Our commission for evangelism never ends after Christmas which is seen as a good time to preach the gospel. We should preach the good news all the time as long as we live in this world.
In the past I had been 'evangelizing' to others: persuading a sick relative to believe in the Lord for healing, encouraging a friend in difficulty to convert to Christianity for God's help...... Like me, many believers in my church preach in this way.
Thank God that He knows our folly and ignorance and he sent his servant Rev. Zhao to correct our mistake. The pastor tells us not to preach "cheap gospel" that announces healings and helps. Such a statement misleads people, conveying a message that they will not be sick or encounter hardship after conversion, which is never promised in the Bible. Though there are many diseases healed and environmental changes after people's conversions, this is grace given by God rather than the gospel.
So what is the gospel?
John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 17:3, "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."
Through these verses, the essence of the gospel is God's love for human beings, which is revealed ultimately by Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the way, "for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Therefore, not only sick people or others in trouble need Jesus, but everyone. The pastor adds that there are some sorts of beliefs that go stray due to veering away from the cross of Jesus Christ. They emphasize too much on praise and worship, speaking tongues and prophecies or healing diseases, and driving out demons.
I have met some bad cases: several converts in my village abandon their faith and speak words attacking the church to non-believers. For example, a sister of a church preaches to one of my aunts who is ill, saying that she can recover if she believes in Jesus. However, she stops going to church after more than a year because she is not healed. What's worse, she tells my mother-in-law that the church requires her to do some work and donate money.
We shall preach the pure gospel containing the birth, death, resurrection, ascension, and seconding coming of Jesus Christ and let people know that believing in Jesus is not the same thing as superstition.
- Translated by Karen Luo
