“Go into all the world and
preach the Gospel to all creation.” –Matthew 16:15 NAS
Who was this edict
given to? Have you ever really thought
about it? Some answers I have heard are
that it was given to the Apostles only, or only to those who have an
evangelistic call, or to those who want to be missionaries. When we look at Matthew 16 we see that Jesus
was speaking to every person who witnessed Him ascend into the heavens, so that
eliminates it being given to just the apostles.
Peter seems to have been given an evangelistic call and preached the
gospel (Acts 2), as did many of the disciples but there were many others there
who returned to their jobs and just lived and shared with their neighbors. Paul is often considered the first missionary
by theologians but he was an unbeliever when Jesus commanded this, so it must
not be just missionaries who are to fulfill it.
Most theologians believe this command was given to all believers. Oh, you agree?
In a recent poll I
read that 85% of the “born-again” Christians polled had never led someone to
Christ. Ouch! That is more than three fourths of the
believers polled. I can easily imagine
that this is truly representative of the Body of Christ as a whole. What are we waiting for? Are we leaving it up to the evangelists? Do we depend on the missionaries to do
it? Some feel that if they financially
support a missionary that they are doing their due diligence. I have heard it said that some people are
“seed planters” and some are “harvesters”.
If that is the case then it would only be a select few that
harvest. Of course I have also heard
some believers say that it is not their “calling”. It is NOT our calling, it is Christ’s
COMMAND!
Does this article
make us feel guilty? It should not. It should allow the Holy Spirit to convict us
if we are not doing what He commanded and it should enable Him to give us the
motivation and desire to step past our insecurities and dysfunctional
self-esteem to reach out to all those around us that are drowning in their
sins. Do you feel that you lack the
motivation to overcome what has been holding you back from sharing about
Jesus? Ask God to give you even just a
hint of His motivation. His motivation,
His Passion, propelled Him to suffer beating, humiliation, and the agonizing
death on the cross.
Think about it. When we die our physical body dies but our
spirit and soul live forever; it just depends WHERE we spend that forever. When unbeliever dies without Christ they are
destined to live forever with no awareness or contact with God. They are destined to spend forever with satan
and the torment set aside for him and his demons. Jesus would do anything and everything to
prevent this, and He did.
One of the things
that convinced me to become a believer 45 years ago was that even though I
thought I was a Christian, paid my tithes, attending church every week, and did
service for others, it was not enough. I
was headed for hell just like satan was.
I needed God. Not on MY terms,
but on HIS. We need to reach out to
those around us with the message of God’s redemption. We need to tell them that the wages (direct
result) of sin (doing any kind of wrong, even just once) is death. We need to tell them that Jesus, Who never
sinned, died that death for us so we would not have to. We need to show them that Love that reaches
past all their insecurities and draws them into belief. We need to be the eyes, ears, mouth, hands,
and feet of the Holy Spirit as He draws them to Himself.
So, are you one of the
85%? Can you imagine if just half of
those 85% each led just one unbeliever to Jesus what a marvelous revival we
would see? It is time to step away from
the 85%.
“For if I preach the
Gospel, I have nothing to boast of for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if
I do not preach the gospel.” -1 Corinthians 9:16 NAS
