"GET THE WORD OUT"
One of the spiritual gifts I talked about in the series was evangelism. I mentioned at various times in the series that there are certain gifts we should all be doing; but someone with the gift has a greater power to do this than the average Christian. Evangelism is one of those gifts. We should all be sharing our faith. It doesn't mean we should all be going door-to-door but we should all be willing to share the gospel.
1) "Go".
Matt. 28:18-20, "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
These are Jesus' final words before his ascension. First he tells them that he has all authority. Why does he start with this? He wants his people to understand that as he sends them out to not be afraid because all authority belongs to him. Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Although it will be intimidating for his disciples as they embark on this new journey without the physical presence of their leader-they need not worry.
That goes for us too. It can be pretty intimidating to share our faith, but we don't have to fear any opposition. Jesus' first and his last words encompass the rest. All authority is mine and I am with you always. So take heart, be brave and courageous as you share your faith. The gospel message is one of power and authority so don't be afraid to spread it. Don't be afraid to go.
In fact, this is our mission. Go and make disciples. He told his disciples to go and make disciples but eventually those disciples would pass away and it would be up to the new disciples to make disciples. That's how the church has survived all these centuries. Disciples willing to go and make more disciples. If you are born again it's because a Christian cared about the great commission and shared the gospel with you. And now it's your turn. Don't let it stop with you. Pass it on.
When Jesus sent out the seventy-two he said this in Luke 10:1-3, "After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves."
We see that Jesus sent them out two-by-two. This is a good idea if you are doing door-to-door evangelism. Two heads are better than one. Plus there is accountability and with two you get to strategize and discuss things with your partner.
Then Jesus reveals something about the harvest of souls. The field of souls was ripe for harvest but the amount of workers was low. Jesus wanted them to pray that more workers would be produced to cover more ground and reach more people.
That's another necessity for us to go and make disciples. Not only for the obvious-the saving of souls-but also so there would be more workers going out and trying to make disciples. The more disciples multiplying and going out the more ground that gets covered and the greater the impact and probability to save more souls.
Then Jesus warns them by saying they would be sheep among wolves. By this he meant that they would be encountering people who were going to try to take them down. Some people are vehemently opposed to the gospel message. Darkness wants nothing to do with the light. And some people who are deep in the darkness are too angry or afraid to come near the light. So they attack those who are in the light.
But just because we're sheep doesn't mean we're helpless. When Jesus sent out the twelve he said in Matt. 10:16, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." This means Jesus wanted them to have street smarts yet be innocent of its ways. To be shrewd means to be sharp, on the ball, perceptive, insightful. The antonym for shrewd is naive. We can't be naive to what's out there in the opposing arena or we'll be ripped to shreds. We need to be wise to the ways of the enemy so we can know how to combat him.
Another way this can apply is regarding other teachings. The followers of Christ will be attacked by the wolves of other religions. We need to be ready for them. Being able to defend the faith and be shrewd in dismantling their arguments. That means we need to be able to explain why we believe what we believe. We might not be skilled in apologetics but that doesn't mean we can't hold our own.
Until we become more knowledgeable about the bible and Christianity we have our testimony; no one can take that away. Our personal story is influential because it's experiential; plus our background may be similar to someone we're talking with so it can be relatable. If someone relates to me then chances are they will be more open to hearing about my experience with the gospel.
But we have to be prepared for certain people who will not want to hear what we have to say. We can tell them all about our love for Jesus and Jesus' love for them and they can completely shut us down. We can spend time with them and develop a relationship with them and after all the effort they may never get to where they're ready to accept Christ and live for him. That can be hard to deal with. We have seen the light so we want others to see it too. We've experienced the love of Christ in our loves and we want so badly for others to have that happen for them.
In Luke 10, after Jesus told the seventy-two that he was sending them out as sheep among wolves, he said later in Vs. 16, “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” We need to realize who the real enemy is-Satan. So when people get mad at us or make fun of us it's really a spiritual thing.
They're not rejecting you they're rejecting the gospel-they're rejecting Jesus-which means they're rejecting God. They can say they believe in God all they want but if they reject salvation through Christ they reject salvation-period. That whole, 'you have your way, I have mine' garbage won't cut it.
This will help us to not be argumentative or combative. Sometimes when people are contentious about Christianity or the bible they like to get us going. They will try to belittle us for believing such nonsense; they will try to make us look stupid in front of others. And if we get embarrassed we could become angry and argumentative. Next thing you know we've come out of character and they've won because who's going to listen to the loudmouth who can't keep his composure?
But, if we are shrewd yet innocent-we will see where it's going and not get sucked in. Often times when someone sees that their tactics aren't working on us they become riled up and we can be the ones who walk away with our dignity intact.
But then there are the times we're successful. But, Jesus had something to say about that to keep us humble. Vs. 17-20, "The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
They were getting caught-up in the fact that they had this awesome power. Jesus wanted to remind them what the real focus needed to be on. From an evangelistic perspective we might get too fired-up when we win a debate and show up the arrogant know-it-all. We might get puffed-up because we've brought many people to Christ.
But Jesus would tell us to bring it back to the proper focus. He would say, "Your ability to successfully defend the faith comes from me-not you. Your ability to win souls is my doing-not yours. Rejoice not in your success stories but that your names are written in the Lamb's book of life."
We can get excited about our victories but we can't let them overshadow the main thing-people being spared from eternity in hell. Let us humbly rejoice in being allowed to be used by God to accomplish the kingdom's work. Let's not forget the importance of our own salvation; lest we shift our main focus from being in Christ to putting more of an emphasis on our abilities in Christ. Go and make disciples.
2) The message and the ministry.
2nd Cor. 5:14-21, "For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. "
Paul starts out this passage by saying that Jesus died for us so that we would live for him. Part of living for Jesus instead of ourselves is being willing to come out of our comfort zone for the sake of doing his will. Sharing our faith can certainly fit into that. We need to care about Jesus and the souls of men enough to pull us out of our comfort zone and share our faith.
Learning how to effectively do that is a one thing but first we need the willingness and determination to move forward. And, like anything else, the more we do it the more we will be comfortable with it. And the more relaxed we are the more success we'll have since we can focus on having a conversation with some confidence instead of being on edge and worried about how it will go.
But first we need to be willing and available because now we live for Jesus and we are committed to doing his will instead of our own. And his will is that we would share the gospel. And that will be easier to commit to when we're compelled like Paul and Timothy were. To be compelled means to be obligated. In the Greek it means to be devoted to.
When we understand the depth of love Jesus extended toward us-he died for us-we will feel obligated to please him by doing his will. It's along the lines of Titus 2:11-14 that says God's grace teaches us to say no to ungodliness and live an upright life. And we carry the understanding that Jesus gave himself for us to redeem us and to purify us. So, we respond by being eager to do what is good. And one of those good things is sharing the good news. This is what we will be devoted to.
Then Paul talks about the ministry and the message of reconciliation. There's the message of reconciliation and there's the ministry of reconciliation. The message is the gospel-the good news of salvation through Christ. The ministry of reconciliation is living it out. The gospel is both spoken and lived; it's walking the talk. We are to be like a walking billboard for the gospel. We are to show the proof of our transformation.
We have been reconciled to God. Therefore, there should be changes taking place. If there is no change in our behavior then what message are we sending? If we don't show ourselves to be a new creation then we're not showing people what the power of Christ can do.
Paul said he once regarded Christ from a worldly point of view but came to where he saw him in a different light. We need to be the same way. Not that Christ was worldly but we were. So people need to see us in a different light-a non-worldly light. If we don't stand out from those in the world what incentive would someone have to join our world? They would conclude there's no difference between us and them so there's no need to listen to the salvation message.
But we need to be different-we are Christ's ambassadors. An ambassador is a representative to a foreign land. Paul and Peter talked about the fact that in Christ we are strangers and foreigners of the world because our citizenship is in heaven. Therefore, as an ambassador, we represent the King of heaven to the foreign land of earth.
Jesus is no longer a physical presence on earth. He has left behind his followers to be his representatives. An ambassador to a foreign country is to be a good reflection of their homeland. If I was an ambassador to Russia and it was the first time the Russians had seen an American they will gauge the rest of the country by my actions.
If I'm a respectable and honorable person they will get a good impression of Americans. If I'm obnoxious and rude then they will get a bad impression of Americans. I need to represent the true spirit of America to the foreign land. So do we need to reflect the character of Christ to the world. If we are worldly we will be a poor representation. But if we have the words, the attitude, the character and the love of Christ pouring out from us as we present the message and the ministry of reconciliation then we will be a true ambassador. We need to get the word out.
Jesus said the harvest was plentiful but the workers were few. He asked them to pray that God would send more workers. Then he told them to go. What about us? Are we willing to go? Are we willing to get the word out? Or are we content with just knowing we are saved? There was a guy who applied for a job as an usher at a theater in the mall. As a part of the interview process, the manager asked him, "What would you do in case a fire breaks out?" The young guy answered, "Don’t worry about me. I'll be able to get out."
That’s how some Christians respond to a lost and dying world around them. If you asked them, "What would you do if Jesus came back tomorrow?" they would probably say, "Oh, I'm not worried; I'll be fine." As I said earlier, if you are a Christian it's because someone was willing to share the gospel with you. They didn't keep it to themselves-they took Jesus' words to heart when he said-go and make disciples. They took Paul's words seriously when he said as we have been reconciled we now have the message and ministry of reconciliation.
What's holding you back from sharing your faith? Are you doing something about it? Are you praying for the strength to change that so you can be more active in giving the world the best news ever? There is a great need for evangelism. We need to get the truth out because people are deceived.
A few years ago George Barna reported some amazing facts. Most Americans believe that people are inherently good and their primary purpose is to enjoy life as much as possible. 38% believe that it doesn’t matter what religious faith you follow because they all teach the same lessons. 44% believed that all people will experience the same outcome after death, regardless of their religious beliefs. 55% believed that if a person is generally good or does enough good things for others during their life, they will earn a place in heaven.
We need to try to clear up these misconceptions. We need to get the word out.
