Unfortunately few people know how to
do evangelism well. Christians are all in favor of an easy
process that brings dozens if not hundreds of people to
Christ if it doesn’t take much time or resources. Few
Christians have been willing to sow in tears. Despite a
desire to reach people for Christ, we are lost when it comes
to actually getting out and doing it. At best, we’ve reduced
evangelism down to a process and a list of objectives to
check off.
There are others in the church who
believe that it is the pastor’s job to evangelize the lost.
If the church isn’t growing it is the pastor’s fault. The
pastor needs to do more visitation. The pastor needs to have
more interesting sermons. The church needs to use
contemporary music – then we’d be able to reach the lost.
It sounds kind of silly to believe
that the pastor is solely responsible for reaching the lost
in the church – after all, the Great Commission was for
everyone, not just pastors. Nevertheless, many pastors have
lost their jobs because the church wasn’t growing.
Ultimately, the responsibility falls
upon us. Every Christian has been called to go and make
disciples. This means the pastor, the choir members, Sunday
school teachers, and the church janitor. Jesus didn’t place
any sort of exception clause in his calling.
It would seem like it doesn’t need to
be said, but the church needs to get out and reach the
world. Only two of the major denominations in America are
growing at all. These two still aren’t growing at the rate
the people are being born and moving into the United States
however. This means that the United States is becoming less
and less Christian.
We have been given a great gift by God
and it should only come naturally to us that we want to
share that good news with everyone else. When a couple has a
child, they call all of their family, all of their friends,
and everyone they know. The proud father shows off pictures
at work. Why do we do this? Is it because of any great
accomplishment, something that was earned? No, we don’t tell
others to brag about any accomplishment, we simply want to
share the good news.
Our reaction should be the same when we become Christians.
Sometimes it is - we are fired up and want to share the news
with everyone. Some of you were probably saved at a young
age and there was no dramatic transformation in your life.
You weren’t as fired up because the event wasn’t quite as
life changing as it may have been for a man in prison or
someone going through a very difficult time in life.
Time tends to cause our passion for
telling others about Christ to die down. It is unfortunate,
but yet natural. Ideally, our love for Christ and his church
should be renewed daily, but at some point we realize that
the church does not follow the ideal and does not have the
same passion as the early church of the New Testament. When
we see that the rest of the church isn’t as energized about
saving souls as we are, we don’t want to stick out or be a
radical, so we lessen our own expectations.
Next Section -
Not the Way It's Always Been Done
