The Vital Unmasking
Elentics — it’s not a word we hear everyday, but it might be what’s missing in our attempts to share Jesus with others.
It’s a term that comes from the Greek word elegxei — to convince, convict, or rebuke — used in John 16:8,
And when [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.
The pastor and missions leader Jack Miller (1928-1996) considered this ministry of the Holy Spirit to be essential in our evangelism. As Miller’s biographer Michael Graham explains, Miller had been influenced by J. H. Bavinck (1895–1964), who coined the word elentics.
Defined by Bavinck as “the science which is concerned with the conviction of sin,” elentics is the miraculous work of the Spirit to “unmask to heathendom all false religions as sin against God.” Before someone is effectually called to trust the only true God, the Spirit will convict them of their current idolatry and vain hopes.
Miller argued that we should aim for such conviction in our witness, “partnering” with the Holy Spirit to show non-Christians the futility of their idolatry, and inviting them to the foot of the cross. He called this “New Life evangelism” or sometimes, “God-centered evangelism.” He writes,
When you meet human depravity, it’s like somebody throwing ice water in your face — utterly unexpected. You’re shocked to see the evil of the human heart, and you suddenly realize what you knew theoretically—that only God saves people.
No alternative to faith in Christ ultimately works, and everyone who doesn’t trust in Christ is trusting in an alternative. The Holy Spirit must expose this. How might we “partner” with him?
It helps to understand more of human depravity, of who God created humans to be and how far we’ve fallen.
And that’s the topic of the next The Cities Institute seminar on Friday, November 1.
Looking Forward to November 1
Picking up where we left off last fall in our study through Systematic Theology, we’re planning to cover three sessions in one night:
6:00pm–6:50pm: God’s Creation Out of Nothing
7:00pm–7:50pm: God’s Creation of Man
8:00pm–8:50pm: Man’s Fall from Fellowship with God
Unlike last fall, we are detaching this teaching from the “Wednesday Gathering” festivities. We won’t have any kids’ programming or shared meals. Plan to get a sitter and eat before you come. It’ll just be teaching, in a style similar to the Foyer, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm.
I’m excited about this next course and this new approach. My dream for TCI is to create transformational learning experiences where folks come ready to maximize the time and truly encounter God and his truth. To help with that, we are making independent study materials available prior to the seminar. Called “homework” in some places:), these devotional-like workbooks walk through the course topics and draw out the practical implications of each truth.
Mark your calendars for November 1 and register for the seminar. The deadline to register is October 1.
