Evangelism - a word Christians fear?
If someone asked you what topic strikes fear into the hearts of many Christians, what would you say?
Hell?
Money?
Sexuality?
What about evangelism?
How can a word, which literally means good news, bring such mixed emotions?
Here at 10ofthose we are passionate about evangelism. It’s part of our values.
10ofThose founder and CEO Jonathan Carswell explains:
"Evangelism is one of the core values at 10ofthose. We’re passionate about it because, as the Bible teaches, people who don’t know Jesus are destined for Hell. So we spend our time, our energy, our resources, our manpower, trying to creatively put together resources that will be useful in sharing Christ with our friends, neighbours and those we interact with. Hopefully we can grow and learn together, and we can help you as you share Christ, and we can learn from you too."
We believe that all Christians are commissioned by God to be a part of His great gospel work.
We’re starting a new series on evangelism to equip and empower God’s people.
Once a month we will publish a blog, about various areas of evangelism.
Sign up now to our email list to make sure you don’t miss any!
So to start, let’s look at what exactly evangelism means, and why it is something that all Christians should be involved in.
Definitions
Evangelism - Sharing the good news of Jesus with non-Christians, who are listening - either one-to-one, or to a crowd.
Evangelist - One who is dedicated to the work of evangelism.
Evangelistic - The methods and attitudes of an evangelist
Evangelical Christian - Someone whose life is defined by the good news of Jesus, and the teachings of the Bible
It may be that our definition of what constitutes evangelism is being influenced by our past experiences – good or maybe not so good – and so we should seek to see what the Bible says on the issue of evangelism.
“A burden for lost men and women is an inevitable concern for those in whom the Spirit of God dwells. Each born-again believer has a story to tell of what the Lord has done for them, and desires to do in the hearts of people everywhere. Famously, when Jesus commissioned His disciples before ascending back to His Father in heaven, He said, ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature’ (Matthew 28:19 and Mark 16:15)”
“Ephesians 2:10 teaches that we are God’s workmanship, created by God for good works. God, who made and saved us, has prepared a journey of service for us. That course may take us through trying, tough times or along very pleasant paths…But we are to live for Jesus and speak of Him in our unique area of service, wherever that may be.”
Roger Carswell, Evangelistic Living
“As we follow the storyline of the early church, it is obvious that the apostles sought to evangelise and disciple others. But we see ordinary believers sharing the Gospel as well. Following the stoning of Stephen, we read in Acts 8:1, “And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” And what did those ordinary believers do? Acts 8:4 tells us: “Now those who were scattered went about preaching [euangelizomenoi] the word.” They went about sharing the Gospel with others!”
Timothy K Beougher, Overcoming Walls to Witnessing
“Jesus said that his followers were ‘the salt of the earth’ and ‘the light of the world’ (Matthew 5:13-14). They were to have a profound influence on the society in which they lived, being a salty preservative to stem decay and blazing a path for others to follow. That is, their lives were to be active, not passive. They were to be Jesus’ witnesses to the world by how they lived and what they said. Those two things belong together – what they said would only be credible if it was also modelled in their lives; and people would only understand their lives and the motivation for them if they spoke about and explained this. Jesus' disciples were to be characterised by living out their faith in public, rather than keeping their faith private. They were to prove their authenticity as Christians by deliberately and willingly swimming against the stream.”
John Lennox, Have No Fear
“Several years ago, I attended a ministry conference, evangelistically earnest and theologically confident. At one point a speaker challenged us, “I want everyone to write down the answer to this question: what is the highest motivation for witnessing to people?”
I ran through the options in my head. I scribbled my answer – Love for the lost – and leaned back in my chair, waiting for others to finish. After a few moments, the speaker returned to the stage and asked what we’d written. As the answers started flying, I heard my own and smiled. I sat up. He popped it like a balloon: “Love for the lost is a very important motivation, but I don't believe it's the supreme one.”
And then someone voiced it: The glory of God.
“Yes,” the speaker replied. “Nothing in the world should motivate us more than this.”
God’s glory as our supreme motivation [for evangelism], in the apostle Peter’s words:
"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for [God’s] own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." 1 Peter 2:9
Matt Smethurst, Before You Share Your Faith
Just in case you thought that evangelism was just for pastors, take a look at the Bible and the early church. In the New Testament, it's clear that we should all be talking to others about the good news of Jesus Christ. Preaching in church is a particular activity to which not everyone is called but there are many other words in the New testament of our evangelism such as ‘announce’, ‘teach’, ‘admonish’, etc – and we can all be involved in that. We, the congregation, receive instructions from our pastors and learn about the Bible, then we pass it on to our friends in an easily accessible format. And we have opportunities and credibility with our friends that the pastor doesn't have and, of course, our conversations with them allow for questions in a way that a sermon doesn't.
Jeremy Marshall, Scattering Seeds of Hope
But before you start to panic we need a reminder of who motivates and empowers us in the work of evangelism!
"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
2 Corinthians 5:20-21
Paul calls us to remember the power behind the message: Christ himself. We are told of our astounding responsibility to be representatives of the kingdom of God. We are Christ’s ambassadors. We are called to see people differently – to give up the human and worldly vision of others and to know and love them. understanding that they are lost sinners who need to be reconciled to God.
Mack Stiles, Evangelism
Hopefully this is a great encouragement to you (it’s okay if it’s a little scary too!), and as we delve into more of these topics over time we pray that you would feel blessed, and enthused to serve God in evangelism.
Do get in touch if you have stories or events which you think will be an encouragement to others.
