By Pastor Stephen Hess –
When Jesus called his disciples, the first command he gave to them was, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19). Clearly Jesus understood sharing the gospel to be a central part of what it means to be a disciple. Yet most of us, if we are honest with ourselves, struggle when it comes to evangelism. As someone once famously said, “Too many Christians are no longer fishers of men but keepers of the aquarium!” Sadly, there is a lot of truth in this statement.
What causes us to struggle with evangelism? For some it is fear. The world around us is increasingly hostile toward Christianity and we are afraid of what others will think of us if we share our faith. We fear ridicule and rejection. For others it is complacency. Some of us have lost sight of the eternal implications for accepting or rejecting Christ and therefore we have no urgency to evangelize. For still others it is feelings of inadequacy. We want to share the gospel but we’re not sure how. We feel ignorant or ill-equipped to engage in evangelism. Perhaps we’ve begun to wonder if this task is better left to the “experts.”
In the midst of all these obstacles, we need to go back to Scripture and recognize that evangelism isn’t optional; it is a central part of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Not only did Jesus begin the disciples’ training by telling them to be “fishers of men,” but he ended their training by telling them to “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). Additionally, below are three core Biblical truths that we need to remember as we think about sharing the gospel.
First, the love of God compels us to share the gospel. The gospel is a message about God’s love: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16). God’s grace is so extravagant that he was willing to send his Son to die for sinners. The Bible says that those who embrace Christ in faith and repentance will have eternal life, while those who do not will have eternal judgment. This message should compel us to share the good news. If we truly love our neighbors, we will not only want them to be saved from eternal judgment but also experience the joy of knowing Jesus.
Second, the word of God commands us to share the gospel. The Apostle Paul said not only that he was “eager” to preach the gospel but that he was “obligated” to preach it (Rom. 1:14-15). Why? Put simply because Christ commanded him to preach the good news. This command is given not only to Paul but to everyone who follows Christ. As the Book of Acts says, we are to be his “witnesses” to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). This means that in order to be obedient to Christ we must take seriously his command to share the gospel.
Third, the Spirit of God equips us to share the gospel. Many of us feel unequipped to share the gospel, however, it’s worth remembering that the earliest Christians were in the same boat. Several of Jesus’ disciples were simple fishermen with no theological training and yet God used them to spread the gospel. The Book of Acts says that the people were astonished to encounter “common” and “uneducated” men like Peter and John powerfully proclaiming the good news about Jesus (Acts 4:13). How were they able to do this? The Holy Spirit equipped them to do it, and the Holy Spirit will equip us as well.
I am the first to admit that I struggle to engage in evangelism in my own life. That is why I’m excited to start a new sermon and small group series on September 19th called “Gospel Shaped Outreach.” During this series we will explore what the Bible says about evangelism and how we can share the good news about Jesus. My prayer is that you will be both challenged and encouraged by this series—challenged to see your obligation to share the gospel and encouraged that you can carry out this task with the Holy Spirit’s help.