Biddeford Church of Christ

I googled the topic of evangelism, and this is part of what the search provided, “Evangelism is portrayed as an essential, urgent, and universal command for believers, rather than a choice. Key themes emphasize that sharing the Gospel is a mandate to save souls, an act of love for both God and humanity, and the primary purpose of the church.” Essential! In the lesson series I use to share the plan of salvation, the word essential is used to emphasize certain aspects of God’s plan to save a lost soul. Essential refers to something absolutely necessary, fundamental, or constituting the core nature of a thing. So, what is absolutely necessary, fundamental, at the very core of evangelism? I will answer that in a moment.

            J.I. Packer writes, “What is the motive for evangelizing? There are, in fact, two motives that should spur us constantly to evangelize. The first is love of God and concern for his glory; the second is love of man and concern for his welfare.” Being concerned about mankind’s welfare is at the core of evangelism. Concerned about what? As the Pharisees watched Jesus engage with people, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9:11). Jesus responded by saying, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matthew 9:12-13). Luke 19:10, “…for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” So, what is essential to evangelism? What is it about man’s welfare that should move us to action? Mankind is sick and the illness is extremely contagious. No one is immune and there is only one cure. The problem is sin.

“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1-2)

            There are certain things that are etched in my often-forgetful mind. One of them is the day I was diagnosed with psoriasis. The doctor simply showed me a grotesque picture of someone covered with it, saying, “This is what you have.” It brought me to tears and at that time, there was no real cure. It would not be long before what I saw in the picture was my reality. That was almost forty years ago and things have changed. What does this have to do with evangelism? How do we react to the subject of sin? What is the picture you see? Isaiah speaks to the devastating reality of sin, that it “separates you from God” resulting in God hiding His face and making Him unable to hear us. It is a universal problem! Psalm 14:3, “They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one” (Psalm 14:3; Romans 3:10). It causes man to fall short of his Creator’s glory (Romans 3:23). Sin robs us of our potential! This spiritual disease has only one outcome, spiritual death (Romans 6:23). Someone may think they are okay, like the Pharisees mentioned above, but they deceive themselves. 1^st John 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” No one is exempt! Everyone has the sin problem!

             So, what is absolutely necessary, fundamental, at the very core of evangelism? It is the conviction of mankind’s sin problem. It is the awareness that outside of Christ, mankind has no hope of eternity (Ephesians 2:12). That they, whether they realize it or not, have no relationship with God, that He is separated from them. That He is unable to hear them because of the sin in their lives. The gospel calls people to the awareness of this sin. For us to proclaim it, we must first be convicted that the problem is real and there is only one cure (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1^st John 1:7).