The Importance of Evangelism

A WORD FROM PASTOR STEVE

Evangelism, or sharing the gospel, is one of the most neglected components of the Christian life for many believers. Reasons that some people express for avoiding evangelism range from fear to lack of Biblical knowledge with many other reasons in between. So, why do we encourage every member to be involved in evangelism?

We engage in evangelism because we want to worship God well. God’s desire is for the world to be filled with true worshipers (Gen. 12:1-3; Ex. 9:14-16; Ps. 22:7). His design is to use believers to carry the good news of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection to those who are in darkness so they may come into the glorious light of the kingdom of God. As Burk Parsons rightly says, “We evangelize in order that God might gather for himself worshipers from every tribe, tongue, and nation for his glory. Evangelism is a temporary necessity, but worship abides forever.” Although evangelism may be a “temporary necessity,” it is God’s divinely appointed method of bringing people to worship him for who he is and what he has done. When we share the gospel or invite an unbeliever to church we are ultimately seeking to bring worship to God.

We engage in evangelism because we want to be obedient to our Lord Jesus Christ. The last orders Jesus gave on earth was to go into all the world and make disciples (Matt. 20:18-20). Evangelism is the doorway into discipleship. Discipleship is a process that begins with a conversion. With humble confidence in our Lord’s authority, presence, and message, we must boldly reach out to others with the good news of the gospel. When we obediently share the gospel or invite others to come and hear the gospel we demonstrate our own faith in Christ and his saving work.

We engage in evangelism because we are burdened for lost people. The Apostle Paul was so burdened for the salvation of Israel, he wished for himself to be cut off from Christ if it meant the salvation of these lost people (Rom. 9:1-4; Rom. 10:1). Of course, we recognize the hyperbolic language and know that believers are eternally secure in Christ. Yet, we cannot escape the heart of Paul for lost people. When we see people around us every day, do we truly have a burden for them to come to faith in Christ? The well-known author and pastor Oswald Chambers said, “So long as there is a human being who does not know Jesus Christ, I am his debtor to serve him until he does.” Another minister, Carl Walther captured the burden well when he said, “A believer is ready to serve everybody wherever he can. He cannot but profess the gospel before men, even though he foresees that he can reap nothing but ridicule and scorn for it; yes, he is ready also to give his life for the gospel.” May God help us to pause long enough this week to look into the eyes of unbelievers all around us and care enough for their souls to share the gospel with them or invite them to church this Sunday.

We engage in evangelism because we are grateful for our own salvation. When our perspective is focused on Christ and his sacrifice that brought us redemption, evangelism changes from being a burden to being a privilege and a joy. We get the honor of sharing with others the incredible grace, forgiveness, and hope we have found in Jesus Christ. As a result, evangelism causes our own faith to grow and enables us to know God's heart more fully (John 3:16-18; Rom. 5:6-11; 2 Pet. 3:9).

Start practicing evangelism this week by implementing one of these four simple suggestions:

1. Pick up some invitation cards at church and hand out a few each week.

2. Invite a neighbor or coworker to come to church then share a meal afterward with them.

3. Begin a gospel conversation with: “May I share something important to me with you?” End that time by asking, “Have you ever come to know Jesus in this way?”

4. Attend one of our upcoming evangelism training sessions at church.

As the song says, "I'm just a nobody trying to tell everybody all about Somebody who saved my soul. Ever since You rescued me, You gave my soul a song to sing. I'm living for the world to see nobody but Jesus." Let's make much of Jesus by sharing the good news with those around us!

In Christ,
Pastor Steve