This post is the last of 4 dealing with essential elements that comprise the growing Christian’s life. So far, I’ve put on the table three things:
- Being in the word
- Connecting with other Christians
- Serving others
The final post deals with the importance of sharing God’s story with others.
Evangelism being the practice of telling others about the good news of the Gospel.
This is an area that many Christians feel very weak.
- We will sing out worship songs.
- We will study their Bibles.
- We will attend church faithfully.
- We will serve in a variety of fashions.
But they find themselves dead in the water when it comes to telling others about Jesus.
In Romans chapter one, Paul made this emphatic declaration:
Romans 1:16 (ESV)
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
But for a whole host of reasons, finding people excited about evangelism, let alone practicing evangelism, seem harder and harder to come by.
And I believe, as a result, we suffer.
We don’t see the body of Christ grow, and in turn, we don’t see ourselves grow very much either.
Here’s why: The call for Christians to share their faith isn’t a suggestion, but a command directly from Jesus!
Matthew 28:19-20 has Jesus telling his disciples to GO and make more disciples by means of teaching and baptism.
Acts 1:7 finds Jesus, just before ascending into heaven, once again giving the charge to His followers to go out and act as witnesses to His ministry and His message, telling them to spread it to the farthest places on the globe.
These are Jesus’ marching orders!
And if we don’t carry them out, what are we?
Disobedient!
And much of spiritual growth has to do with our level of obedience.
Why do I say that?
Because I think that’s exactly what Jesus was saying when he said this:
John 14:21 (ESV)
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
Think about this: when you call into a computer tech about problems with your computer, what do they do?
They ask you a bunch of questions that seem super obvious, yet often solve the problem.
- Is your computer plugged in?
- Is your computer turned on?
Well, when it comes to gauging the level and impact of our spiritual growth, I have 5 quick questions for you:
- Are you being filled with the Spirit?
- Are you being washed in the Word?
- Are you experiencing the friction of Fellowship?
- Are you finding the joy that comes through serving?
- And are you experiencing the encouragement the comes through sharing your faith?
How we answer those questions may help us solve any problems we may be encountering when trying to experience a growing spiritual life.