Have you ever thought about that before? The fact that sharing the good news of Jesus Christ is not just something fun to do in our spare time that God would really appreciate we start doing, instead it is a command for us as believers! The mission of the church is to share the Gospel with a lost and dying world, that is priority number one. Just look at Matthew 28, the Great Commission. It says that we need to GO and make disciples. Jesse Johnson at our church's Scatter Conference also talked about the fact that people interpret the verse as saying, "As you go.." instead of just "Go". Either way, the command is still there to make disciples.
Now at first, in my mind, the word "duty" just didn't sit right. It sounded almost as if we were just begrudgingly doing this, something we do because we have to. But then I thought, if I'm a believer, it should be the desire of my heart to share the Gospel with others. Yes, it is our responsibility but it is also our joy and passion to see the lost come to know Christ!
2 Corinthians 4:15 says, "For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God." What is that verse saying? Jesse Johnson seems to think that evangelism brings more glory to God! Think about it, is God glorified through just one saved person? Yes. How much more glorified is He through multiple people coming to salvation?!
I was very convicted by two quotes in particular. One was during the conference in which Jesse Johnson said, "Look for excuses to share the Gospel." I can't tell you how many times in my sin, I've turned down opportunities to witness because of my pride and fear of man. In my life, I've looked for more opportunities to not share the Gospel than to share it. The other quote comes from the great Charles Spurgeon, "Every Christian is either a missionary or an impostor." I hope that sinks down into the very depths of our hearts and convicts us that spreading the Gospel is really the best thing to do because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the best news in the world.
In Christ,
Kurt
