This is a topic of great interest, and should evoke heated debate if you’re passionate about discipleship. My own view is that you need both, and as the latent knowledge of righteousness in the society – the voice of the church or of church tradition – decreases, people need to know who or what you’re talking about before they can “convert” to a belief in it. This video by Ray Comfort highlights the issue of trying to evangelize for conversion through “accepting Jesus”, without providing an understanding who Jesus is, or what it means to repent and believe in Him

This has not been a view that is popular in evangelical circles, but has been the prevailing view in orthodox circles for a long time.

Evangelicals are rightly skeptical of this view, however, as this has in many cases proven to be simply an excuse for not preaching the Gospel in churches, with a challenge to respond. Rather than provide discipleship towards conversion and an encounter with Jesus, many churches simply provide what they hope people will consider to be a good experience, in keeping with their religious brand, as opposed to the challenging experience of discipleship.

Click to tell us What’s your view?