Is Evangelism by Nature Political?

However otherworldly the reign of God may be, it is no less political, public, or material. If the first thing can be said about Jesus' evangelism, then, is that it announces and invites persons into a new government called the reign of God, a second observation is that because the new social order made possible by God's reign runs counter to the present order; Jesus' proclamation of God's reign requires a radical critique of the present order.

To be called to Discipleship, therefore, is to be called into a company of disciples that is both sign and foretaste of a new social order as well as participation in and agent of that new order. Any vision of evangelism that ignores the kingdom of God, or relegates it to a position of secondary importance, or fails to wrestle thoroughly with its content is destined at the outset to fail.