Spring 2007 | Volume 65, No. 3

Naive Boldness

by Keith Eitel

The missionary said, “Out here where we’re trying to reach Muslims, we are often discouraged because we assume that Muslims can’t come to Christ easily. We begin with the barriers rather than beginning with the realization of just how big is the God whom we serve! You guys came with naïve boldness, and God honored that.” Twenty-three Southwesterners including students, staff and a professor, ventured to Garoua, Cameroon, to share Christ among Hausa, Fulani and Gewe Muslims during the January 2007 break. God indeed honored the prayers and labor of all involved. Twenty-six Muslims made professions of faith. Follow-up house Bible study groups were started and are functioning, according to the latest report from the missionaries with whom we partnered.

This kind of experience is precisely what the Roy Fish School of Evangelism and Missions here at Southwestern Seminary is all about. We put students out on the edge of lostness, where even a flicker of light will shine brightly against the background of darkness. If we’re found guilty of something, let it be a “naïve boldness” in regard to evangelism, so that we may burn brightly with the message of the Good News of salvation.

Southwestern has structured its curricula to encourage students to engage lost people with the gospel, here and abroad. We have a set of practicums and degree plans that foster “learning by doing” in the contexts of working to reach the lost. The MDiv programs in both International and North American Church Planting, for example, require two years of field service under the auspices of either the North American Mission Board or the International Mission Board. Additionally, we offer an MA in Missiology with a similar relationship with both boards.

Our desire is to create an atmosphere where missions is the very air we breathe, both in our personal habits of life and in the seminary setting. To accomplish this, we strive to blend together a proper balance of logos, ethos and pathos. The Word of God, logos, must be more than what we base our missionary actions upon. Instead it must define the entire missionary motivation, initiative, structure, aims and objectives. Only God’s work done God’s ways will reap His anointing. Striving to achieve this level of biblical fidelity will foster a climate or setting that has certain characteristics that earmark us as a missions community; so an ethos emerges that sets the tone and tenor of our lives and the character of the seminary community. Finally, a passion, or pathos, for these core convictions enables and empowers us to have one magnificent obsession for the furtherance of His kingdom to the uttermost parts of the earth. We desire to see people from every tribe, tongue and nation gathered around the Lamb’s throne.

Unfortunately we live in an era that is out of sync with this kind of thinking. Instead we’re living at a time when one of the most important social “sins” is to declare that Jesus Christ is the only way to God (John 14:6). Some accretions of a pluralistic attitude are leaking into the evangelical world. In a recent Christianity Today article, Terry Erickson, InterVarsity’s director of evangelism, said, “Too many college students are not convinced about the exclusive claims of Christ and the eternal lostness of humanity.” We are living at a time when one of the most prevalent social “sins” is to declare that Jesus Christ is the only way to God (John 14:6). The evangelism and missions legacies at Southwestern Seminary have never encouraged this kind of thinking. In spite of any growing trends to the contrary, we plan to hold firmly to biblical convictions and move forward with relevance by clinging fast to the old, old story of redemption in Christ.

When the Cameroon mission team visited a home in a Gewe village just outside Garoua,  the family head who had made a profession of faith the preceding day was thrilled when he saw the same people return with a Fulfulde-language Bible. He rushed over to the team members and said through translation, “Ever since you were here yesterday, my heart has changed!” Changed hearts are the result of naïve boldness to simply believe God’s Word is true, and that the gospel message is the power of God unto salvation. In a miraculous way, God broke through the barriers of the Gewe version of tribal Islam, though routinely and vigorously practiced, to awaken spiritual sensitivities to sin, the need for a Savior and the gift of salvation in Christ’s completed work alone.

Though perhaps anachronistic to some, Southwestern Seminary is unashamed of these convictions, and we are redoubling efforts to promote them in a variety of ways. The Fish School is named for Dr. Roy Fish, a living legacy who embodies the same heartbeat of evangelism that pulsates in all aspects of the school’s functions. From curriculum to classroom and beyond, we emphasize learning by doing and doing by learning. Reciprocal interaction reinforces the desired outcome: People coming to faith in Jesus Christ.

In addition, evangelism and missions are required classes. There students learn the reasons for sharing their faith and are expected to practice presenting the gospel to unbelievers numerous times throughout the semester. Domestic and international mission practicums are offered to enhance exposure to sharing their faith in places where language and culture make doing so particularly difficult. Ongoing mentoring relationships in various degree programs allow students to specialize their understanding and refinement of God’s calling on their lives. We at Southwestern Seminary consider it a form of stewardship to guide and grow the student’s sense of God’s calling. God Himself entrusts us with this sacred responsibility. We take that responsibility seriously.

For more information regarding any of our programs, plans, or vision, please visit us at http://www.swbts.edu/evangelism.

Keith Eitel is Dean of the Roy Fish School of Evangelism and Missions at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.