Whether we are football fans or not at one time
or another we have seen stadiums packed with people, cheering or booing their
respective teams. All the action goes on among the 22 men on the pitch. They
are the ones who spell either victory or defeat for their nation or club. Their
every move is carefully commented upon and criticized. The games are replayed
over and over again after the match on video to analyze the errors and
improvements to be made. During the course of the game the ones who sweat most
and get criticized most are the players. 50,000 men sit in the stands sipping
Coca Cola and making outrageous criticisms yet they never even lift one foot to
kick the ball nor will they ever do it. This is the current state of the church
when it comes to evangelism. 22 tired men who represent those in full time or
part time ministry such as the apostles, evangelists and pastors slave it out
in the pitch of the unsaved world while the rest of the body of Christ actively
criticizes their every move yet never take time to preach to even one sinner
per month. No wonder when Charles Finney one of the famous evangelists of the
19th Century was criticized about his methods of winning the lost by one
Christian, he replied, "I prefer the way I do it to the way you do not do
it."
The word
evangelism has become a cliché in the Christian world yet few understand the
true meaning of the word. Apostle Paul told his Timothy his son in the Lord, "But watch thou in all things, endure
afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry” (2Ti
4:5). Here the word evangelist is euaggelistes
a Greek word meaning a bringer of
good tidings or a preacher of the gospel. The word gospel is derived from the
Anglo-Saxon word which meant “the story concerning God.” In the New Testament
the Greek word translated gospel is euaggelion, meaning “good news.” So
when we see Jesus giving us the great commission, "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the
gospel (euaggelion) to every creature” (Mar 16:15), we understand
that he means we ought to take the good news of salvation through the blood of
Jesus Christ to all creation.
Who is supposed to
preach the gospel?
This question is pertinent for us to understand
since it will lead to either the collapse or the growth of Jesus' work on
earth. At the beginning of Jesus' ministry he was doing the work of preaching
the gospel alone. Subsequently he appointed 12 apostles and delegated the work
of evangelism to them also, "And he
ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them
forth to preach” (Mar 3:14). These twelve apostles were given a mandate to
preach the gospel as one of their first assignments. Next Jesus commissioned 72
disciples to preach the gospel, "After
these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two
before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come” (Luk
10:1). This was the second group Jesus commanded to declare the word to the
lost. The next commission Jesus gave was after his resurrection and included
all the believers worldwide when he said, "Go
ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mar
16:15). This was spoken in the hearing of five hundred brethren and applies to
all believers worldwide and throughout all ages.
The book of Acts
is the second treatise written by Dr. Luke, the first being the Gospel of Luke.
Dr. Luke describes the first treatise as being the beginning of what Jesus was
to do on earth, "The former
treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and
teach” (Act 1:1). He implies that what Jesus continued to do and teach is
spelt out in the book of Acts, also known as the Acts of the Apostles or Acts
of the Holy Ghost. What is written about the various believers and their deeds
is a continuation of Jesus' ministry. This shows us that Jesus is not going to
come and preach the gospel on our behalf since he has delegated this
responsibility to us as believers. "And
he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence” (Col
1:18), here Jesus is described as the head of His body which is the church. As an experiment
next time you are going to sweep a room, hold the broom with your head and see
how much you will be able to accomplish. I hope you can see the baselesness of
the argument that if Jesus was around he would do a marvelous job of preaching
to my neighbor. He will only do this job of preaching to your neighbor through
you, since you are his hands and feet so to speak through which he operates on
the earth.
In the early
church it was not only the Apostles who used to preach the gospel. Every one of
the believers got involved as we see from the incident just after the stoning
of Stephen, "And Saul was
consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against
the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad
throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Therefore
they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word” (Act
8:1, 4). The Lord made certain to include the fact that those who were
scattered abroad and went preaching the gospel were not the apostles, but the
rest of the believers in Jerusalem. This is still the will of God today and
when he sees that the church is sluggish in fulfilling this commission, he will
send persecution to prompt the growth of His church as He did in Jerusalem.
One other common
misperception is that all those who are preaching the gospel worldwide are
seeing great results because they are sinless. The devil heaps condemnation
upon the average believer and makes them think that because they may sin
occasionally this makes them unfit to preach the gospel. This is contrary to
the word of God, simply come as you are, "If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1Jo
1:8). Anyone who claims to be totally sinless in this life is a deceiver. Even
notable Apostles like Paul were effective preacher yet sometime gave in to sin,
but this did not stop him from winning the lost, "For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would
not, that I do” (Rom 7:19). If Apostle Paul could do it so can you. Even
Apostle Peter made it clear that the signs and wonders happening did not happen
because of his holiness, "And when
Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at
this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness
we had made this man to walk?” (Act 3:12). You are not where you are
supposed to be but with time you will get where God wants you to be in your
spiritual growth. How foolish would it be for someone to say that they will
never speak English or any other language till they have learnt all the words
in that language. Do not be deceived, step out and preach the gospel regardless
of your current level of spiritual growth.
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