“How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?” – Penn Jilette (Famously Atheist)
The first time I heard this quote it challenged me to my core. It still does. It perfectly sums up the what and why of evangelism.
Sadly, many Christian don’t evangelise because they don’t understand why they need to. Many more don’t even understand what it really means to evangelise.
This is what I wish to address today in this post.
What is evangelism?
The word evangelism comes from the Greek εὐαγγέλιον (transliterated as euangelion), meaning “I bring a good message”. Oxford Dictionaries defines it as “The spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness.”
It is essential to understand that evangelism is public and personal. The message we have been given is not just for us and our close family and friends, but also for complete strangers.
It is intended for everybody to hear. And ‘hear’ is the operative word.
Evangelism is about telling people the good news. We can’t just do kind things for someone and hope they get the message. Our actions are important (James 2:14-26) but our words will bring the clarity they need. There are a lot of philanthropic non-Christians out there. You need to help your subject connect your kind deeds with the love of God in your life.
Why evangelise?
- Because Jesus commanded it. The great commission in Matthew 28:19-20 tells us to go and make disciples. Mark 16:15 says we need to preach the gospel to all creation.
- Because they are lost and need to hear it. Romans 6:23 tells us that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. Without Jesus, your fellow human is going to experience eternal separation from God in a terrible place (Revelation 20:15).
- Because they need someone to tell them. Romans 10:14 tells us that the lost cannot believe in God if they have not heard about Him and that they cannot hear if no one preaches to them. In other words, they need to be introduced to God before they can decide to put their faith in Him.
- Because you love Jesus. In John 21:15-17, Jesus tells Simon Peter that, if he loves Him, he needs to feed and care for his sheep which we know to mean His people. 1 John 4: 20 says that we cannot love the God we haven’t seen if we cannot love the brother or sister that we have seen. Showing our love for someone by telling them the gospel demonstrates our love for Jesus.
- Because God loves them. John 3:16 says that God loved the world so much that He gave His only son to die for us. Romans 5:8 reminds us that He did this while we were still sinners. God loves you despite your sin and he loves the lost too. Christ died for all of us.
- Because you should love them too. 1 John 3:14 tells us that our love for others is the realisation of our salvation. Lacking this love means we lack the life given by Christ. Jesus also tells us that the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:39). If you are not loving the lost, you are not obeying God.
So do you need to renew your mindset about evangelism? Is there someone to whom you need to show some love by telling them the greatest love story of all?
Please comment below if you have prayer requests, encouragement or declarations to make over your life concerning this topic.
Breakthrough 