Modern Evangelism

Salvation in such a [individualistic] world is transformed into and essentially private, one-by-one affair, while evangelism becomes a practice based almost entirely on individual personality and persuasion, an attempt to lead individuals into a private decision to "have a personal relationship with Jesus“ or to join the church, much as one might join any other club or association. The modern Western model of church and salvation, especially in its Protestant forms (which are considerably more "modernised“ than Catholic or Orthodox forms), is largely predicated upon this narrative of the self. The church‘s evangelistic ministry becomes an expression of what McIntyre refers to as “bureaucratic individualism“ and entails the combination of rational technique and strategy, the creation of multiple programs to meet the needs of parishioners who will increasingly come to be viewed as customers or consumers, the tailoring of the gospel message to resonates with people‘s personal experience, and the alteration of the meaning and purpose of worship to what is existentially satisfying to the modern subject, all in the service of accomplishing the distinctively modern model of salvation. The authority of Christian leaders (and this will be especially true for their practice of evangelism) is now cast almost entirely in terms of effectiveness and is “nothing other than successful power“

Evangelism After Christendom, Stone p138-9