A Committed Disciple Is...Committed To Spreading The Gospel Of Jesus Christ Around The World

“And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” —Mark 16:15

Evangelism should be at the heart of every single believer. Most people think that in order to evangelize, they must be a preacher of the gospel. However, that’s not necessarily correct.
It is true that God has called some to function in the office of evangelist, such as my grandfather and father, but that is not all that evangelism is relegated to. Every single believer should be an evangelist at heart. What this means is that we are to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to whomever is around. Think of it this way: You have received the greatest gift of all—salvation—and the way you accepted it was by simple faith in what Christ accomplished at Calvary’s Cross. Once you have received the gift of salvation, wouldn’t you want others to experience what you have already experienced? Shouldn’t others have a chance to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ? It should not be left up to the pastor or evangelist only to reach those for Christ, but every single believer should proclaim what Jesus Christ has done for them. We are not to be silent in this endeavor, but should shout it from the rooftops that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world.

“Go”

I remember someone saying that the first two letters in the name of God spells “Go.” This commission given by Christ begins with “Go,” which means that every person who is saved has the obligation to tell others about Jesus Christ. Please notice that these words came from our Master, and these were His words to His disciples. This means that this is not a mere suggestion as some might think, but rather a command given from the highest order. This command was given that we might all be soul winners at heart, that we might tell others about what the Lord has done in our lives, and that we might have the heart of an evangelist. Every person on the planet has the right to hear the gospel. Every person who breathes has the right to hear about heaven and hell and what happens if they do not accept Christ as Saviour. Every person has the right to be given an opportunity to say “yes” to Jesus Christ. The question is, “What are you waiting for?”

The Words Of The Apostle Paul

Listen to what Paul the apostle says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them who preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah said, Lord, who has believed our report? So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:13-17).
Paul is saying here that everyone has the right to hear the gospel preached unto them, even though much of the world lies in unbelief. Even so, we should not rest on our laurels and hope that someone else does this for us. We have what the lost need, and it very well could be up to us to see that person come into the family of God.
How many people will die today having never heard the gospel preached or proclaimed to them? How many will lose their souls to a Devil’s hell when someone they knew had an opportunity to reach out to them but never did? How many people will end up in hell when a family member or friend could have explained to them the way of salvation?
We should never wait for the Lord to send somebody to our family and friends when He has sent us! He has called every believer to do their part in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, as I tell young people, it’s not up to us to make people accept what we have given them, but rather it is up to us to share it. The lost need to hear about Jesus Christ and His saving power. They need to hear about what is waiting for them should they reject God’s plan of redemption. They need to know what the end results will be should they accept God’s way, and that starts with you and me.

Cop-Outs

Sadly, when it comes to this all-important task of evangelism, or spreading the gospel, most Christians take the attitude of, “I don’t need to be concerned with this because God has already called people to reach the lost.” Even though this is a true statement, I look at this as a cop-out because it takes the responsibility off of us and puts it on somebody else. However, we all should take the responsibility to do what we can do to see as many people brought to Christ as humanly possible. For some of you, it wasn’t a preacher who brought you the message of Jesus Christ, but rather a family member or friend. For some, it was a neighbor who came to your door and offered you the plan of salvation. For others, it was a preacher, called of God to reach the lost for Christ. With that being the case, we should not pass the buck, so to speak, and leave the responsibility on the shoulders of our preachers, but we should have the fortitude to share with others what God has done for us.
Another cop-out that many believe is the idea that the pastor is supposed to bring the sinners into the church, but, in actuality, it’s not the pastor’s job to bring in the lost, but rather to disciple those who are there. Now, you must understand that there is a difference between a pastor and an evangelist. A pastor is to teach the body of Christ the right way to live for God, and to teach and explain the doctrines of the Bible, whereas the evangelist is to call sinners to Christ. Too many Christians who sit in pews across the country expect sinners to walk in the doors of their churches and come to Christ. Now, believe me, that can and does happen, but for the most part, it’s up to the laymen, the church members, to go out and bring them in. As a pastor myself, for that’s what God has called me to be, I need the help of the people to bring this gospel message to the surrounding communities simply because you can go places that I cannot go, you can reach people that I cannot reach, and you will go to places that I will never go.
As I was teaching on the subject of discipleship to our Crossfire youth, several of our young people went to a local coffee shop nearby to get some coffee. While there, they encountered a young man of their age, either studying or getting coffee, and approached him and began witnessing to him. They told him that they belonged to a dynamic youth group called Crossfire and that he was invited to join them for service. He accepted the invitation, came to Crossfire that night, got saved, and soon after, was filled with the Holy Spirit. He rarely misses a Crossfire service. This is what we should be doing every week. We have the command to go, and we should take this charge seriously and do as Christ commanded. We should all have the heart of an evangelist, and all do our part in reaching out to those around us for Christ. Never let a moment pass you by without sharing the love of Jesus with those around you.

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