the gospel Archives

If I were asked to choose an area that is lacking in the Lord’s church today, I would most choose evangelism. Over the years the need and desire of Christians to spread the gospel seems to have grown weaker.

However, Jesus does not let us off the hook on this one. In Matt 28:18-19 he states that we should go and teach all nations, baptize them, and teach them to observe all that he commands.

I often hear people say that we should be a good example, and that is a wonderful thing for sure. We should let our light shine and be Christians in the world (Matt 5:16). However, we should also seek to save the lost in other ways.

Someone may ask, what other ways are there? Door knocking? That doesn’t work in the modern world. Well, first of all, door knocking does work. I think a number of church of Christ preachers would attest to that. Will the vast majority of people reject you? Absolutely. The majority rejected Jesus himself!

Still, starting out with door knocking is like starting your basketball career in the NBA. It’s a little advanced for most churches right now. I personally believe that we should do two things to improve evangelism in the Lord’s church today:

We should look at (and make a note of) where we are now.
We should strive to improve that…now.

We should not strive to improve our evangelism situation tomorrow. We should strive to do it now. I assert that any action counts. Know someone who needs Christ in their life? Send them a letter. Need a way to live stream your services? Get that in order.

We actually have ladies that give away clothes at our congregation. They often put a “Basic Bible References” card in the bag with the clothes. In my opinion, anything you can do to spread the gospel today that you didn’t do yesterday is a good start for evangelism.

But we must get started. Time is running out. Let us not be caught in sloth when the Lord comes. His command to covert sinners holds as firm today as it did centuries ago…

Joh 4:35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

As someone who has owned a business, made various television appearances, lived a life out “in the world”, and, of course, been a member of the Lord’s church, I can tell you one thing that I have learned along the way. It is that promoting the truth is not the way to fame, fortune, popularity, and worldly success.

In my fitness business I tried to tell people the “secret” to getting in shape – unfortunately it involved hard work and discipline. While this helped many of the people I came in contact with, it also pushed away countless folks who were looking for an easier way.

The same happened on my local television appearances (NBC, ABC, CBS). Though I put my phone number at the bottom of the screen for each of these appearances, I only ended up with one phone call (in around 40 appearances). What was my message to the masses? Well, that there is no “easy” way to get in shape, but it can indeed be done with some dedicated work and some caloric reduction. Needless to say, this message did not “sell like hotcakes”, well, maybe like “broccoli hotcakes”. However, the problem remains. The truth is the only thing that works, and in the case of the gospel it is the only thing that saves.

As a member of the Lord’s church I see the same trend in national “Christianity”. Only 1-2% of the population is a member of the Lord’s church (a sad number indeed). As cultural truth is pushed farther and farther from the “absolutes” set forth by the Bible this number has continued to decline. The number of church of Christ congregations in the United States is dwindling, dropping 9% in the last three decades according to a National Directory published by 21st Century Christian.

What did Jesus say about this? Did he say that truth should produce the most Christians? Did he say that the truth should have people coming to us in droves? No, in fact he predicted our very situation:

Mat 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad isthe way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

So, does this mean we should give up? I do not believe it does. I believe it means we need to evangelize more than ever and work to engage the culture (and the young people growing up in said culture). I believe that the media is leading many astray and that we need to step up and “call out” those who are promoting false doctrine. Do I mean false gospels? Yes, but I also mean the doctrine of evolution, materialism, relativism, and the like.

Jesus wants us to spread the gospel to as many as possible, because indeed progress can be made. Some will accept the message and be saved, and our job is to maximize the number of saved individuals by telling them about Christ:

Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

When should we start? Well, as the old saying goes the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, but the second best time is right now. Let us all strive to begin pushing back against the darkness that is enveloping our society, let us all strive to evangelize and spread the good news of Jesus Christ.

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Spreading the Gospel of Christ

The Truth Sells like Broccoli Hotcakes!