In this, men like Boston have an important lesson to teach us today. Since mass evangelism on neutral ground, led by a freelance who specializes in this particular activity, became a regular feature of the Christian scene, the concept of conversion as typically a short, sharp affair that can be precisely narrated and dated has become normative for evangelical minds. Clearly, its source is the evangelistic rally, where, after warming up and softening up preliminaries, the evangelist speaks of human sin and divine grace, appeals for commitment to Christ, and passes on those persuaded to counselors, who help them to make their commitment firm.

Realism requires us to face the fact that though God may prompt special evangelistic ventures, and use them in a spectacular way to advance or complete the conversion process, that process usually has many sovereignly ordered moves of God’s grace. The main way in which God advances conversion, in our day as in Boston’s, is through the sustained faithfulness of parents, friends, and the church teachers witnessing, instructing, and encouraging informally, and of preachers expounding the gospel from Scripture in worship contexts.