Some
years ago, theologian Norman Geisler wrote a candid article in which he wrote
the following:
“I have a confession to make. I was a director for a Christian youth
organization for three years, a minister for nine years, a Bible college
teacher for six years, and in all that time I did not witness for Jesus Christ.
I scarcely ever shared my faith one-to-one with other people.” Geisler offered several reasons for this: He didn’t
think he had the gift of evangelism. He felt instead his gift was that of
teaching the Word to those already Christians. He had read a book that had
turned away his zeal for personal evangelism. He had known someone who had
practiced impersonal, cold-turkey evangelism, and Geisler had determined that
“lifestyle” evangelism was more desirable. But as a result, he lived a
Christian life but seldom vocalized his witness to an unsaved person.
Eventually, Geisler
became convicted by the words of a little song that said: “Lead me to some soul
today, / O teach me, Lord, just what to say.” Those words became a sincere
prayer for him, and his life began to change.
One day, having prayed
that prayer, he was approached by a girl from the college where he taught. She
had spiritual needs in her life, and he was able to lead her to Christ. (She
later went to South America as a missionary).
Shortly afterward,
Geisler volunteered to participate in a Monday night visitation program at his
church. On his first outing, he found himself knocking on the door of a man who
turned out to be an atheist. “Do you mind if we ask you a very serious
spiritual question?” asked Geisler, when the man came to the door. After a long
conversation and a couple of visits, the man prayed to receive Christ and then
was baptized. (He is now a deacon in a church with his family committed to
Christ as well.)
Of evangelism, Geisler
says: The most rewarding experiences I’ve
had in my Christian life, have not come from teaching, shepherding, or
ministering around the world. They have come from meeting with non-Christians
and seeing one after another come to know Christ.
Perhaps
it was for the joy of sharing Christ that Peter once wrote the following…
“Sanctify
Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being
ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the
hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.” – 1 Peter 3:15
O to be an evangelist! O for the chance to give an answer for the
hope that you have! In this post I want to think about evangelism and how we do it.
D.T. Niles once said that “Evangelism
is one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread.” The great Puritan
writer and preacher John Bunyan once said that an evangelist is “a man who has his eyes up to heaven, the
best of books in his hand, has the law of truth written upon his lips, and he stands
as if he is pleading with men.”
And we must be intentional as we plead with the lost of this
world. But of course, it is God who is most
intentional as we share the gospel. In fact, success in evangelism is
simply taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit,
then leaving the results to God.
So, how do we share the gospel? Well, I want to give you three
things you must do to be more intentional in sharing the good news of Jesus
Christ with your family, your friends, and your neighbors. I believe that if
you will take hold of these three things, you will be more intentional as an
evangelist of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. SHARE YOUR STORY
Now
when I say, “Share Your Story” that
is exactly what I mean. Whether you know it or not, you already possess the
most powerful witnessing tool that God ever invented. It is not an extravagant
evangelistic program, and it is not something that takes a lot of training. What
you have, that no one else has, is the story of how you became a Christian and
how God is presently working in your life – That’s it!
Once
Jesus healed a demon-possessed man & the man begged to go with Jesus on His
travels – "No,
go home to your friends, and tell them what wonderful things the Lord has
done for you and how merciful he has been." – Mark 5:19 (NLT)
What
did Jesus tell the man he had healed? Jesus said, “Go home & share your
story.” Now how do you tell your story? My friends, you simply tell your
friends and loved ones what Christ has done for you, how you have repented of
your sinful life, and how God is working in your life today. You don’t have to
be a walking theological encyclopedia to tell others your story. I’ve had
people ask me how long they need to be a Christian before they begin telling
others about Christ – my answer: About
two seconds! Once you’ve experienced salvation yourself, you are ready to
tell others about it.
2. LOVE THE UNCHURCHED
One of the most important questions we can ask as a church is
this: Do we want our church to be a New
Testament church? Now, most of us will unequivocally say yes. Now, when we
say we want to be a New Testament church, I believe we mean this: we desire for our church to be characterized
by a vibrant, evangelistic spirit that witnesses the power of God transforming
lives.
So, what would it look like if it we patterned our ministry after
churches in the New Testament? Would we expect God to transform those who are
enslaved to immorality, those addicted to drugs, or those enmeshed in difficult
relationships? Of course we would! God doesn’t just work in the lives of good
people who just need a little "tweaking"?
God is ready to transform lives! But unfortunately many churches
are not reaching the unchurched because they do not have a church culture that
encourages intentional efforts to bring the lost to Christ. They do not have a
church that loves…the unchurched. And yet God has called to unequivocally love
the lost.
All
newness of life is from God, who brought us back to Himself through what Christ
did. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to Him. For God
was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people's
sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell
others. – 2 Cor. 5:18-19 (NLT)
Don’t you want to tell that message to others? Don’t you want to
love the lost of this world enough to tell them the Gospel and share your
story? The great English evangelist Charles Spurgeon, once said, “Our great object of glorifying God is to be
mainly achieved by the winning of souls…”
Be like the anonymous elevator operator at a hospital in Nashville
who once said, “I’m just a
nobody telling everybody about somebody who can save anybody.” If you’re
going to be intentional about being an evangelist, you’re going to love the lost;
you’re going to love the unchurched. Pray to God to have a heart for the lost.
Commit also to developing relationships with the lost.
3. COMMIT TO EXPLAINING THE GOSPEL IN GREATER DEPTH.
God created us for his glory
God
made us to magnify his greatness - the way telescopes magnify stars. He created
us to put his goodness and truth and beauty and wisdom and justice on display.
The greatest display of God's glory comes from deep delight in all that he is.
This means that God gets the praise and we get the pleasure. God created us so
that he is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.
"Bring
my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth,... whom I
created for my glory."
Every human should live for God's glory
If
God made us for his glory, it is clear that we should live for his glory. Our
duty comes from his design. So our first obligation is to show God's value by
being satisfied with all that he is for us. This is the essence of loving Go
"So
whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of
God."
All of us have failed to glorify God as
we should
"All
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
What
does it mean to "fall short of the glory of God?" It means that none
of us has trusted and treasured God the way we should. We have not been
satisfied with his greatness and walked in his ways. We have sought our
satis
All of us are subject to God's just
condemnation
"The
wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23)
We have all belittled the glory of God. How? By preferring other things above him. By our ingratitude, distrust and disobedience. So God is just in shutting us out from the enjoyment of his glory forever. "They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might" (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
The
word "hell" is used in the New Testament fourteen times—twelve times
by Jesus himself. It is not a myth created by dismal and angry preachers. It is
a solemn warning from the Son of God who died to deliver sinners from its
curse. We ignore it at great risk.
If
the Bible stopped here in its analysis of the human condition, we would be
doomed to a hopeless future. However, this is not where it stops...
God sent his only son Jesus to provide
eternal life and joy
"Here
is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners..."
The
good news is that Christ died for sinners like us. And he rose physically from
the dead to validate the saving power of his death and to open the gates of
eternal life and joy (1 Corinthians 15:20). This means God can acquit guilty sinners and still be
just (Romans 3:25-26).
"For Christ died for sins once for all, the
righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God"
Coming
home to God is where all deep and lasting satisfaction is found.
The benefits purchased by the death of
Christ belong to those who repent and trust him and are baptized into His
triune name
"Repent,
then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out" (Acts 3:19).
"Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31).
“Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)
Forgiveness
of sins.
Salvation.
The
Gift of the Holy Spirit.
"He who believes in me," Jesus says,
"shall never thirst" (John 6:35). We do not earn our salvation. We cannot merit it (Romans 4:4-5). It is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is a free gift (Romans 3:24). We will have it if we cherish it above all things (Matthew 13:44). When we do
that, God's aim in creation is accomplished: He is glorified in us and we are
satisfied in him - forever.
My
prayer for you is that you will be more intentional as an evangelist.
I pray that you will share your story. I pray that you will love the
unchurched. Finally, I pray you will come to understand the Gospel in a deeper
way.
The
great Puritan preacher Richard Baxter once cried out:
“O, if you have the hearts of Christians in you, let
them yearn towards your poor, ungodly neighbor. Alas, there is but a step
between them and death and hell. Many hundreds of diseases are waiting, to
seize on them, and if they die unregenerate, they are lost forever. Have you
hearts of rock that cannot pity men in such a case as this?
Let
us have hearts that would serve the Master.
