For as long as I have been a born-again follower of Christ, I can remember witnessing. My pastor took me out witnessing regularly. Usually, I was a wreck. At first, I would fumble the presentation and only get the message out clearly on occasion, but my delivery improved over time and with proper instruction.
Once I had been studying a particular gospel presentation that my pastor had given me in order to help me learn the necessary steps and to give me a method of sharing the entire gospel with another person. I was standing on a front porch, hands sweating from nerves and mouth so dry that I could barely even get out the word, “Hello.” I found myself talking about everything except Jesus. Finally the lady to whom I was presenting the gospel said, “Spit it out; share something!” And with her encouragement, I managed to share the gospel with her and, with the assistance of my pastor, I had the joy of leading her to saving faith in Jesus Christ.
I will never forget the exhilaration of that first soul-winning moment. I watched as the light of God filled her heart and the light of life came appeared in her eyes. That day, my pastor’s prayers and investment resulted in my heart being transformed into the heart of an evangelist. I couldn’t wait to share the gospel with others again and again. And I learned a valuable lesson that day. Don’t wait; share something.
There is always another soul in need of hearing this message. And the message is not especially difficult. But it must include the sinless life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, the Son of God. And once you have established that each of us is a sinner separated from God and that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, the rest is simply providing the listener an opportunity to respond to God’s call.
It really is that simple.
Why, then, do we not share the gospel?
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, why then are not all of us sharing this life-saving, eternity-altering message with the lost among us? Is it fear? Is it lack of time? Is it lack of concern? Is it lack of knowledge of the gospel message?
Matt Queen, a Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary professor has said, “If you know enough of the gospel to be saved; then you know enough of the gospel to share it.” Every Christian came to exercise a saving faith in Jesus Christ because the gospel message was shared with them clearly and an opportunity to make a decision to follow Jesus as Savior and Lord was given to them. In fact, I have serious questions about the sincerity of one’s faith in Christ Jesus if they never share their faith with the lost around them.
In my experience, to deny one something they need so desperately is cruelty, not kindness. Why, then, would we take comfort denying others an opportunity to hear the life-saving message of the gospel?
I plead with local churches to offer evangelism training in and for their churches. Pastors, model evangelism to their congregants by sharing stories of your evangelism encounters from the pulpit regularly. God forbid that the reason our churches aren’t sharing the gospel outside the walls of the church is because our pastors aren’t sharing the gospel outside of the pulpit.
Not everyone has believed our message. Not everyone will. This is not reason for discouragement, however. Many have and many will. And presenting the gospel message to others is an enrichment exercise for a Christian. As the message is presented, God engraves the gospel upon a Christian’s heart every time they share.
Remember 3-1-6
In my last post, I promised to offer an evangelism tool that I’ve found helpful in keeping me pursuing the lost. It’s called 3-1-6. Here’s how it works.
Ask the Father to impress 3 people on your heart who you believe need the gift of salvation. Write their names down. Pray for them 1 time a day for 6 days, asking the Lord to give you an opportunity to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ with them in that week. I have found that when I pray earnestly and ask God to honor this prayer, I have been empowered with God’s love and affection for those precious souls and many more times than not, been given that opportunity.
And when you pray that prayer and the Lord grants you the honor of sharing the hope of Christ with them, don’t hesitate. Remember those words that shocked me into action that day: “Spit it out; share something!”
Follower of Jesus. Husband to Christa. Daddy to One. Evangelist. PhD Candidate @RoyFishSchool @SWBTS. Prof @ http://www.lucent.university