Recently, I was on a social media site, with a group of Christians. One person posed this question to the digital ether: Having grown up in church for years and having professed faith in Christ for years, but having never been baptized, should they now (as an adult), be baptized? They wanted biblical arguments for yes or no answers. What would you say? I thought of several but decided on this one: “Yes, because Jesus commands it (Matt 28:18–20). You don’t really need any other reason.”
The same answer could be given for a lot of things in the Christian life. One important issue that answer address is that of evangelism.
Some Christians often get caught up in having down great techniques before sharing Christ. Others want to be master apologists, being ready to give an answer for any question or challenged posed to them before sharing Christ. Others worry about saying something wrong or only getting to part of the message before sharing Christ. And the problem is, they never get around to actually sharing Christ.
But Jesus commands us to share about himself. Actually, he commands more than that; he commands we make disciples (Matt 28:18-20). Evangelism is part of disciple-making, not the totality of it. Nevertheless, we can’t make disciples without evangelizing. Jesus expects that we will tell sinners the bad news of their sin and condemnation before their Creator, then share the joyous good news of his life, death, and resurrection to bring life, freedom, and forgiveness in him (Rom 3:1–36).
And why wouldn’t we want to share this glorious news of Christ? We ourselves have tasted and seen that the Lord is good—so good to us who deserve only wrath. He reconciles us to himself and other Christians whom we might not otherwise love (2 Cor 5:16–21). He brings us into his family and shepherds our souls (1 Pet 2:25). He gives us hope in a world of sin and suffering as the one who came and took all of it upon himself, conquering it all, and giving us freedom and boldness in the midst of it (Col 2:8–15).
This is good news. It is our privilege to share it. It should be our joy to share. It is our calling and mission to share it. So, let’s actually share it.
We may make mistakes. We may only have time to get to part of the message (just like Paul, Acts 17!). We may not have an answer for every question. We may even look foolish in the eyes of some. But when it comes to evangelism, something is better than nothing. Because something is faithfulness to King Jesus. This is not an excuse for laziness or sloppiness in our evangelism. We want to honor Jesus by doing our best. But waiting for just the right word at just the right time won’t get us anywhere. People are lost and hopeless, in need of everything Jesus offers to them.
So, speak up. Be bold. Share with compassion. Do whatever you can, where you’re at, with what you have. Sharing the gospel (even part of it) will always be good seed scattered from which God can give the growth.
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