Gospel Sharing- Some Big Concerns
I’ve been concerned as we have been training in various locations. How do we approach gospel sharing and evangelism? We have been training people in how to share the Jesus story, Creation to Christ stories, and the basic gospel message. I’m quite shocked at the number of pastors, church planters, elders and local believers who seem to have little understanding of what the gospel is. Many cannot easily and clearly share a simple gospel story. Some of those unable to do this went through credible Christian training and discipleship programs. This is worrying.
Many things contribute to this problem. The main root of this problem is the model these dear ones have seen. The gospel they have heard, the style of evangelism they have seen modeled, is one where people are told that if they become Christians, God will bless them. God will heal them. God will help them.
It Is An Incomplete Gospel
Forgive me if I am stating the obvious, but this is a very incomplete gospel. If this is the foundation of the gospel on which we try to make disciples, we can only expect weak and conditional faith. This kind of gospel sharing fails to call people to discipleship.
As a result, we can expect to be accused by opponents of Christianity. They will say we try to convert the simple-minded with enticements and manipulative methods. What they say, if this is all the gospel we share, will indeed have some truth to it. This situation is cause for grave concern and serious efforts to bring about change.
In 1 Corinthians 1:23, Paul says, “we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Gentiles…”(NIV). If our gospel presentations do not include Jesus crucified, risen and coming again, we are not sharing the gospel. The message we communicate must be about Jesus; why He came, why He died, how He rose and what it means for us today. We must speak about sin and repentance. Our gospel must include how Christ’s death on the cross paid the price for restoration in our relationship with God. We must share about how His sacrifice made a way for us to know God, have our sins forgiven, and become spiritual children of God. It’s vital to include a call to follow the way of Jesus.
This seems obvious, yet in many, many places, this is not the gospel message preached, nor do ordinary believers in the churches we have planted know how to share it simply and effectively. Gospel sharing must include a call to discipleship.
Our Gospel Sharing Must Include The Cross
God’s love and goodness, His power to heal, deliver, provide, free, protect …this is all part of the good news. I’m not saying leave those out, they are definitely part of the message! We can not, however, give in to the temptation to leave out the vital message of why Jesus had to die in order for us to be saved. Yes, it’s hard to communicate about sacrificial death to a high caste Hindu or a Buddhist. It may take time for them to understand it. This was true for the Gentiles of Paul’s time as well. For the post-modern American, it may come across as cruel and they may question why a good Father would ever dream of asking His son to die such a terrible death. But, it’s still the message we must share. We can not…we must not..remove the cross from our message. To do so, will not lead to more true disciples, it will lead to fruitlessness. I can’t say this strongly enough.
Contextualize, adapt, pray for the sick, cast out demons, and heal people! By all means do! I long for more outpouring of God’s power through every team I train and in my own life as well. People need to see demonstrations of the Kingdom, of God’s goodness and love! They also need to hear the gospel in ways that make sense in their cultures and worldview. I long for every team and church planter to have a great understanding of the language and culture of the people they are reaching. Because of this, I pray for more of both of these things (better understanding of culture and greater anointing) in my own life every single day.
Just don’t remove the cross. In the message of the cross lies the greatest and most foundational truth of the gospel. Lets share it and train everyone we disciple to share it clearly and simply as well. This message, to those He saves, is “the power of God” (1 Cor 1:18 NIV). We will make real disciples who make more disciples.
Comments
This has been one of my greatest concerns as well. I am also quite perplexed by the inability of many church planters to understand, let alone articulate, the difference between sinful behavior and sinful condition. Many a time, I see and hear the fruit (sinful actions and behavior) addressed but the root (sinful condition as a result of the Fall) being left out. Cornelius was a good man, perhaps better than most of us, but he had to come to a place of realization and conviction that his good behavior was not enough to save him from his sinful condition. There are many good Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists out there, some even with excellent morals and integrity. It is so important that our message clearly brings out the truth that no one is saved by works but by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Thank you for this much needed reminder and challenge. A gospel bereft of the Cross is powerless and indeed fruitless. We can never overemphasize the Cross in our communication of the Good News because it is the power of God and the wisdom of God for those who are being saved (1 Cor 1:24). We can expect deep-lasting change that comes through the experience of godly sorrow when the authentic cross-centered message is presented.
A watered down gospel is a gospel that speaks about the blessings only. It does not speak about the cost of following, the sacrifices that need to be made along the discipleship journey, self denial that Jesus was pretty outspoken about, and the suffering that often has to be endured as an apprentice of Christ.
Thank you for this timely reminder, something relevant to both trainers and trainees, discples and disciplers.