Go Ye! (BFM #17)
Text: Matthew 28:18-20
By: Ken McKinley
(Read Text)
In May of 1845, that would be 165 years ago this May, the Southern Baptist Convention came into existence. And it did so mainly for one reason, to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the nations. Granted the Baptist Church existed before then, but there was no Southern Baptist Convention before then. Now as a kid growing up, I didn’t know a lot about religion, or denominations, but I associated different denominations with different things; and I mean no disrespect to any particular denomination, this is just how I saw them as an unregenerate kid, with no religious background. Methodists were always talking about loving one another, The Assemblies of God were always talking about speaking in tongues, the Presbyterians were always talking about election, the Disciples of Christ was always taking Communion, the Church of Christ was always talking about baptism, and the Baptists were always sending out missionaries. That’s how I saw them. Now I didn’t realize until many years later that it was a Presbyterian that came up with “Evangelism Explosion,” a system of evangelism that has been used to reach more people all over the world than any other system, but that’s another point entirely.
So let’s look at Article 11 and see what it has to say (Read Article 11 of BFM), so what we’re going to do is look at this idea of evangelism and making disciples through the sharing of the Gospel. Today we are going to look at it from a wide view, kind of an overview of our duty to share the Gospel, and then next Sunday we are going to be looking at how we can about our Father’s business and make evangelism a reality that we practice in our daily lives.
Now our text there in Matthew 28 is what we have traditionally called the “Great Commission.” And I would say that this is probably the primary duty of a Christian. The Great Commission is actually a COMMANDMENT. Now if you want to get technical, there are only three commands given to Christians. The first one is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. The second one is to love your neighbor as yourself, and the third one is to go into all the world and make disciples. It’s a pretty simple religion we have here. And that’s the first thing we need to understand about sharing the Gospel. You do not have to be a theologian, a pastor, or a trained evangelist to share the Gospel. The Bible says that what we are called to share is so simple even a child can understand it. Both my girls understood at an early age that they were sinners in desperate need of a Savior, and that Jesus Christ is that Savior. There was only one of the 12 disciples that had any kind of religious training, and that was the Apostle Paul, the rest were fishermen, tax collectors, political activists… What made the difference was that they spent time with Jesus and they spent time in the Word. Disciples make disciples. How many of you became a Christian knowing everything that you know now? I would say probably none of you. You’ve all grown in your faith and understanding since becoming a Christian. So you don’t have to be a theologian to share it, you don’t have to be a theologian to receive it. (That comes later in discipleship class – ha ha). Someone once said that “the effectiveness of a denomination can be measured by how well they share the Gospel,” if that’s the case then Christianity is in trouble in the West. In-fact we know it is, the good news is that Christianity is exploding in the “Global South” (Africa, India, China, and South America).
But here’s the thing, if you were to go to the mud and straw huts of Central Africa or the back streets of India, you’ll find people who have a limited understanding of theology, but also an authentic faith for Jesus Christ and that faith is evident in their eagerness and willingness to share the Gospel, even at the risk of their own lives. Those North Eastern African Christians understand a simple truth, “God is in control; if God has work for me, I cannot die, and that work is the sharing of the Gospel because there is no other way to gain eternal life but through Jesus Christ. And if I do die, then I go to heaven!”
In Matthew 4:19 Jesus said, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus didn’t come into this world so that we could be comfortable. He didn’t come here so that you and I could live a life of wealth and ease. He came so seek and save that which was lost. He did the things He did in order to seek and save, and He said if we follow Him, He will make us fishers of men. In 1st Corinthians 11:1 the apostle Paul said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” So Paul tells us to follow his example because he’s following Jesus’ example.
So… if Jesus’ #1 priority was to seek and to save that which was lost and we claim to be followers of Christ, and God’s Word says we are to be imitators of Christ, then what should our number one priority be?
In the year 2000 (that’s 10 years ago) over ½ of all the churches in America didn’t add one new member by conversion. Sure, some of them grew in membership, but that was mainly due to people moving from church to church, not from new believers joining the church. What this has done has caused churches to focus on increasing programs, getting better praise and worship, there are even churches out west that have allowed Starbucks and McDonalds franchises to set up shop in their fellowship halls. In order to draw members some churches are winking at sin and compromising on the Word of God. Some of it’s blatant, like ordaining homosexuals, others are a bit less obvious. I just read a story about an associate pastor in one of the North Eastern states who was living with his girlfriend. They weren’t married, but they were living together, and doing all the things that married people do, and the congregation was ok with it, and the senior pastor was ok with it. In-other-words, sin was ok, because this guy was a dynamic speaker and he was an awesome worship leader.
The Church in the west seems to have lost its focus. We’ve lost our bearings. And when you loose your bearings, you start heading in the wrong direction. In our discipleship class we are looking at the 7 churches of Revelation, and we can learn a lot from those seven churches and the issues that they faced. But when a local congregation looses its focus it strives for the wrong things. Numbers in the pews become more important than souls in heaven. It doesn’t matter if they are regenerate as long as they are sitting here on Sunday and giving their tithe. God have mercy on the pastor that allows that in his church.
The BFM says, “Missionary effort on the part of all rests upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Jesus Christ.” What that means is that disciples make disciples. If you are not in the faith, then you have no faith to share. This goes back to what I was just saying; a lot of churches today are adding members by members of other churches transferring membership rather than conversion, but then again, a lot of churches are adding members by winking at sin. There are churches with members who have never made a public profession of faith through baptism, they do not exhibit the fruit of the spirit or evidence of being a new creation in Christ. But they’ve been led to believe that they are Christians. And so these people who think they are Christians, but in reality are not, are not going forth and making disciples, they are not fulfilling the Great Commission, they are not sharing the Gospel – and its because they’ve never heard it clearly presented themselves.
Now that last part of the BFM; the part that says, “It is the duty of every Child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the Gospel of Christ.” Is actually a new addition to the BFM, it wasn’t in the 1963 version. The 1963 version reads like this, “It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by personal effort and by all other methods in harmony with the Gospel of Christ.” In other words, the 2000 version made a correction by saying that we win the lost to Christ by a verbal witness. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, that’s what Romans 1:16 says, it’s just our job to present it. To share it with a lost and dying world.
Living a good, moral, and upright life never won anyone to the Lord. It doesn’t have that power. Only the presentation of the Gospel has that power. Now don’t get me wrong; we should live good, moral and upright lives. Don’t go out of here saying, “Pastor Ken said I can live any way I want because that’s not what saves anyone.” Because that’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m saying that it is the Gospel alone that God has ordained to bring about the salvation of lost sinners. Lifestyles that reflect a changed life however; add to the witness of the Gospel.
And let me just say this really quickly. The Bible teaches that a person who has been born again by the power of God, a Christian will be living a changed life. We will be bearing fruit worthy of repentance, we will be evidencing our salvation through our lifestyle. But we are not what we were before we knew Christ. So the methods are secondary to the clear presentation of God’s Word, the lifestyle is a result of the clear presentation of God’s Word. A church might have the most amazing praise and worship service ever, done by the most moral and upright worship leader ever, but if the Gospel is not presented, then every person who comes forward at the alter call and presented with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And now for some personal application. If we are followers of Christ, has He made us fishers of men? Was Jesus lying when He said that if we would follow Him He would make us fishers of men? ABSOLUTELY NOT! So where are we missing it? Well I’m glad you asked. It’s most likely in one of these areas.
1.You aren’t real sure how to do it – which is the fault of pastors who have failed to equip you for the work of ministry.
2.You’re afraid to do it – whether it’s fear of failure, fear of retaliation, fear of offending someone, fear of ruining your reputation, or any other kind of fear, what that means is that you don’t have a good grasp and understanding of evangelism; again pastors are largely at fault for this.
3.You don’t have the time to do it – that’s a matter of priorities.
4.You don’t have the desire to do it – that’s a spiritual condition or lack of understanding.
5.You don’t know any non-Christians to witness to – that’s a problem of isolationism.
Or maybe you are doing it, but just not seeing any results. Well don’t worry, because we’re going to be talking about all of these next Sunday. So stay tuned true believers, Same bat time, same bat channel.
CLOSING AND PRAYER
