We have all been there… We are sitting at a red light for a few minutes… After what seems like forever, the light FINALLY turns green. But unfortunately, the person in front of us did not see it turn green. They are talking on the phone or texting. They may be focused on talking to someone who is in their car. This happens all the time to us, and even we may be the ones guilty of this at times. When it is the person in front of us, we may give them a moment to see the light, but after that moment, we lay on the horn to wake them up to what they are missing. Then, finally, they start moving forward.
This illustration, in my opinion, is very applicable in the area of evangelism. We are the ones who have a green light. The Lord commands His people to go into all the world and to preach the gospel to every creature, but in spite of this, we stay put at the light. We do not go. We do not preach the gospel. There are multitudes of our friends, family, and coworkers who, if it were possible, say to us on the Day of Judgment as the sobering hymn says, “You never mentioned Him to me: “You never mentioned Him to me; you helped me not the light to see. You met me day by day and knew I was astray, Yet never mentioned Him to me.” How many people do you see each and every day who could say this to you? I hate this song because it reminds me of all of the opportunities that I have allowed to pass and all of the time in the past in which I could have done more to get the Gospel out.
My hope and prayer for this series of studies is this: I am going to be the one who the Lord uses to lay on the horn behind you! We have the GREEN LIGHT. We have it right now. We have it each and every day. And we need to… we must… GO! My goal is to remind us of exactly what our mission as the Lord’s people is and to help us to follow the example of our earliest brethren; to evangelize like they did in the first century.
The things we will, Lord willing, be talking about over the next many lessons will be:
• What we are called to do.
• The Biblical pattern and definition of evangelism
• Today’s “evangelism” methods
• Removing the barriers to personal evangelism & dealing with our excuses
• How to start conversations and get to the gospel
• Apologetics and evangelism
WE HAVE THE GREEN LIGHT TO:
1. TEACH THE GOSPEL TO ALL
I would like to begin by looking at the parallel accounts of the Great Commission that Jesus gave before He ascended to Heaven. It is important for us to see exactly what Jesus is calling His people to in the Great Commission.
• "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…” (Matthew 28:18-20)
• “And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned…” (Mark 16:15-16)
• “And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. 46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:45-48)
• “and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
I would like to ask some questions from these passages.
• Who is receiving these commands? I believe it is clear within the context of all of these passages that Jesus is speaking to the eleven Apostles (12 minus Judas). He is giving them the mission that He wants them to fulfill after He ascends to Heaven and sends them the Holy Spirit. But these commands are not JUST for them. They are given to all of Christ’s disciples. What we see in the New Testament is that disciples make disciples. That is made clear, in my opinion, in Matthew’s account. After telling the Apostles to go into all the world, Jesus tells them to teach the disciples who are made to observe all which is commanded them. This surely includes the command that we see Jesus give in the prior verse, go and make disciples. You and I are to make disciples. This is a responsibility given to us as individuals. I say this because it can be very easy for us to entrust the duty of preaching the gospel to only a few Christians. We will talk about this more later, but I will make this point: You and I can not preach the gospel by proxy. You are commanded to teach the gospel for yourself. Just as you cannot get someone to be baptized for you, you cannot get someone else to preach the Gospel for you. It is something you are supposed to do.
• What is to be taught? Mark tells us that we are to go into all the world to preach the gospel. They were to give the good news of the Kingdom; of what Jesus did to make it possible for us to be citizens of the kingdom and have our sins forgiven. Luke’s account tells us that this Gospel message includes the preaching of repentance and remission of sins in Christ’s name. Forgiveness will come to those who submit to Christ’s rule. Another phrase that will be used in the book of Acts as the Apostles go out to preach is the phrase “preached Jesus”. The Gospel is all about Jesus Christ and the work that He accomplished for God’s glory. It is ONLY the word of God that is capable of bringing people to Christ. Only the Gospel makes disciples.
• Who is to be taught? The disciples were commanded to go into ALL the world and to teach EVERYONE. Mark says that EVERY creature (or “ALL creation”) needs to hear the Gospel. We will talk about this more later, but we need to understand that everyone needs to hear the Gospel. I believe you would agree with this fact, but this is not usually what is shown in our practices. Usually we will only share the gospel with those in whom we are most comfortable talking to about Jesus. Some narrow this down to only those who they are friends with or work with. We need to set our sights higher. More than just our friends and families are deserving of hearing the Gospel also. We should not be a respecter of persons when we evangelize. Strangers need to hear the gospel also. And people who are in terrible sin need to hear the gospel. Not just those who we think are “good” people.
We have the green light to preach the gospel! Each one of us has the green light. Jesus commands it. So why is it that we neglect this important duty so much? Doesn’t Jesus say, “why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” We neglect the command to teach the gospel, but we also neglect following in our Lord’s example. His whole life was about helping the helpless; the enemies of God (everyone), find hope, rest, and forgiveness in the truth.
Also, when we neglect evangelism, we are not only neglecting the commands given in the Great Commission, we are also neglecting some foundational commands and principles given in God’s word:
YOU HAVE THE GREEN LIGHT TO:
2. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF
One of the scribes asked Jesus what the greatest commandment in the law is.
“And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' 38 "This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' 40 "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
We can turn to passage after passage that commands us as Christians to show love to others; to friend and foe alike. One of the most important ways to show our love for the lost is to talk to them about Jesus. You can show your love by doing acts of service all day and every day, but if you never open up your mouth to talk to them about Jesus and to share the gospel with them, do you really loving your neighbor as yourself? We are concerned about our own spiritual well-being, right?
I have shared this quote before, but a while back, a well-known atheist named Penn Jillette, made a very interesting observation about evangelism. In a video he put on YouTube, he spoke of a believer who, after one of his shows, gave him a Bible. He talks about how he had a lot of respect for this man for how he showed kindness and concern for him. Although the encounter did not change Jillette’s mind about the existence of God, it did lead him to say some very interesting things about Christians who are not like this man who gave him a Bible.
“I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. If you believe that there is a heaven or hell, or that people could be going to hell, or not get eternal life, and you think it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward… how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”
Let me remind you that this is a well-known atheist who said this. “How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?” Although I do not agree with the majority of what he says, he is right on in what he says here. At times, our lack of evangelism does send a message to others (including the Lord) about how much we really love and have compassion for the lost. If we saw our neighbor’s house on fire, would you not be banging on their door and try to call them to alert them to the danger they are in? If you saw someone walking through a crosswalk who was going to get hit by a car, wouldn’t you try to stop them or yell out to them to stop? These would be the loving thing to do. If we would do these things to show our love for others, why not warn people about the spiritual danger they are in? Everyone around you during the week, if they do not obey the gospel in this life, will say along with the rich man, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame” (Luke 16:23-24). There would be no mercy for the rich man who was unwilling to show love to Lazarus. There would be no relief. The same will be the case for those who we claim to love if they don’t obey the gospel.
This rich man passed by Lazarus at his gate very often, and yet, he did not show mercy. When you think about it, we are not too much different than this rich man if we are unwilling to see the need that everyone around us has and not willing to do anything to help.
Charles Spurgeon once said,
“Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you're not saved yourself, be sure of that!”
This is a challenging thought… If we have no desire at all to share with others the gift of grace which we have been given, what may that say about how we truly stand with God? The command to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and the command to love our neighbor as ourselves are inseparable. How we love and serve others shows how much we love God and are serving Him, and maybe even if we are in a relationship with Him at all.
YOU HAVE THE GREEN LIGHT TO:
3. HAVE FAITH IN GOD AND HIS POWER TO SAVE
Paul said in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). This was what Paul believed about the Gospel. Paul had seen this message change so many lives. HE experienced it’s power first hand. He had great faith in the power of God. Do we have the same faith as Paul did? We may say we believe in the Gospel’s power to save, but my question for all of us today is, “Does our faith in this message show in our actions?” Paul showed his faith in the Gospel by desiring to preach it and by actually teaching it to others. In verse 15 of Romans 1, Paul said that He wanted to come to Rome to preach the Gospel. His not being ashamed of the Gospel was shown in his actions, and the same must be the case for us.
Saying, “I believe” is not the same as showing that you believe. James makes it clear that our faith must be active. Speaking to those who are Christians, he says,
“What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. 18 But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works." 19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” (James 2:14-20).
James says that if we see a brother and sister in need of daily food or clothing, and we are unwilling to do anything to help them, our faith is useless. Let me reread this passage and insert a different topic.
“What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If you know a person is lost and subject to the wrath of God, 16 and one of you says to yourself, "I believe the Gospel is powerful and can save this person," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their soul to be saved, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. 18 But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works…" 20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” (James 2:14-20, Evangelism Version…).
Do you really believe that everyone needs to hear the Gospel? Do you really believe that heaven and hell are real? Do you believe that the Gospel is powerful enough to save the lost and to give them hope of eternal life? If you really believe these things, I have two words for you, “prove it!” Show your faith in God and in His power to save. We all need to stop giving God lip-service when it comes to our faith in the gospel if we are unwilling to ever share it with someone.
CONCLUSION
We can talk about evangelism and encourage each other to evangelize all day long, but if we never actually share it, we are not being faithful to the mission that he has given to us as disciples of Christ. If we truly want to be like Jesus; if we truly want to be like our Lord, we are going to be more active in personal evangelism. Can we truly call ourselves or even the local church here “sound in the faith” if we are not being trained to seek and save that which is lost and actually attempting to go out into the world to do so? We so often measure the “soundness” of an individual or a congregation by what they ‘do not do.’ A congregation can teach the right plan of salvation, the right way of worshipping God, and be against all of the right things, but if the Christians in a congregation of the Lord’s people are not individually going out to evangelize, we as a collective group are not doing what we should in training and equipping each other, and we are not holding each other accountable as we should in this important work.
YOU HAVE THE GREEN LIGHT…
• TO TEACH THE GOSPEL TO ALL
• TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF
• TO HAVE FAITH IN GOD AND HIS GOSPEL
Are you going to take advantage of the green light by taking your foot off the “brake” and use the gas pedal and actually GO and fulfill the mission that God has given you?
