--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The first step towards the evangelizing…" description: "\"The first step towards the evangelizing of the world is the christianizing of the church.\" — Vance Havner" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/vance-havner-1699_church_the-first-step-towards-the-evangelizing_1466240.jpg" --- # The first step towards the evangelizing of the world is… ![“The first step towards the evangelizing of the world is the christianizing of the church.” quote by Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/vance-havner-1699_church_the-first-step-towards-the-evangelizing_1466240.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/vance-havner-1699_church_the-first-step-towards-the-evangelizing_1466240.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/vance-havner-1699_church_the-first-step-towards-the-evangelizing_1466240.jpg) > “The first step towards the evangelizing of the world is the christianizing of the church.” [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that spreading Christianity globally begins with reforming the church itself. **In simple terms:** Christianizing the church precedes global evangelism. Key Takeaway Focus on internal reform first. Themes religion mission reform Mood reflective serious Type theological motivational When to use this quote - church leadership - missionary work - faith education Key Concepts theology institutional change Questions to Reflect On - How can internal change affect external outreach? - What obstacles exist within institutions? A Different Perspective Reforming the church may not guarantee broader outreach. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [First step](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-step/) [First steps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-steps/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Whenever, in any century, whether in a single heart or in a company of believers, there has been a fresh effusion of the Spirit,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adoniram-judson-gordon/whenever-in-any-century-whether-in-a-single-heart-or-in-a-company-of/) [Adoniram Judson Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adoniram-judson-gordon/) > [“One cannot keep on evangelizing the world without interfering with the world's culture. It devolves upon God's people, therefore, to contend for such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-r-van-til/one-cannot-keep-on-evangelizing-the-world-without-interfering-with/) [Henry R. Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-r-van-til/) > [The men upon whose shoulders rested the initial responsibility of Christianizing the world came to Jesus with one supreme request. They did not say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/the-men-upon-whose-shoulders-rested-the-initial-responsibility-of/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [The Jew is not satisfied with de-Christianizing, he Judiazizes, he destroys the Catholic or Protestant faith, he provokes indifference but he imposes his idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lazare/the-jew-is-not-satisfied-with-de-christianizing-he-judiazizes-he/) [Bernard Lazare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lazare/) > [We are talking about Christianizing America. We are talking about the Gospel in a political context.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-weyrich/we-are-talking-about-christianizing-america-we-are-talking-about-the/) [Paul Weyrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-weyrich/) > [De-Christianizing America has been high on the progressive agenda, and, thanks to the government (especially the federal courts), it has been a great success.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/de-christianizing-america-has-been-high-on-the-progressive-agenda-and/) [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) > [Evangelization does not consist in proselytizing, for proselytizing is a caricature of evangelization, but rather evangelizing entails attracting by our witness those who are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/evangelization-does-not-consist-in-proselytizing-for-proselytizing-is/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [“You certainly don’t “need” to evangelize. You can rest assured that God is perfectly capable of bringing people to himself in His own good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-arterburn/you-certainly-don-t-need-to-evangelize-you-can-rest-assured-that-god/) [stephen arterburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-arterburn/) > [If we do our jobs well and throw in a little evangelizing, we can make sound as important a part of filmmaking as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-rydstrom/if-we-do-our-jobs-well-and-throw-in-a-little-evangelizing-we-can-make/) Gary Rydstrom > [The task of evangelizing all people constitutes the essential mission of the Church. It is a task and mission which the vast and profound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-paul-vi/the-task-of-evangelizing-all-people-constitutes-the-essential-mission/) [Pope Paul VI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-paul-vi/) > [Evangelizing includes the endeavor to elicit a response to the truth taught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/evangelizing-includes-the-endeavor-to-elicit-a-response-to-the-truth/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [Oh my friends, we are loaded with countless church activities, while the real work of the church, that of evangelizing and winning the lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-j-smith/oh-my-friends-we-are-loaded-with-countless-church-activities-while/) [Oswald J. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-j-smith/) > [An evangelizing community gets involved in word and deed in people’s daily lives; it bridges distances, it is willing to abase itself if necessary,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/an-evangelizing-community-gets-involved-in-word-and-deed-in-people-s/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [“The preacher should work to convert his congregation; the wife should work to save her unbelieving husband. Christians are sent to convert, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer-2/the-preacher-should-work-to-convert-his-congregation-the-wife-should/) [J.I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer-2/) > [We have the means of evangelizing our country, but they are slumbering in the pews of our churches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stott/we-have-the-means-of-evangelizing-our-country-but-they-are-slumbering/) [John Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stott/) ## More by Vance Havner > [Plenty of church members are shaky about what they believe, while not many are shaken by what they believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/plenty-of-church-members-are-shaky-about-what-they-believe-while-not/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [It is one thing to say Jesus is all you want; until He is all you have and you discover He is all you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/it-is-one-thing-to-say-jesus-is-all-you-want-until-he-is-all-you-have/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [There are many who say they want to be victorious Christians, but few are willing to endure the discipline necessary to make one a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/there-are-many-who-say-they-want-to-be-victorious-christians-but-few/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [The only way to meet the modern demon-stration of the powers of darkness is by a demonstration of the power of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/the-only-way-to-meet-the-modern-demon-stration-of-the-powers-of/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [God is on the lookout today for a man who will be quiet enough to get a message from Him, brave enough to preach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/god-is-on-the-lookout-today-for-a-man-who-will-be-quiet-enough-to-get/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [The last word of our Lord to the church was not the Great Commission. The last thing He said to the church was 'Repent.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/the-last-word-of-our-lord-to-the-church-was-not-the-great-commission/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [Salt seasons, purifies, preserves. But somebody ought to remind us that salt also irritates. Real living Christianity rubs this world the wrong way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/salt-seasons-purifies-preserves-but-somebody-ought-to-remind-us-that/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [I can conceive of no greater, more romantic and interesting adventure than to undertake to live like Jesus in this complicated day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/i-can-conceive-of-no-greater-more-romantic-and-interesting-adventure/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [The church is so subnormal that if it ever got back to the New Testament normal it would seem to people to be abnormal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/the-church-is-so-subnormal-that-if-it-ever-got-back-to-the-new/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [A preacher who is too big for a little crowd would be too little for a big crowd.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/a-preacher-who-is-too-big-for-a-little-crowd-would-be-too-little-for/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [Jesus Christ demands more complete allegiance than any dictator who ever lived. The difference is, He has a right to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/jesus-christ-demands-more-complete-allegiance-than-any-dictator-who/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [In other days people chose a church on the basis of their doctrinal convictions. Now, lacking doctrinal convictions, they choose for social reasons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/in-other-days-people-chose-a-church-on-the-basis-of-their-doctrinal/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [We honor God by asking for great things when they are a part of His promise. We dishonor Him and cheat ourselves when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/we-honor-god-by-asking-for-great-things-when-they-are-a-part-of-his/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [To some Christianity is an argument. To many it is a performance. To a few, it is experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/to-some-christianity-is-an-argument-to-many-it-is-a-performance-to-a/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [Doing leads more surely to talking than talking to doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/doing-leads-more-surely-to-talking-than-talking-to-doing/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) [Explore all 214 Vance Havner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) ## More Church quotes > [While the 1963 Birmingham church bombing is the most historic, there also was a series of church burnings in the 1990s. Recognition of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthea-butler/while-the-1963-birmingham-church-bombing-is-the-most-historic-there/) [Anthea Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthea-butler/) > [If I had my brothers I think with just a little bit of the correct marketing, I'd like to be almost exclusively in small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-bozzio/if-i-had-my-brothers-i-think-with-just-a-little-bit-of-the-correct/) [Terry Bozzio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-bozzio/) > [Turn over the pages of history and read the damning record of the church's opposition to every advance in every field of science. . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/turn-over-the-pages-of-history-and-read-the-damning-record-of-the/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Jeff Chu's pilgrimage across America to discover his own place as a gay man in the Christian church as well as attitudes about being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-freitas/jeff-chu-s-pilgrimage-across-america-to-discover-his-own-place-as-a/) [Donna Freitas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-freitas/) > [God is not calling us to go to church; he is calling us to be his church, the hope of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-groeschel/god-is-not-calling-us-to-go-to-church-he-is-calling-us-to-be-his/) [Craig Groeschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-groeschel/) > [The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samir-selmanovic/the-emerging-church-movement-has-come-to-believe-that-the-ultimate/) [Samir Selmanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samir-selmanovic/) > [ T\]he church is not a place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/t-he-church-is-not-a-place-it-s-not-a-building-it-s-not-a-preaching/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [There could be no more powerful argument against mixing religion and government than the success of independent African American churches in placing racial segregation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/there-could-be-no-more-powerful-argument-against-mixing-religion-and/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [Worship is not about personality, temperament, personal limitations, church background, or comfort. It is about God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wimber/worship-is-not-about-personality-temperament-personal-limitations/) [John Wimber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wimber/) > [A beggarly people, A church and no steeple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/a-beggarly-people-a-church-and-no-steeple/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [The minute you walk outside of your church on Sunday you're in mission territory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barron/the-minute-you-walk-outside-of-your-church-on-sunday-you-re-in/) [Robert Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barron/) > [I'm not ashamed of the things I believe and why I believe them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-huckabee/i-m-not-ashamed-of-the-things-i-believe-and-why-i-believe-them/) [Mike Huckabee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-huckabee/) [Browse all 9,430 Church quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The first step towards the evangelizing of the world is the christianizing of the church.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Vance Havner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/the-first-step-towards-the-evangelizing-of-the-world-is-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Church" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/the-first-step-towards-the-evangelizing-of-the-world-is-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/vance-havner-1699_church_the-first-step-towards-the-evangelizing_1466240.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/vance-havner-1699_church_the-first-step-towards-the-evangelizing_1466240.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/vance-havner-1699_church_the-first-step-towards-the-evangelizing_1466240.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The first step towards the evangelizing of the world is the christianizing of the church.” — Vance Havner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Vance Havner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The first step towards the evangelizing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/the-first-step-towards-the-evangelizing-of-the-world-is-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/the-first-step-towards-the-evangelizing-of-the-world-is-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```