Rev and others, I struggle with the "fishers of men" narrative of evangelism. Not in spreading the message of deeds/works/love, but in spreading the message of Christ as savior. Any thoughts on that? I have heard so many times that deeds without faith is worthless from my Christian friends that it's become a point of frustration for me, because surely this is a selfish way of looking at things. The subtext there is deeds without faith is worthless for your own salvation. The deeds themselves, if they lead to goodness or love but are not done in service of God or the spreading of the Word, are still good, are they not?
So evangelism.... yea, it's tough because it is so misunderstood. Mt 18:20 (the Great Commission- go, teach, baptize) is at the core of the ministry outlined by Jesus, but how that is done and understood can be a real struggle.
So deeds without faith is good stuff, great stuff even. Anyone who says otherwise is just ignorant (Luke 9:50- though I realize the "suspect" was still doing ministry in the name of Jesus, he clearly wasn't accepted by the disciples as "one of them.") Theologian Karl Rahner speaks of "anonymous Christians," which are essentially everyone who does good deeds. He says that even if they don't realize that they're doing God's work, they are. Now, I realize that can be problematic philosophy, but Rahner is considered an upper-echelon theologian.
In my worldview/theology, the most operative statement is Luke 17:21, the Kingdom of God is among you; it is a present reality, not the reward of afterlife. That being said, a good deed that builds the Kingdom is a good deed that builds the Kingdom, whether or not the doer realizes that they're building the KoG or not. So to answer your question, yes, a good deed is indeed a good deed.
I'm sure you know this, as you've been very knowledgeable thus far in this discussion, so forgive me if this is "basic," but evangelism comes from a Greek compound meaning good (eu) + news (angelion), which is the Biblical word for Gospel. Evangelism really is just sharing the good news. What people fight over is what that good news is. Some would say the good news is that God became incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, others would say it is that Jesus died on the cross for our sins (which is really shallow and incomplete, but nevertheless, some hold this view. There is some truth in it, but it isn't the be all, end all), others would say it's the Resurrection. I'd say that's all part of the good news, but the good/best news is that the KoG is among us, and Jesus came to usher it in, teaching us how to live and thrive in it.
That being said, there is absolutely no good news in conversion by the sword, or diminishing the good deeds of Jews/Muslims/atheists because they are not done "in Jesus' name," nor is the message that "I'm saved but X group is going to hell." None of that is good news, so it's not proper evangelism.
And lastly, when you said "The subtext there is deeds without faith is worthless for your own salvation," my thought was "we really should have a conversation on this thread about what salvation means." I'm sure the conversation will eventually lead there, but for now, we're on evangelism.
