Go into THE WORLD

A 2018 poll by Barna Research showed a very concerning trend. According to their research, 79% of Christians said that they infrequently/never had conversations about faith outside of the walls of the church. When asked why they did not have such conversations the most recited responses were things like “I am not knowledgeable enough to share my faith” “I am not completely convinced that what I believe is true” and “I do not want to offend others.”

It seems very concerning to me that only 21% of Christians are frequently carrying out Jesus’ Great Commission to us. Perhaps it should not surprise us that in the time when evangelism is at its lowest, the reported amount of Christians is declining at the most rapid rate in recorded history. As Romans says “How can they believe without someone to tell them?”

So, we are talking about evangelism throughout the next few weeks. Today’s question gets us off to a intentional start- what did Jesus mean by “the world”? After all, Jesus said that God loved THE WORLD so much that he sent his son to die; and the Great Commission tells us to go into all THE WORLD and preach the Gospel. It would be safe to assume that if we are going to live into that Scripture we probably need a good understanding of who God loves, and who we are called to carry this message to.

So, let’s dig into God’s Word. In Jesus says that God so loved THE WORLD. The Greek phrase ton kosmos and many translators advocate that the idea is that God loved all of the created order.

Think of it, God doesn’t just love the Brethren, or the Christians, or the nice people- God loves us ALL! He loves the Muslims, the Jews, the Middle Easterner, the Japanese, and the African. God loves the adulterer, the murder, and the priest. There is not one person who has ever come into this world that God does not love, totally, freely, and abundantly.

I love what CS Lewis once said about the love of God

“ The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a sunhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it.”

Consider this: blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is called the unforgivable sin in - but even then, the Scriptures do not say God stops loving the blasphemer, but that forgiveness will not be given. So, while sin separates us from God sin does not prevent or cancel out the love of God for all people.

It is important for us to remember that we cannot evangelize anyone into the love of God- everyone is already encompassed by God’s love. reminds us that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Instead, we evangelize people into the forgiveness of God, which is a byproduct of his everlasting love for us.

But wait, there’s more. If our understanding of “the world” is the created order then it must mean more than just people, because the created order is more than people. It means that God’s love goes beyond people- God loves the fish and the fields of grain, God loves the rivers and the valleys, God loves the clouds and the rocks....everything that God made is subject of God’s love!

Remember back in Genesis, God declared all of creation as “good,” he loved it all- now it was man who was the apple of God’s eye. We were the most special in all of God’s creation, but we certainly were not the only object of God’s affection.

This is the reason that God sent Jesus, to redeem the entire world. Consider Jesus was sent into the world with all of the fullness of God in order to reconcile all things to Himself- ALL things.

Now, let’s consider another “the world” passage. is known widely as the Great Commission. This is the passage most Christians commonly lean to in order to build their understanding of evangelism. For generations we have used this passage as the foundation for mission work around the world. What is fascinating to me is that in 2020 we may want to use this passage to empower missions at home more than missions worldwide. According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity in 2020 Latin America has 25% of the worlds Christians; Europe holds 23%; Asia has 16%; and the lowest? North America, which has only 9% of the Christian population in the US and Canada. As one of the researches noted- perhaps American Christians were so focused on saving the people on the other side of the world they lost their home base.

What if going into ‘the world’ is more then summer mission trips for youth; commissioning people like Doug to go to Brazil; or adopting Compassion kids at the next Christian Concert?

What if going into the world and preaching the Gospel started at home, as you stepped out of your back door? What if the idea of going into all the world and preaching the Gospel permeated the crux of our lives? That “Going into all the World and preaching the Gospel” was not just something we did, but rather a way we lived?

Remember our last Scripture from last week? “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Bryan Green once said that “Evangelism is not an activity at all. It is rather an attitude of mind behind all Christian activity. Evangelism is not a list of certain things done, but the spirit in which they are done. That is precisely why it cannot be organized. It is perhaps best described as an attitude of mind towards God and the world an attitude which the Church must recover if she is to be true to her Lord, and to seize hold of the present opportunity”

Proclaiming the Gospel is more than just- preaching- it is living a way that puts God’s love on display. But the challenge is that in order to live with God’s love on display I must be plugged into God’s love to start.

A water has was designed to carry water. I have learned that when you hook the pipe to the water, and turn on the water, the water flows through the pipe and out of the other end.

When you are connected to God’s love, it flows through you and out to others

Don’t just turn the faucet on at times, live with it wide open!