It should go without saying that it is the responsibility of every Christian to share their faith with other people. That’s precisely what evangelism is, talking to people about Jesus with a goal of seeing them accept Him and serve Him as Lord of their lives. It’s our primary role as disciples of Christ, to make disciples and expand God’s Kingdom. And yet, rapidly this is becoming one of the more neglected spiritual disciplines simply because it is one of the more difficult things to do.
Repeatedly in scripture it is made clear that each of us has the responsibility to share the gospel. Jesus says, “you will be my witnesses,” (Acts 1:8) “As the Father sent me, so I am sending you,” (John 20:21) and “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19). Could he make it any clearer?
As we see the early church in the book of Acts, these commands are precisely what they did. They didn’t become popular or rich. It certainly didn’t set them in good standing with the world around them. However, it is clear that this is what they understood this as their responsibility, not just the apostles but everyone. This is the train of thought that Paul carries throughout his letters to early Christians, particularly in 2 Corinthians 5:11-21.
Reading this passage, we find that it is one of the richest in all of the scripture with respect to what the gospel is and our responsibility to share it. Within this passage there are several motivating reasons why we should share the gospel.
First, because we live in the presence of God. We know that God is with us, but how would it impact our lives if we truly lived like God was with us, every action taken knowing God was standing by our side? Paul was walking in fellowship with Christ to the degree that He was aware of this presence 24/7. He was living with a reverent fear of God, an awareness that motivated his actions.
Additionally, we share the good news of Jesus because we are compelled by the Love of Christ. The spirit that compelled Paul is same spirit alive in us today. The love of Christ should compel us, not so much because he’s forcing us but because we are no longer living for ourselves. Rather we are living for Him who died for us and rose on our behalf.
If Jesus is truly living in and through us and we’ve died to ourselves, our lives are to be spent serving Him, not ourselves. We are living for His purposes and not our own. If we are truly living for Jesus, how can we keep from sharing the gospel?
Our job as ambassadors is to share God’s good news with others; helping others make peace with God through Jesus. He has given us the job, given us the message, and promised to empower us to do it. The question is, why don’t we? Within the church in America, we don’t evangelize because we’ve passed the buck. We’ve placed the responsibility upon someone else because we’re more afraid of social pressure than the day of reckoning. It’s not your pastor’s job to bring people into the church. It’s his/her job to equip you to do it. As Christians, sharing our faith is not optional. Each of us must cultivate this discipline if we are going to continue to grow in our walk with Christ.
It’s going to be hard, but it gets easier the more we practice it. When you try, you’re going to get it wrong sometimes. You’re going to mess up, and you might even feel silly or awkward doing it. But God has not called us to be successful. He has called you to be faithful.