman

Published by Revell

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.revellbooks.com

Ebook edition created 2010

Ebook corrections 07.23.2013 / 09.26.2014 / 11.18.2015

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only

exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-0004-4

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the American Standard Version of the Bible.

Scripture marked AMP is taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright© 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

The Master Plan of Evangelism presents a thorough examination of the Gospel accounts, revealing the objective of Christ’s ministry and his strategy for carrying it out. Robert E. Coleman focuses on the underlying principles that consistently determined what Jesus’ action would be in any given situation. By emulating his pattern, you’ll be prepared to minister to the specific needs of those God brings into your life. With the help of The Master Plan of Evangelism, you can be sure that your course of action fits into God’s overall plan for the Great Commission. Every Christian who seeks to follow and witness for Jesus Christ should read this significant and relevant book.

WORDS OF COMMENDATION

"The greatest insights are almost always simple. The Master Plan of Evangelism contains such insights. In it Robert Coleman has set forth an understanding of Jesus’ approach to reaching out to precious people and invites us to do the same."

Richard J. Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline

"I came across The Master Plan of Evangelism many years ago while serving as a missionary-evangelist in Latin America. When the Spanish-language version was published, I was honored to write the foreword to it for the sake of the tens of millions of Hispanic Christians in nearly twenty-five nations. I join with the thousands of Christian leaders who have recommended The Master Plan of Evangelism, used it, and seen the fruit of this New Testament master plan from the Master himself."

Luis Palau, president, Luis Palau Evangelistic

Association, author, High Definition Life

"The Master Plan of Evangelism has been, to me, second only to the Bible in terms of how it has affected my life. Every six months I look to rekindle my fire and keep my focus by reading and rereading Mr. Coleman's book. In my library are usually two or three copies to pass on to people who I feel are truly serious about evangelism."

John M. Perkins, president and publisher,

Urban Family Magazine

Selected by Christianity Today as one of the top 50 books that have shaped evangelicalism.

To

LYMAN and MARGARET

who dared to follow

the Master Plan

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Endorsements

Dedication

Foreword by Billy Graham

Introduction by Paul S. Rees

Preface: The Master and His Plan

1. Selection

2. Association

3. Consecration

4. Impartation

5. Demonstration

6. Delegation

7. Supervision

8. Reproduction

Epilogue: The Master and Your Plan

Notes

Selected Bibliography for Basic Evangelism and Discipleship

About the Author

Other Books by Robert E. Coleman

Back Cover

FOREWORD

Few books have had as great an impact on the cause of world evangelization in our generation as Robert Coleman’s The Master Plan of Evangelism. For many years this classic study has challenged and instructed untold numbers of individuals in reaching our world for Christ. I am delighted it continues to be reprinted.

The secret of this book’s impact is not hard to discover. Instead of drawing on the latest popular fad or newest selling technique, Dr. Coleman has gone back to the Bible and has asked one critical question: What was Christ’s strategy of evangelism? In so doing, he has pointed us to the unchanging, simple (and yet profound) biblical principles which must undergird any authentic evangelistic outreach.

For that reason there is a timeless quality to this book, and just as it has spoken to men and women for decades, so it now deserves to be discovered afresh by a new generation of Christians who have glimpsed the heartbeat of their Lord for evangelism.

May God continue to use this book to call each of us to God’s priority for his people—the priority to reach out in love to a confused and dying world with the good news of God’s forgiveness and peace and hope through Jesus Christ.

Billy Graham

INTRODUCTION

Philosophers, wrote Karl Marx, "have only interpreted the world differently; the point is, however, to change it."

However unlike they are in fundamental affirmations, the Christian gospel and communism are at this point in agreement. But the agreement goes little further. Distinctively, the church proclaims the changed world as the consequence of changed men. Reflective man produces new philosophies; it is only regenerate man who holds the clue to a society that is really new.

It is the conviction, grounded in the good news that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, that makes evangelism immensely more than a theory or a slogan. It brings it into focus as a necessity.

At this point, however, the question rises: How do we go forward with an evangelism—a widening of the circle of faith so that it includes more and more people who have transformingly trusted Christ as Savior—that is continuous, contagious, and compelling?

Robert E. Coleman has presented a set of principles and sketched a scheme that, if studied carefully, will go far to- ward rescuing the concept of evangelism from the realm of the special and the occasional, and anchoring it where it belongs in the essential, ongoing life and witness of the congregation.

There is nothing in the following pages that belittles what the Spirit of God has done, and continues to do, through the colossal, concerted, temporary undertakings of such evangelistic specialists as Moody, Sunday, or Graham. On the other hand, there is much that beckons us to the disciple winning that works through small groups and builds toward congregational witness—all of it calculated to demonstrate the connection between the gospel to which we bear testimony and the life which that gospel enables us to live.

The author’s work, concentrating as it does on the pattern we see in our Lord and his disciples, is saturated with Scripture. His style is unembellished. It is plain. It is direct. It unfailingly echoes the transparent sincerity of the mind that has thought long on the theme with which it is at grips.

Only this morning I heard a radio speaker make the observation that, in most matters, we move in either of two directions: from words to things, or from things to words. That is to say, if we do not make the journey from theories and ideals to concrete situations, then the concrete situations will be lost under a smog of words.

From the latter peril I believe this earnest volume can help deliver us. It is therefore a pleasure to commend it.

Paul S. Rees

PREFACE

The Master and His Plan

I am the way.

     John 14:6

The Problem in Evangelistic Methods

Objective and relevance—these are the crucial issues of our work. Both are interrelated, and the measure by which they are made compatible will largely determine the significance of all our activity. Merely because we are busy, or even skilled, at doing something does not necessarily mean that we are getting anything accomplished. The question must always be asked: Is it worth doing? And does it get the job done?

This is a question that should be posed continually in relation to the evangelistic activity of the church. Are our efforts to keep things going fulfilling the great commission of Christ? Do we see an ever-expanding company of dedicated people reaching the world with the gospel as a result of our ministry? That we are busy in the church trying to work one program of evangelism after another cannot be denied. But are we accomplishing our objective?

    Form Follows Function

Concern at this point immediately focuses the need for a well-thought-through strategy of movement day by day in terms of the long-range goal. We must know how a course of action fits into the overall plan God has for our lives if it is to thrill our souls with a sense of destiny. This is true of any particular procedure or technique employed to propagate the gospel. Just as a building is constructed according to the plan for its use, so everything we do must have a purpose. Otherwise our activity can be lost in aimlessness and confusion.

    A Study in Principles

That is why this study has been attempted. It is an effort to see controlling principles governing the movements of the Master in the hope that our own labors might be conformed to a similar pattern. As such, the book does not seek to interpret specific methods of Jesus in personal or mass evangelism.1 Rather this is a study in principles underlying his ministry—principles that determined his methods. One might call it a study in his strategy of evangelism around which his life was oriented while he walked on the earth.

    More Research Needed

There has been surprisingly little published along this line, though, of course, most books dealing with evangelistic methods will have something to say about it in passing. The same could be said for studies in Jesus’ teaching methods,2 as well as the general histories treating the life and work of Christ.3

Probably the most careful study to date in the Master’s larger plan of evangelism has been done in reference to the training of the disciples, of which A. B. Bruce’s The Training of the Twelve is the best.4 First published in 1871 and revised in 1899, this narrative of the disciples’ growth in the presence of the Master is still unsurpassed for wealth of insights into this subject. Another volume, Pastor Pastorum by Henry Latham, written in 1890, gives particular attention to Jesus’ way of training men, though it is less comprehensive in its analysis.5 Since the time of these earlier studies, a number of other smaller volumes have appeared that offer helpful stimuli in pursuing this theme.6 Not all of these works have the same evangelical theological viewpoint, but it is interesting to note that they come out at about the same place when it comes to evaluating the central thrust of Jesus’ work with the disciples.

This is likewise true of numerous practical works on various phases of the church life and ministry that have been published in recent years, most notably in the literature pertaining to the growing small group and lay witness movement in the church. While aware that these authors have not written primarily from the standpoint of evangelistic strategy, we must acknowledge our indebtedness to them for their reckoning of fundamental principles in the ministry and mission of our Lord.

However, the subject of

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