The Engel Scale

The Kingdom, announced by Jesus, is not just about witnessing, evangelistic appeals and personal salvation.
  • We want a biblically broad understanding of the Kingdom.
  • We also need to remember that coming into relationship with God is a process, famously articulated by James F Engel.
  • "The Engel Scale" can be found in the book What's gone wrong with the harvest?, published by Zondervan in 1975
  • Within this process or journey people move at different speeds from a place of ignorance of God, through hostility or indifference to awareness, softening, need, desire, conversion and into maturity in God.
  • People move along this scale through the ongoing prayer and impact of believer, and ultimately through the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit on their lives.
  • "Successful witnessing" if we even want to use such a phrase, is about helping people move along this journey of faith discovery and maturity.
  • The Kingdom is broader than personal salvation.
  • Evangelism is about far more than helping people through a prayer of commitment.

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