"The purpose of the church is evangelism," the evangelist said. "If you are not evangelizing I seriously doubt your salvation. At the very least you are not a good Christian."I have an eight year old daughter that cannot speak. I am convinced that she has faith in Christ, although I have never heard her say so. Most likely she will never say so. Yet, I see the love of Christ in her eyes, and I have witnessed her minister the grace of God to my family and others. I think she is the best Christian I know.
Saying that Jesus commanded all of His followers to be evangelists is as ridiculous as saying that He commanded all Christians everywhere to preach and teach. On the contrary, there are many instances where Jesus forbids his followers from "sharing the Gospel" with others and the apostle Paul warns that many should not become teachers.
I believe that God has prepared good works for His children to be involved in. I believe that each of His children have been uniquely gifted in order to edify the Church and bring glory to God. God is so gracious that He has enabled every believer to do what He has commanded. Above all else we are commanded to love, and even a mute paraplegic can lie on his back and love God.
I submit that a good Christian is one that follows Christ, and the purpose of the Church is to love God and our neighbor as ourselves. This is our eternal purpose as we display the manifold wisdom of God in heavenly places.
Do you really want to know that you are saved? Do you want to be sure that you are sure? Then I propose that you reject the magic of men, the sorcery of hearts and the manipulation of spirits. Away with the altar calls and the secret formulas! Forget the date and time. Disregard your experience, or lack thereof. To Hell with the spiritual abuse of children and the soul damning guilt that is heaped upon weak men and women!
Take comfort from the words of God, "Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous...By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's good, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of truth, and shall assure our hearts before God." (I John 3:7, 16-19)
If you are a believer God has gifted you and given you His Holy Spirit. You have everything that is needed for godliness in Christ Jesus. Walk in those good works that He prepared for you before the creation of the Universe. Obedience to the commands of Christ is the evidence of faith. Cloth the naked, feed the hungry, bind up the broken hearted and care for widows and orphans. Be prepared to give an answer to those who question.
Do all roads lead to evangelism? I don't think so. But, all followers of Christ do lead to Christ as we exercise of individual gifts within the community of faith in deed and in truth.
John the Baptist -Print found at Art.com
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3 comments:
very good!
I have never heard of Jesus forbiding his apostles to share the gospel. can you please give me the verse? it's beginning to cast doubt on everything else that you've written
Charles, thanks for the question. I don't think you should believe everything you read. I also don't approve of proof texts, but that is another story.
Concerning the "verse" where Jesus forbids sharing the Gospel I refer you to the context of the sending our of the seventy-two in Luke 10. Twice in this passage Jesus at least seems to indicate that it would be inappropriate to "share the Gospel". He tells his disciples not to "greeting people along the way" to the place where they are being sent (which is not a prohibition against speaking to people on airplanes, etc. But, I think Jesus is basically saying, "don't get distracted from the specific work in the specific village that I command".
The second (and most importantly)inappropriate time to "share the Gospel" is in a town that rejects the Gospel. "Shake the dust off your feet..." and pronounce judgement, not salvation.
So, my point is that we often disobey Christ by trying to "force" people to hear and believe the Gospel. Jesus is not begging people to believe -- HE COMMANDS IT!
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