The term “Soul Winning” was regularly used by old-timers such as Charles Spurgeon, D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday, and R.A. Torrey, along with contemporaries like Billy Graham. This, in spite of the fact the phrase is found only once in all the Word of God. We must be careful to not build a doctrinal system on one isolated text (example 2Tim.2:15), rather than a multiple set of proof-texts that give it credence.
Mind you, I am not against the expression, if its true meaning is adhered to. In the Old Testament, “soul” was used to denote the whole man; his body, soul and spirit. It is winning over man in his entirety, not just the spiritual part. Many so-called “soul winners” boast of the notches on their Bibles representing saved souls, but, who embarrassingly avoid telling you of all the lost lives they have left strewn behind them.
Personally, I have come to embrace the word “witness,” over that of soul winner. My reason for this is the fact that the New Testament, especially the book of Acts, uses it repeatedly. Witnessing/soul winning is not something we attempt to do one night a week for a couple of hours. It is not a program, it’s a life. Because of this, I have serious problems with “Visitation Programs.” The early Church went everywhere, everyday, to everyone. Some would sow while others reaped their efforts, but they were all one, and received the same reward. By the way, they were not out to build some kind of empire or reputation for themselves, but did it for the glory of God!
A soul-winner is one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread.
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