Christian, you can evangelize or fossilize

Alexander Maclaren said, "You tell me the depth of a Christian's compassion and I will tell you the measure of his usefulness."

God said in the prophet Isaiah's presence, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" (Isaiah 6:8 NKJV).

In a sense, I think God is still asking those questions today. Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?

In his letter to the Christians in Rome, the apostle Paul spoke of the compassion he had for his fellow Jews: "Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved" (Romans 10:1 NLT).

Jews were following Paul from city to city, declaring that he was an apostate. And because of the message he proclaimed about Jesus as his Messiah, they said he was denying the faith of his fathers. Yet Paul's compassion didn't diminish. He wasn't discouraged by persecution and rejection. It only made him firmer in his resolve. It moved him deeply.

Then we have the example of Nehemiah, who was in a position of great influence and power as the cupbearer to King Artaxerxes of Persia. Nehemiah wasn't a preacher. He wasn't a priest or a scribe. He was an ordinary man, what we might call a layman.

But Nehemiah loved God. And one day someone told him about the plight of the Jews and how the city of Jerusalem was lying in ruins. Then Nehemiah began to weep and pray and say, in effect, "Lord, what can I do about this problem?"

That's important, because after his weeping came working. After his despair came determination. This news touched him, and he wanted to do something about it. So, he prayed and devised a plan. And then that plan began to unfold.

When it comes to evangelism, a lot of Christians say, "I'm too timid. I'm afraid of this," or "I'm scared of that." Actually, I don't think they have a burden for unbelievers.

Now, I'm not denying the fact there are real obstacles as well as things that we need to learn to more effectively share our faith. But if that burden were burning with enough passion inside them, they would work through those obstacles.

There are two essential ingredients in effectively sharing our faith. The first ingredient is a God-given burden, which leads us to pray. The second ingredient is action. We need to go out and do something.

I would rather go out, fall flat on my face, and make every mistake there is to make in sharing my faith than to sit around and never do anything. At least through making mistakes, hopefully I will learn something.

On the other hand, if we do nothing because we fear rejection or that it won't be an astounding success, then we're really missing what God has called us to do.

Paul gave us the very technique that God established for us to communicate our faith: "But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?" (Romans 10:14 NLT)

The J. B. Phillips New Testament puts it this way: "Now how can they call on one in whom they have never believed? How can they believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how can they hear unless someone proclaims him?"

Therefore, the emphasis is not on a preacher but on preaching.

It's also worth noting that no person in the New Testament came to faith apart from the agency of a human being. No one ever came to faith apart from God working through a person.

We may think the work of evangelism is only for those who are called to be evangelists. Granted, God has raised up people in the church to be evangelists. However, this isn't limited to those who go and preach to the multitudes. I've seen many individual Christians who obviously are gifted in articulating their faith.

And while it's true that God has called some Christians to be evangelists, it is also true that he has called every Christian to evangelism.

Writing to the church in Corinth, Paul said, "Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe" (1 Corinthians 1:21 NLT).

Really, it's a mystery to me that God has chosen to communicate with humanity through preaching, through the proclamation of his word.

That doesn't mean, however, that we have to scream, yell and wave a Bible around. What it does mean is that we must recognize the primary way God has chosen to reach those who don't know him is through people who are verbally communicating the Gospel.

Paul continued, "So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ" (Romans 10:17 NLT).

Don't be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Sure, it's good to show God's love in tangible way. But don't be ashamed to confront people with the truth of the Gospel. It's the greatest thing you could ever do.

Maybe you're thinking, "Well, God doesn't need me. He can get the job done without me."

That is true. But it's also true that God wants to speak through you. When Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone" (Mark 16:15 NLT), it wasn't a suggestion. It was a command.

Therefore, to not do this is to disobey God. It is also missing out on one of the greatest blessings there is in life. Next to knowing that my sin is forgiven, the privilege of personally leading someone to faith in Christ is one of the greatest joys I've known.

We have a choice as Christians. We can either give out what God has given us or hoard it, stagnate and miss out on being used by him. We can either evangelize or fossilize.

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