You might say, ‘Well, pastor, there are lots of reasons not to share the gospel.’ For instance, I might strain my relationship with someone. Or, what if they ask a question I can’t answer? Or, I’m just not good at talking to people.
Now for sure, with regard to straining relationships, we should attend to how we share. We don’t want to be rude, manipulative or overbearing. We want to have wisdom and grace. And as well it is fine to say the truth – which is that you don’t have all the answers (just like everyone else) but you do know that Jesus is alive and can change lives. It’s not an argument it is you bearing witness to your faith. And yes, not everyone is good at sharing. But you can try and rely on God to give you the words. You don’t have to be eloquent for God to use you powerfully.
So, these are all concerns, but they can be dealt with. What’s crucial is that you are not ashamed of Jesus; that you don’t let this stop you from sharing.
Jesus talked about this in Mark 8:38, “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
We must be bold in our witness to Jesus and the salvation he brings. We should be like Paul, who said in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” And he lived his life by these words.
But enough about reasons why we don’t share. Now lets look at why we should share.
Reason #1 – Because you want to be faithful to Jesus
He certainly does call each of us to bear witness of him to others. He said, “You are the light of the world” – Matthew 5:14. He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” -Matthew 28:19. He said, “You will be my witnesses” – Acts 1:8.
And so we share because we love him and want to be faithful to do what he says. We want to hear from him on the final day, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
In our story in Luke 8, Jesus told the man, “declare how much God has done for you” – v. 39. Jesus sent him back to share the gospel. (After all they had just sent Jesus away, so who else would do it?)
And it wouldn’t have been an easy assignment. He would surely get a hostile reception. But he was faithful to Jesus nevertheless. It says, “And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city . . .” – v. 39.
Reason #2 – Because you want to tell others about what God has done in your life
The psalmist says, “Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!” – Psalm 96:2-3. We are to tell others about what God has done – his salvation; his marvelous works.
Has God done something in your life? Are you forgiven? Have you been set free? Do you have new life? Joy? Love? Well, in our world – this is news! It’s something to be shared. God is alive and well and working in people’s lives. And people need to hear this.
Now sometimes we think that the best witnesses are new Christians. You know, it’s fresh in their hearts and they are eager to tell. But we aren’t just sharing something that happened at our conversion, maybe 10 or 30 or 50 years ago. It’s about what God is doing in your life right now.
Is God still working in your life? Then you have something to share. And that’s what you should share.
Once again, in our story in Luke 8, Jesus told the man, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you” – v. 38. If we focused on the word “declare” before, now the focus is on what he is sharing – “how much God has done for you.”
He was demonized, he was enslaved, he was tortured. It must have been horrible, running around naked, out of control and miserable all the time. And now, because of Jesus, he is free, he is at peace and he is in his right mind. And this is what he shared. He proclaimed to everyone “how much Jesus had done for him” – vs. 39.
Reason #3 – Because you love people and want them to experience God’s salvation
It is certainly possible to have wrong motivations, like to win an argument or simply to make the church grow. But the right motive is love.
Jesus was motivated by love. In Matthew 9:36 it says, “When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
And because he had compassion, he shared the good news with them. And then in Matthew 10 sent out his disciples because there were so many people.
Jesus had compassion. Do you have compassion for those who have not heard about Jesus?
Paul also was motivated by love. This is him talking about his fellow Jews who have not responded to Jesus: Romans 9:1-3 – “I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”
Do you have “great sorrow and unceasing anguish” in your heart for those who don’t know Jesus?
We share because we love; because we are concerned about others. And we want others to know the grace of God, just as we do.
In our story in Luke 8, the man clearly loved Jesus. He sat at his feet, wanted to go with him and then obeyed what he said.
But he also loved the people of his city. For when the man told what God had done for him – he wasn’t just relating facts. He wanted them to experience Jesus, like he had. He wanted them to receive help from Jesus, like he had. For if Jesus could help someone in a situation as bad as his – he could surely help any one of them with their needs.
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So we have here three good reasons to share the gospel:
- You want to be faithful to Jesus because you love him.
- You want to share what God has done in your life
- You love others and want them to know Jesus too.
Our hope as Elders is that our Open house Sunday will give you a relatively easy way to work at this. Invite someone to come to church and hear about Jesus.
Let’s end today by pausing for a moment to listen in prayer. Who do you think God wants you to ask? Who is God putting on your heart?
William Higgins
Christian teaching 