What is the Point?

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If as you insist that men and women are either chosen by God for eternal life or eternal death, then there is absolutely no point at all in evangelism.

As with all challenges against the doctrines of divine sovereignty and divine election, this popular objection is easy to answer. It is also very sad, because the objection reveals the sinister attitude that is in this person's heart, something that he would probably refuse to state in explicit terms.

Anyone who raises this objection tells me that he is far from God and has no respect for him. It betrays an attitude that says, "Unless my role is at least as important and determinative as God's role, I find absolutely no point at all in doing what he tells me to do. Unless my disobedience will directly and necessarily contribute to someone's everlasting damnation — to cause him to burn in hell forever — there is no point in obedience toward God, none at all." I had more fear of God than this even before I became a Christian. I would have been too terrified to align myself with something like this.

In any case, this objection is used by many, if not most, of those who call themselves Christians but who resist the doctrines of divine sovereignty and divine election, and it tells us what they truly think about God. They come together every week to worship a God whose commands they would find pointless the moment they discover that he has more control than they thought, and that he is in fact not dependent on them to accomplish his plans. As they say, with friends like these…

May God have mercy on his people.

Then, there is the objection that says if the doctrine of election is true, there would be no point in evangelism. Those who raise this objection might present themselves as champions for gospel preaching, but what I hear is that, unless their disobedience will send people straight to everlasting hellfire, God's command means nothing to them and they see no reason to preach the gospel. That is, unless they are so important that other people's very souls depend on them instead of on God's sovereign decree, then they would find evangelism pointless. Their motivation for preaching the gospel rests on how important they are to the salvation of souls and not on God's command. With an evil attitude like this, perhaps we are all better off if they would stay home and let us preach the gospel instead. (Vincent Cheung, Commentary on First Peter)

Sometimes people think that they are responsible or that their actions are meaningful only when the entire enterprise stands or falls with them. If the outcome is not directly, necessarily, and proportionately related to their effort, then they throw up their hands and conclude that it is pointless for them to do anything. This attitude is foolish and wicked, because it implies that unless the outcome ultimately depends on the human person – unless that person replaces God – then he finds no reason to do the right thing, or to obey God's commands. (Vincent Cheung, Invincible Faith)