When was the last time you talked about Jesus with a friend? It might not be something you do very often but you need to do it because it is one of your responsibilities as a follower of Jesus. Many have forgotten but telling people about Jesus and sharing the Gospel is not an option. It is a direct command.
Sharing the Gospel is a direct command.
Put yourself in the place of those early disciples. They had seen Jesus arrested by a garrison of Roman soldiers, severely beaten and ultimately crucified. They witnessed His lifeless body being taken down from the cross and placed in a borrowed tomb. Then, three days later, the grave was empty, and Jesus was alive! Their hearts must have been pounding, their minds racing with questions, fears and excitement all at once.
Then Jesus commanded them to meet Him at the mountain in Galilee, a place they had been many times before. There they were, standing on the mountain, listening to Jesus give them His marching orders. He said, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations …,” (Matthew 28.18-19 NlT). I envision Jesus, as He spoke these words, with His arms outstretched, gesturing to the nations that were clearly in view from that mountaintop. “Go there and tell them about me. … I’m sending you!”
Telling people about Jesus has become an optional suggestion.
For those early disciples, the command of Jesus was crystal clear. There was nothing ambiguous about it. Jesus was commanding His disciples to go and tell. What started as a clear command has become a not-so-clear optional suggestion today. I have heard it said that 95 percent of American Christians have never led a person to faith in Jesus Christ. If you are like me, that statistic is like a punch in the gut. How could that be?
While I haven’t been able to determine whether that figure is actually true, it is a clear fact that American Christians are not sharing their faith very often. According to one poll, when evangelical Christians were asked if they had a responsibility to share their faith, 73 percent said yes. However, when asked if they had actually shared with someone how to come to faith in Jesus in the last year, 48 percent said no. The poll went on to show that from 2010 to 2013, most generational groups either showed no increase in sharing their faith or showed a steep decline. Only one group told more people about Jesus during that slice of time, and that was the millennial group (people born between the early 1980s and early 2000s). more than 65 percent of this group actively shared their faith with lost friends.
It is considered a sin not to share the Gospel.
Why am I sharing these facts and figures with you? Because I want to drive home one really important point — Telling people about Jesus is not optional. On that mountain, Jesus didn’t give a suggestion; He gave a command — a divine imperative. Anything less than obedience is disobedience to Jesus.
Let me put it another way, and this may sting a little — It is a sin not to share. If you know what Jesus has done for you, and you are commanded by Jesus to share the hope you have with others who are lost and far from God, to simply say nothing is sinful. It’s just flat out wrong. James wrote, “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it,” (James 4.17 NlT).
Jesus declared He had all authority. Jesus then commanded His followers to make disciples. They did. But we don’t. So the big question is, “Why?” Why are so many people who claim to be followers of Jesus AWoL, (absent without leave) when it comes to sharing their faith? Somewhere along the way, we have considered Jesus’ command an option instead of a mandate.
Why do most think it’s optional? Because deep down, many people feel uncomfortable sharing their faith in Jesus with their lost friends. I have to admit I felt the same way when I was a younger Christian. Most of the models of sharing the Gospel I had seen growing up were programmatic, hard-sell, confrontational, “preaching on the street corner” or “knocking on doors” types of models, most of which I am, (and most people are) uncomfortable with. I didn’t want to talk about Jesus like I was selling some product door to door.
How do you have spiritual conversations?
Consequently, I just remained quiet for the most part, struggling to figure out how to have spiritual conversations, but not really knowing how to do it. If that sounds familiar to you, then I have good news. You can build genuine and authentic relationships with your lost friends. It is possible to navigate any conversation toward Jesus in a way that is natural and not forced. You can share your story in a powerful way that will naturally lead to spiritual conversations without grinding the relational gears. You can be an active and effective witness for Jesus Christ if you are willing to just be open and obedient to the Spirit’s prompting.
You can learn some incredible skills that will equip you to get in the game and start experiencing the adventure of pointing people to Jesus, but it will require you to set aside your excuses and biases and fully embrace the command of Jesus. What we often forget is that in sharing the Gospel, we get to be part of something God is doing that is thrilling and life changing. You actually partner with the Spirit of God to see a person’s whole life trajectory change. It doesn’t get better than that!
“Disciple-making is the process of moving people through. It begins in evangelism and ends in evangelism,” Craig Etheredge said in an interview with The Alabama Baptist.
(Philemon 1.6 ESV) says, “I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.” The more active you are in sharing your faith in Jesus, the more you realize just how much He has done for you, and that every good thing in your life comes from Him. There is real joy in introducing people to Jesus.
(Proverbs 11.25 NlT) tells us that “those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” Jesus reminded us that all of heaven celebrates when just one person repents and comes to Christ (Luke 15.10 ESV).
John, the apostle and best friend of Jesus, said, “I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth,” (3 John 1.4 NlT). He wasn’t talking about his biological children. He was talking about his spiritual children, those he had led to faith in Jesus.
Telling people about Jesus brings real joy.
The happiest Christians are the ones who actively steer their daily conversations toward the Lord. Next to knowing and walking with Jesus, the greatest joy in my life is helping someone come into a relationship with Jesus and watching them grow!
Ultimately, the decision is yours to make. You have to choose to quit hiding behind excuses or bad experiences, and ask Jesus to give you the boldness you need to take the risk and start talking.
Now is the time for you to make a choice and act on it.
This blog features an excerpt from our book, Reach Your World.
I can agree with spreading the good news and leading people to Jesus, as jesus said in luke 9:50 “50“Do not stop him,” Jesus replied, “for whoever is not against you is for you.””,
I think God will sort it out , but there are at least two main doctrines
1. do what it says Acts 2:38 repent and be baptized for forgiveness of sins Romans 6
or
2. just say a few words that commit, believe or that you accept jesus. Roman 10:9, john 3:16
context is important
I would rather tell people to do #1 ,
looking at your about page i can see you are teaching #2 “just believe”
I could get into a ;lot of verses , but lets just say i’m not stopping you, just pointing out
matthew 23:15 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
and james 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
You have the same bible as everyone else, hopefully jesus blood covers you and those you teach, but I believe without doing#1 there is no way to be covered by his blood.
if you wish to know more feel free to respond.
Hello Eric, Regarding your comment, ‘looking at your about page i can see you are teaching #2 “just believe”‘, on our About page, we are briefly clarifying that Salvation is not based on any works that we might do. For an expanded view of what we teach on Salvation, here is a link: https://i3x3w2d9.rocketcdn.me/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/5321-Path-of-Life-Leader-Notes-PDF-v2.pdf . Here you’ll see that we do teach as Jesus’ preached in Mark 1:15 to “Repent and Believe.”