Great Commission is given, "He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned...Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it." (Mark 16:15-20)
"Lord Jesus entrusted the great Commission to his disciples before Ascension, and it is every believer's responsibility and obligation to evangelize," stressed an international Christian leader at a special meeting hosted by a house church in Shanghai.
The guest speaker mentioned that God gave everyone different talents, and the ultimate purpose is to proclaim the Gospel. The speaker elaborated in two aspects on how to spread the Gospel.
Three essential words: Faith, Warmhearted, Perseverance
Evangelism requires three words and the first one is "faith."
"The prophets and great men in the Bible had one significant character in common, faith." said the speaker. Faith is the foundation of preaching. The speaker mentioned that there are about three billion people who have not accepted the Gospel, including many of all races in remote areas in many countries unreached. "We don't know what we're facing when we evangelize, but the breakthrough is faith. Faith takes us to unknown places to preach. Because we rely on the Holy Spirit and God's power to preach instead of our own words or abilities."
The second word is "warmhearted." "It is difficult to advance the Gospel without a warm heart." "The Church of Laodicea was neither cold nor hot, and that was the reason it became deserted." Paul said, "Never lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord." (Romans 12:11) When we have fervent hearts we work hard and "see those who haven't heard the Gospel. Our warmth urges us to spread the Gospel to others quickly."
The third word is "perseverance." "It is not easy to proclaim the Gospel." He says. "Not everyone believed and followed the Lord Jesus when he was preaching the Gospel to the world. He met many objections and temptations." The speaker said that "We may encounter hardships and dangers when we preach: We may feel disappointed, stressed, or that it's too difficult when working for God. But just like Paul said, 'Therefore my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Cor 15:58)
Be shrewd in proclaiming the Gospel
Paul said "To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.(1 Cor 9:22)" The Gospel itself doesn't change. However, we must change the methods and strategies we use to proclaim the Gospel to different people, environments, and cultures, to preach the Gospel cleverly.
The speaker used a simple illustration to explain what preaching cleverly meant. "I met a young man who was very warmhearted in preaching the Gospel. He preached in North Africa all year long without fail, but he bore little fruit. I later discovered in conversation with him that he always preached the same way, with the same patterns and habits in evangelism. These patterns were all his, disconnected from the locals. Not everyone is the same, so I told him 'without changing the premise of the Gospel, preach in a way that the villagers will like.'"
"We are all responsible for preaching the Gospel in all ways imaginable." the speaker stressed.
Translated by: Grace Hubl
