Sunday Leftovers: the Gospel and Evangelism

Few topics produce guilt in the mind of the believer like evangelism.  We know we should be more attentive to evangelism, but too often we see it as a dutiful obligation and task instead of a joyous privilege and honor.

Over the past three weeks, we have spent time considering principles relating to evangelism in an attempt to invigorate and liberate us to more faithful proclamation of the truth of Christ’s death and resurrection.  Here is a summary of some of the things that we have discovered:

• Evangelism is empowered by faithful praying (Col. 4:2). Perhaps our weakness in evangelism is related to our weakness in praying.
• Our prayers should be for our own boldness to speak (Col. 4:3).
• Our prayers should also be for clarity with our words (Col. 4:4).
• We should not only speak the gospel, but we should live the gospel (Col. 4:5).  There should be a clear correspondence between what we say and how we live.  Can unbelievers look at our lives and see a difference in the way we live?
• When we speak the gospel, our words should be both bold and gracious (Col. 4:6; Eph. 4:15).  The way we speak should entice unbelievers to want to hear more of what we have to say about Christ.
• Our gospel presentations should be discerning — crafted for the particular individuals and their own circumstances (Col. 4:6).  What is the gospel word that is most needed (and gracious) in a particular situation?
• If we are going to evangelize, we need to have a clear understanding of the gospel ourselves.  The basics of the gospel are:
  • Grace — Salvation is a free gift that is not earned or deserved (Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:8-9).
  • Man — Every man is a sinner (by both nature and action) who cannot save himself (Rom. 3:23; Eph. 2:1-3).
  • God — God is loving and merciful (1 Jn. 4:8), but He will not leave any sin unpunished (Rom. 6:23; Ex. 34:7b; Mt. 3:12; 13:41-42).
  • Christ — There is a two-fold emphasis about Christ — who He is and what He has done for sinners.  Christ is the infinite God-Man (Jn. 1:1ff, 14) who died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins (Mk. 10:45; 2 Cor. 5:20-21).
  • Faith — Faith is believing and trusting in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation from the wrath of God (Rom. 3:26, 28).
  • Hope — The object of the gospel is God.  In other words, sin separated us from God and the gospel is designed to restore us to God.  The gospel is about getting us to God (2 Cor. 5:18).
  • The gospel in one sentence:  Our sin is imputed to Christ and Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us so that we can enjoy God forever.
• The responsibility of every believer is to do the work of evangelism (2 Tim. 4:5).
• Evangelism is the process of speaking to those who do not believe, the good news of Christ’s death and resurrection to redeem and save sinners from the wrath of God.  Evangelism includes: 1) words and speaking, 2) words specifically about the death and resurrection of Christ to free men from the penalty and power of sin.
• There are many things that the gospel is not, including:  personal testimonies, social action or civic involvement, apologetics, and the results of evangelism.
• Evangelism is accomplished not when someone believes in Christ, but when the truth about Christ’s death and resurrection is spoken, regardless of the response of the unbeliever.
• Evangelism sometimes includes going to a cross-cultural situation to declare the truth about Christ (Acts 1:8).
• Most often, evangelism will be done as one goes through the regular affairs of his life and that in the process, looks for and takes advantage of the gospel opportunities around him (Mt. 28:19).
• There are two basic kinds of evangelism:
  • Long-term (relational) evangelism — interacting with others about the gospel as they regularly intersect our lives.  This might include people like family members, neighbors, co-workers, regular customers at our place of business, employees at places we frequent regularly, or people in social clubs are activities.  In general, we can be much more patient and take much longer to communicate the gospel in these situations.
  • Cold (one-time) evangelism — these are interactions with people that we will see only infrequently or perhaps only once.  This might include people like a waiter or waitress, someone making a service call to your home, someone in the seat next to you on an airplane, someone you stop to help with a car problem, or a cult member knocking on your door.  These circumstances may call for more boldness and awareness to take advantage of an immediate opportunity that will not arise again.
• We not only need to be convinced of the importance of evangelism, but we also need to be convinced that unbelief is the greatest tragedy (Acts 17:16; Rom. 9:1-5; Luke 19:41-44).
• Anytime anyone ever responds to the gospel, we must also understand that it is not because of our effectiveness but only because of the gracious working of God in the life of that individual (Jn. 6:37ff; 1 Cor. 3:4-7; Jn. 3:8; Phil. 2:12-13).  We are graciously provided the opportunity to be involved in declaring the truth of Christ, but God, and God alone is the one who saves those who believe.