Why We Share The Gospel- Serve Night

A lot of Christians know the gospel, and most even acknowledge that Christians are called to share the gospel, but they don’t know “WHY” we share the gospel, and most Christians go through life not ever sharing the most important aspect of it.

For us to understand WHY we share the gospel, we have to understand something much bigger: What were we created to do?

All people were put on this earth to know God, and to make God known.

Knowing God happens through salvation, and making God known happens through sharing the gospel.

What this means for us is that sharing the gospel is much bigger than “doing what Christians are supposed to do”, or “being religious”, or even fulfilling the great commission.

I am not saying that the great commission is not valid, or should not add to our motivation to share the gospel. The great commission is literally Jesus telling us to go out and share the gospel, which we see in Matthew 28:19

Matthew 28:19 CSB

19 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,

This should absolutely give us the motivation to go out and tell others about the good news of what Jesus has done.

Another common verse that is used to send people out to share the gospel is Acts 1:8 , which tells us that as we go to those near and far to be a witness for Jesus, it is the Holy Spirit that empowers us.

Acts 1:8 CSB

8 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.”

Both of these are great verses and encouragers, but if we understand that sharing the gospel is part of our created purpose, it becomes much more serious.

All the way back in Genesis, we see that we were created to be in relationship with God. Adam and Eve walked with God, but were seperated by sin, and because of Jesus, we have the opportunity to have that personal relationship with God. That is the gospel. All humans were made with the innate purpose of being in relation to God, but without being told the gospel, they will not know how.

We share the gospel, because it is part of who we are as people. Our created purpose of knowing Christ and making Him known cannot happen without us sharing the gospel.

A lot of Christians go on mission trips where they have to share the gospel and the common response is that the feel alive. This feeling happens because it is in those moments that we are walking in our created purpose.

Sharing the gospel is the only way for us to walk in our purpose, and it is the only way those around us will walk in the purpose of knowing God.

Now that we understand why it is that we share the gospel and have made the case for it being part of our created purpose, I want us to look at some reason’s why we don’t share the gospel.

I want to give you some common reasons people don’t share the gospel and then I want to look at what scripture says about them.

A study by the Jesus Film Project found that fear was the number one reason people don’t share their faith with those around them. I think most of us would agree that it can be intimidating to share the gospel with others, but fear should never rule our life. The Bible gives the command “do not fear” 365 times, which is enough for every day of the year. This is a very clear indicator that fear should not be something that prevents us from sharing our faith. “God has not given us a spirit of fear”

The next largest factor that people said kept them from sharing the gospel was lack of opportunities. I think this comes from people living in blissful ignorance, or just choosing to not know the spiritual darkness around them. There is nowhere you can go (including church) that there is not somewhere to share your faith. The gospel is needed by everyone, and we must be the ones to be intentional with every interaction we have. Scripture is very clear that God will bless our obedience, and will open the doors for gospel conversations. “God blesses obedience with fruitful conversations”

The third largest factor found by that study was not feeling equipped. If you feel this way, congrats, you’re at the right place! Seriosuly though, we as Christians think we have to be studied up and prepared to share the gospel. We expect to have all of the world’s hardest questions asked to us, or to be debated by the most renowned athiest, but the reality is, most people are looking for the exact hope that the gospel provides. You don’t have to know all the answers or even a lot of scripture, nobody can argue with your testimony. Scripture is very clear that it is the Holy Spirit working in us during gospel conversations. God will speak through you, which takes the pressure off of you! It is also important that you know it is ok to say that you don’t know. If you encounter a situation where someone asks a question you aren’t prepared to answer, you are not a bad Christian for saying you don’t know. That is much better than making something up or leading someone astray with an incorrect answer. “The Holy Spirit equips us for Gospel Conversations.”

Another study done by Barna showed that nearly 50% of Milliniel Christians believe it is wrong to share your faith with someone of different beliefs with the hope of converting them. This is what we call apologetics. Our culture has posed the gospel in a way that makes it seem offensive to say that there is only one way to heaven. We cannot give in to the societal pressure for the fear of being insensitive or too religious. Culture can label it whatever it wants, but scripture is very clear that salvation is an immediate and urgent issue. Salvation does not get talked about as something that is casual or that we should shy away from for the fear of hurting someone’s feelings. The apostle Paul was a great example of carrying the gospel to those of all religious backgrounds, despite the pressure from culture to back down. If we truly believe Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and that nobody comes to the Father except through Him, we will not be worried about having hard conversations. “The truth cannot be hidden by fear of controversy.”

The people around you are all on a timer that only God knows. They might have 50 years or 50 minutes left to get their salvation right. If we truly love people like we are commanded, we will share the greatest news of all with them.