Why Do We Evangelize?

Introduction

Illustration:

With the exception of some naturally outgoing and enthusiastic people in the church I think most of us would agree that evangelism, meaning sharing what Jesus did for us with other people, is hard. It’s uncomfortable. People feel awkward when you bring up Jesus, or maybe get defensive and maybe even ask you hard questions you might not be prepared for. Plus your imagination tell you that you might run into confrontational people who insult you for what you believe. If we’re going to face the pressure and the stress of sharing the good news with other people than it’s important that we know very well exactly why we need to be doing it.

Over the course of the summer we’ve been asking ourselves some “why” questions. We’ve taken a look at the different things that we do as a church and questioned them, in an effort to better understand our reasons, motivations, and the proper methods behind the things we sometimes take for granted as a church. We want to do what we can to make sure that as disciples of Jesus we’re actually making an effort to live and serve the way that He has asked us to. So then today we finish up our “Why” series by asking the question, “Why Do We Evangelize?”

As a reminder, the word “Evangelism” means sharing Jesus with other people. And when I say “sharing” I mean it on three different levels. There is sharing about Jesus, where we tell people about who Jesus is, why He needed to come, what He did for us by dying for our sins on the cross, and why we all need to become disciples. Then there is sharing about what Jesus did for us, where we tell people specifically how Jesus has impacted our lives and changed us. Finally there’s sharing Jesus in the sense of sharing the actual person Jesus, who is able through the Holy Spirit to be present in all of our lives.

So then, why do we evangelize? Well ultimately when you look at the message of the Bible evangelism is actually one of the major applications of the entire collection of books. The thrust of the main story of Scripture is about the fall and sinfulness of mankind and God’s plan to save us through Jesus’ death and resurrection. The response that God wants from us to this whole story is to become disciples and to make disciples. Evangelism is just the first step in the process of making disciples.

So what are the reasons the Bible gives for why we should evangelize? The three biggest motivations I could find in Scripture are

It Is Our Mission From God

To Save Lives

It Is So Great

It’s Our Mission From God

Illustration: Did anyone else here watch the old Inspector Gadget cartoon? The missions exploded. Ours is also explosive in a way.

Missions of course can range in importance. You can set yourself a mission as small as getting groceries without buying cookies you don’t need, or something like that. Or you could get a secret mission from the government. Probably unlikely that anyone here would receive on of those, although if you did I’m sure you wouldn’t tell me. But what if you receive a mission from God Himself? As in the all-powerful creator of the entire universe who sustains everything that exists by His Spirit? Well that would probably be the most important mission imaginable, wouldn’t it?

Well actually, we do have a mission from God Himself. After Jesus died on the cross to pay for all our sins and make a way for us to be restored to relationship with God and then rose from the dead to make a way for us to be raised to new life He spent somewhere around 50 days teaching His disciples and appearing to different people. At the end of this time He called together His eleven closest disciples (eleven because the twelth one killed Himself after betraying Jesus to His death) and said this to them:

Matthew 28:16–20 CSB

The eleven disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted. Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

We call this “the great comission” for a reason. It is the thing that Jesus left us with as our number one priority as disciples, His final word before ascending to the right hand of God the Father. That mission is to go and make disciples. This begins with evangelism. Disciples are committed followers of Jesus and their journey has to start somewhere. Of course I’ve made a big deal in other sermons about the fact that their journey should include ongoing discipleship and teaching, but today we’re concerned with that first introduction to who Jesus is.

Luke in the book of Acts highlights a different part of the mission Jesus has for the disciples in:

Acts 1:4–8 CSB

While he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Now I like the term “witness” to describe telling others about Jesus because it implies first hand experience. Of course we aren’t witnesses in the same sense the Apostles were. They were actually there for Jesus’ earthly ministry and saw Jesus crucified and alive again. We are however still witnesses of Jesus. If you are a disciple of Jesus than that means that He has saved you, and everyone He saves He changes. You’ve been touched by the Holy Spirit and experienced Jesus firsthand. So the call continues to us to be His witnesses in the world.

Now remember that Jesus gave this mission to eleven average men. Now here we are nearly 2000 years later and Christianity has spread all over the face of the earth and over a third of the population of the world now worships the God of Israel, Yahweh, and follows His son Jesus. If that isn’t a testimony to the truth of the Gospel, I don’t know what is.

Yet the work is not done. There are still 66% of people who don’t claim to follow Jesus. And there are those who would say they’re Christian on a survey but may not really know Jesus. We are still called to the great commission. Jesus is alive in heaven reaching out His hand and inviting each one of us to join Him in His mission. That’s why it’s not called the great mission, it’s called the great comission. Because we are doing it together with Jesus.

To Save Lives

Illustration: Imagine with me if you will, that you are a medical scientist working on cutting edge new medicines. In trying to discover the cure for the common cold you discover something that not only cures the common cold but actually every single disease ever. There are no moral quandaries involved and no serious side effects. What do you do next? Do you just keep it to yourself and enjoy the benefits? Do you wait and hope people will notice how healthy you are and ask about it so you can tell them?

Sin is like a disease. The kind of disease that is a natural consequence of your own actions. The side effects of sin are the decay and death of spirit, increasing seperation between yourself and the God who created you, and a growing inability to truly connect with other people. This is a terminal disease and for years it seemed as if there was no cure. Then Jesus comes along and dies for our sins and provides us with the cure: God’s gracious gift of salvation received through faith. So what are we going to do with the cure that we have found? See there are still a lot of sick people out there who still need to hear that there’s a cure for sin and death.

It was about this very thing that Jesus was speaking when He spoke in this metaphor to His disciples in Matthew 9:37-38

Matthew 9:37–38 CSB

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”

If you accept Jesus’ mission to go make disciples than you are one of the workers that God is sending out to the harvest. Do you know what happens to ripe fruit that is left too long without being harvested? The gardeners know. It perishes. And though God could have used any means to disseminate His message, He has chosen us. If you think about it that’s quite an honor. God doesn’t need to use us to spread the gospel, but He chooses to anyway. So that what Paul says in Romans 10:14-17 is true

Romans 10:14–17 CSB

How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. But not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message? So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.

When Paul says “preacher” here he isn’t just talking about what I’m doing right here and now on stage on Sunday morning. He’s talking about any time we speak the truth of the gospel for others to hear. In fact the word translated preacher here is like a town herald, going from town to town telling people the good news. And this good news is that Jesus has made a way for us to live forever. In other words the message itself can save the people who hear it if they believe. John says in His gospel

John 20:30–31 CSB

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John is sharing the message of Jesus so that people will

1. Believe

2. Have life in His name.

So what does this change about the way that we do evangelism? It changes the stakes. We aren’t going out there with the message in order to get more butts in pews or to improve our tithing numbers. We evangelize to give people a chance to live forever. It gives us reason not to be jealous of the converts of other churches and be willing to work together with them. It helps us to sacrifice more for the sake of the message because of just how vitally important it is for the one hearing it. It should light a fire in us to get up out of our seats and get moving to try and save everyone that we can.

It’s Just So Great

Illustration: The movie Batman V Superman and my enthusiastic defense of it despite its unpopularity.

Of course there’s a lot of things in this world a lot more important than my unpopular opinion about a Superhero movie. Yet there is something of a parallel here about the things that matter to us. When you are enthusiastic about something, you want to share it with the people you know. So in a way you can sort of test the things you care about by your desire to share it with other people. If that’s the case, what does our current effort to share the gospel say about our enthusiasm about Jesus and the Kingdom of God?

Now I don’t say this as a way just to inspire us all to feel guilty. Notice I say “us” not “you” here, but as a way for us to check ourselves and motivate ourselves. If we were going to be judged on our faithfulness to Jesus just based on how willing we were to share Him with others, how would we do? And what can we do to change that answer? Actually Jesus had strong words for those who were unwilling to testify to Him in public in Matthew 10:32-33

Matthew 10:32–33 CSB

“Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge me before others, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever denies me before others, I will also deny him before my Father in heaven.

You see witnessing or sharing the gospel is a lot harder to do when the fire in you dies. When the passion that we have for Jesus has faded and we don’t care like we should than we have to fight to motivate ourselves before we even leave our door to share the word. But if we have a fire inside us for the gospel, if our gratefulness is overflowing, than we won’t be able to help sharing the gospel with the people that we meet, and we’ll go out of our way to meet other people so that we can share the gospel with them. Consider this story from chapter four of the book of Acts about Peter and John being persecuted for sharing the faith. Beginning in verse seventeen with the words of the Sanhedrin to the disciples.

Acts 4:17–20 CSB

But so that this does not spread any further among the people, let’s threaten them against speaking to anyone in this name again.” So they called for them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide; for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

You see Peter and John were so fired up about the gospel that nothing the Sanhedrin could do would stop them from sharing what Jesus had done for them with others. Of course they remind us that their mission is from God Himself, but their closing words here confirm that they find themselves “unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

So how do we cultivate that kind of enthusiasm about the Gospel? Because the thing is I’m sure you’re aware that you can’t just decide to be more enthusiastic. It’s not like once I’m done preaching this sermon we’ll all just magically gain the passion and enthusiasm we need to be on fire for the gospel. Though often this is a natural response in someone who has just come to Christ, for the rest of us it takes work to cultivate this attitude. What is that work? Prayer and reflection on God’s word.

We need to pray that the Holy Spirit would give us the drive and we need to remind ourselves of just how amazing and precious the gospel is. Jesus said in Matthew 13:44-46

Matthew 13:44–46 CSB

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.

We need to pray and study the word so that we can see the truth of just how precious and amazing the gospel is, so that we will truly in our hearts believe what Jesus says in these verses, and be willing to give up everything for the gospel.

Conclusion

So today we have been answering the question, “Why do we evangelize?” We have seen together in scripture that we evangelize first because it is the urgent and important mission that Jesus has given to all of His disciples to make more disciples all around the world. We have seen that we evangelize because the gospel is the cure for sin and death and by sharing it with others we can rescue them from their sin and introduce them to Jesus and eternal life through Him. We have also seen that we evangelize out of sheer joy when we truly recognize just how great the gospel is, and what it has to offer every one of us.

I’m sure we could give even more reasons why we should all be sharing the good news, but I think these three will do for now. So then what should we be leaving this Sermon prepared to do differently because of what we read in Scripture? Primarily we need to be going out and telling more people about who Jesus is and the hope they have in Him. Now this sermon is a why sermon and not a how sermon. That’s because the Bible doesn’t necessarily give us a step by step guide on the best way to share the gospel. So then it’s up to us to figure out how to best share Jesus with others, but my three quick pieces of advice are this: 1. Know the basics of the gospel really well, 2. Know how to share with others how Jesus changed your life, and the 3rd piece of advice is simply

1 Peter 3:13–17 CSB

Who then will harm you if you are devoted to what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear them or be intimidated, but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do this with gentleness and reverence, keeping a clear conscience, so that when you are accused, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

Dear friends, let us all endeavor together to be ready at any time to give a defense for the hope that is in us. Let us pray.