Articles
It Is Not A One-Man Job
Have you ever thought, “Well, isn’t that the preacher’s job?” I know I have. Years ago, when I wanted someone to hear about God, I thought that all I needed to do was have whoever speak to the preacher, then they would hopefully change their mind about God. I didn’t understand my responsibility in sharing the truth about Christ with the person. This is a message that needs to be clear to everyone and that is: EVERY Christian is responsible for sharing the gospel! In the Great Commission, Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20). One may say, “That only applied to the apostles, and that has nothing to do with me.” If that were the case, then the Apostle Paul would not have needed to instruct Timothy by saying, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2). We must remove every excuse from faithfully executing what Jesus has commanded everyone to do. In this article, we will focus on the significance of evangelism, the roles of every Christian in sharing the gospel, and the consequences of failing to speak the truth.
To make sure that everyone is on the same page, we need to have a basic understanding the nature of evangelism. The term stems from the Greek word euangelion, which means “good news” or “gospel.” In reference to Scripture, evangelism points to kingship. Normally, we are always focused on Christ, which we should be, but in the Septuagint (Greek OT), the expression was used multiple times with various kings and events. Both David and Solomon were given the “good news” of their ascension to the throne of Israel (cf. 2 Sam. 4:10; 1 Kgs. 1:42). Events such as the destruction of Judah’s enemies of Nineveh (cf. Nah. 1:15) was deemed as “good news.” Likewise, the prophets were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write about the gospel, which referred to the Lord as King. Isaiah 52:7 says, “How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’’’ The Apostle Paul cites this passage in Romans 10:15. Another prophet, Joel, speaks of the Holy Spirit pouring out to the nations (cf. Joel 2:28ff). Peter refers to this passage in the first gospel sermon. Of course, the gospel is mostly recognized in the NT. Christ’s birth (cf. Lk. 1:19), the arrival of God’s kingdom (cf. Lk. 3:18), and the church (cf. Acts 5:42) use this terminology.1
Something that can be easily overlooked is how God used people to deliver His message. Over and over, He used individuals and not just one to share His word. Moses had Aaron (Miriam & Joshua), Elijah had Elisha, Jesus had His disciples, and Paul had several coworkers. Under the Law of Moses, the Levites were designated as the ones to teach the people the commandments of God. Also, parents were to instruct their children in the ways of the Lord (cf. Deut. 6:1ff; Prov. 22:6). That is just to name a few examples. The point was that the work of sharing God’s message was not the responsibility of one person.
There are other matters that we MUST understand when it comes to sharing the gospel. Can a woman share the gospel of Jesus Christ? ABSOLUTELY! A great example of this comes from the account of the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4. She said in verse 29, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?” As a result of her actions, many Samaritans came to believe in Jesus (vv. 39, 42). Now whether the Samaritan woman believed in Jesus is not under consideration here; it is the significance that she dropped everything to go and tell others about Christ. Remember that she was a woman with a troubled past and was not welcomed around people due to her life choices. We can learn much from her actions. We may not have a complete understanding of Christ but we can invite others to learn along with us. Having others find out about Jesus should be so important to us, that everything else can wait. One other thing to note from this account is that the woman was NOT usurping Biblical authority (cf. 1 Cor. 14:34f; 1 Tim. 2:11ff). The Samaritan woman was directing people to “THE AUTHORITY!”
Can children help in sharing the gospel? YES! Recently, during a Bible study class, one of the brethren shared an experienced about his eight-year-old granddaughter. The family had just been in an auto accident and the young girl asked one of the police officers, “Do you think we will be finished with all of this so we can go to Bible class?” When I heard this, I said, “WOW!” Children soak up what they hear and see adults doing (cf. 2 Tim. 1:5, 3:14f). Adults must be sure that they are setting the RIGHT example. Jesus had said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matt. 19:14). Additionally, we MUST never look down upon a child (cf. Matt. 18:10). Likewise, if someone is young and exhibits the qualities of a godly individual then they need to be respected. The Apostle Paul reassured Timothy, “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe” (1 Tim. 4:12). A person’s age is really just a number and doesn’t define their character. Moreover, just because a person has aged doesn’t mean that they have matured. A little one, like the granddaughter mentioned above, can teach everyone a lesson on the true meaning of life.
Unfortunately, we as the Body of Christ can fall short in our duties to the Lord. Our greatest task is talking about the salvation made available through the sacrifice of Christ. Many Christians are unwilling to take up their cross (cf. Lk. 9:23), and part of that is to be on the front lines, calling people to turn to the Lord. Some reasons are: 1) There is little interest in saving lost souls; 2) Excuse for lack of time; 3) People complain that they do not know what to say; 4) Fear; 5) Laziness; 6) No real plan (i.e., If you fail to plan then you plan to fail); 7) Selfishness (i.e., Only concerned about getting personal needs met); 8) Not focused on discipleship; 9) Culture has driven Christians into a retreat mode; and 10) Churches are too busy doing other things.23 There are other “reasons,” or a better word is EXCUSES, for not evangelizing. One excuse is far too many. Scripture shows us how much Christ valued the soul of each individual. An example is given for us in Luke 15:4-7, where Jesus speaks a parable of a lost sheep. He says,
“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
How wonderful it is that the Lord wants us to be found! Shouldn’t we act in the same manner toward the lost?
The sad reality is that there is a decline in the church. This is not just among those that teach sound doctrine, but denominational churches are also losing members and shutting their doors. One source indicated, “6,000 to 10,000 churches die each year in America.”4 Another researcher concluded, “At the present, the best analysis is that each month six CoC congregations close their doors. Given the current trends, we expect that rate to double—or even triple—before we arrive at 2050.”5 Joseph Sullivan, from his book, “Save a Church From Dying,” compiled data about the decline in the church. He wrote, “From all the stats we read, that the United States only has around 12,000 congregations and in the globe 40,000 congregations” (pg. 8). These numbers contain both institutional and non-institutional churches of Christ. The statistics are sobering to think about, but what are we doing to turn this around?
There is a saying, “It takes a village.” Well, it takes the whole church to do the work that the Lord has commanded. Nothing is more important than sharing His word with the lost (cf. Mk. 16:15). Christians have people in their lives that they can talk to about Jesus; more importantly, they have an intimate connection that a preacher doesn’t naturally have. It is unreasonable to conclude that preachers and elders are solely responsible to speak to every individual about the gospel. Remember the words of Jesus, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Lk. 10:2). Are we asking God for more workers to be added to His kingdom? Are we praying that we are one of them, if we aren’t already? Are we praying for the opportunity to speak to more people about the gospel? Do we believe what the Apostle Paul wrote? “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” (Rom. 1:16). Let us petition the Lord to be bold for His kingdom (cf. Heb. 4:16), and make the most of every opportunity (cf. Col. 4:5). One final thought to consider, the whole world has been battling a pandemic for over a year; however, the true pandemic is lost souls!
1 https://www.olivercreek.org/blog/2019/4/11/evangelism-it-takes-a-church
2 https://klangchurchofchrist.org/latest-news/methods-of-evangelism
3 https://churchanswers.com/blog/fifteen-reasons-churches-less-evangelistic-today/
5 https://wineskins.org/2019/07/17/three-bold-challenges-for-churches-of-christ/
