Articles
The How and Why of Evangelism
The apostle Paul was one who saw the importance of reaching out to lost souls with the saving message of the gospel; it was he who wrote, “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Cor. 9:16), and I don’t believe he wrote that only because he had been chosen by Jesus personally to spread the gospel. This is borne out a few verses later when he also wrote, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Cor. 9:22), and, “I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved” (1 Cor. 10:33). It is clear from these words that Paul was sincerely interested in saving souls!
But shouldn’t every disciple be as interested in lost souls as was Paul? Yes, I believe we should be, and let’s talk about the how and the why of evangelism so we understand its importance in our lives as disciples.
HOW
First, Be an Example. As Christians who are trying to lead others to follow Christ, we will make our task all the more difficult if we are not living the life we are trying to get others to live before we even open our mouths to speak to them.
Unbelievers will examine our lives long before we ever say anything to them, and if they do not see what we later tell them should be done, why would they believe us? There is a reason we are admonished, “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6); there is a reason we are admonished to “abstain from fleshly lusts” and have our “conduct honorable among” the world (1 Pet. 2:11, 12); and there is a reason we are to “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time” (Col. 4:5). If we are not truly practicing what we preach, we will have little success in converting others to Christ.
Second, Open Your Mouths. We can live good examples, but never lead anyone to Christ if we don’t eventually open our mouths and tell them what they must do to be saved. Others may look at our lives and think only that we are “good” or maybe even recognize the influence of God and Christ upon us, but never realize they are lost and in need of a Savior.
Here is where we must be willing and able to teach, and if we are not able, then we need to learn how to be able. It is not optional, for the apostle Paul wrote — by Divine inspiration — that a “servant of the Lord must…be…able to teach” (2 Tim. 2:24-26). And he makes it clear in his words that followed the urgent need for this: “so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil.” Can we not see the great need? What other command do we excuse ourselves from being able to do? If we don’t know how, learn how, but the simple fact is, the moment you come up out of the waters of baptism you are able to teach, because all you have to tell them is what YOU did and why!
WHY
First, Souls Are Lost. This is the most obvious reason why we should be striving to teach others the gospel message of salvation — and we do know this — but do we consciously acknowledge this fact to ourselves as we go out into the world where those lost souls live and work and go to school and shop and drive and…whatever else we do? Jesus noted, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matt. 9:37, 38), and the same is true today. I can either pray for laborers, or I can be a laborer, but the work still needs to be done!
Think about it: If the very reason Jesus left the glory of heaven, lived as a man, and endured the torture of the cross was to save souls (cf. Luke 19:10), I need to take a long, hard, look at myself and ask, “What have I done to save souls?” I see lost souls every day, whether I think about them as lost, or not. If I don’t see those souls as “lost,” then I probably am not going to do anything about trying to change their condition, or even to help them see their condition.
I remember a “Twilight Zone” episode and, maybe not coincidentally, a music video where a man sees everyone with numbers counting down above their head. After his initial confusion, it becomes apparent that those numbers are a sort of ‘countdown clock’ for how much time each person has to live. Once he understood, and when he saw someone’s numbers quickly diminishing, he acted to try to save some before it was at zero. What would you do, if you saw those numbers? Would you do everything you could to try to save them, or would you simply ignore it and go about your business? I honestly don’t think if it was that obvious to us, we would ignore it; but, friend, what are we doing right now? We may not see how much time others have, but each person we see still has a soul!
Second, You Are Accountable. As noted earlier, if you are a “servant of the Lord” [a disciple], then you must be able to do this. But on a simpler level, this is what disciples are supposed to do! A disciple, by definition, is “one who adheres to the teaching of his master, and who assists in the spread of that teaching.” By definition, it is what it means to be a disciple!
Let us not forget that this fact is well known by our Master, Jesus Christ, and that we will have to give an account for what we have done. Now, primarily, we should want to teach others because we love souls just as much as He did; but we must also be motivated to teach because of our accountability. He has said, “whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32). This is not speaking of a personal confession of belief in Jesus, but the willingness to tell others about Him and that we are also believers. If we are not willing to tell others about Jesus, He will not acknowledge us as His to the Father, in the end.
If we truly see the value of every soul, then we will not really have to be pressed to do this great work; we will, in fact, live and act as if it is something we must do. Because it is. Let us now leave off the excuses, put away the distractions and busy-ness of this world, and set about trying to win souls. It is worth our time. — Steven Harper
