“A greater hell I would not wish any man, than to live and not love the beloved of God.”
Thomas Brooks
Several years ago, I was struck with a definition of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) that not only included the biographical details of Jesus’ life (life, death, and resurrection) with its focus especially on the last week of his life but also one that included the expectation of a response from the reader. This appeal to the reader is especially obvious in the gospel of John where the author explicitly describes his reason for writing: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31) The early church believed in the good news of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection and having, by grace, responded to it themselves, eagerly expected others to do the same. And they were not disappointed! The book of Acts is filled with individual stories of conversion and groups of people hearing the gospel and being moved to repentance and faith in Christ.
What do we expect from our efforts at evangelism? We expect a response. Sometimes that response is repentance and faith in Christ. Sometimes, it’s not. Either way, our goal is faithfulness. J. Mack Stiles’ definition is a good beginning for us, “evangelism is teaching the gospel with the aim to persuade.” [How Do I Get Started in Evangelism, (a booklet from 9Marks)]. This definition does not focus on a possibly sensational personal testimony, or on disarming or defeating our ‘opponent’ with theological arguments, or even whether the person we are teaching finally comes to Christ. The aim to persuade is there but the core of his definition is on teaching the gospel. And this will be our goal as well. We close with a short passage from 2 Corinthians 5:16-19
16From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
We have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation. May the Lord make us more adept at sharing his good news.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Dale
