Evangelization

Evangelization

Why do Christians need to evangelize? Evangelization is to spread the good news to others: All of us are God's messenger. We are a group of people chosen to know and believe in Him and we ought to bear witness that He alone is God, and there is no other Gods beside Him. He is to be our God and Savior. (Isaiah 43:10-11).

For this reason believers are chosen to spread the gospel across the world. Jesus made salvation available to everyone. He even made friends with Sinners and Tax Collectors in order to save them. Hence as Christians it is important to let our light shine in a dark spiritual world, as Christ taught his disciples to be as salt and light, to let their good deeds shine out for others so that they may praise our Heavenly Father.

As Christians we have the Holy Spirit with us and we are led and empowered to tell people about Jesus Christ. Acts 1:8 says "When the Holy Spirit comes upon believers, they will receive power to tell others about Jesus everywhere.” Through evangelizing we are also renewed day by day to grow stronger in faith and mature spiritually. Moreover, to acknowledge the power of God, Christians are to plant the seed of faith but only God will make it grow and not us. (1 Cor. 3:5-9).
As Jesus sent out His followers in the great commissioning, we as believers put our faith and trust in Him to be God's witnesses. He commanded all believers to go and bear witness to Him and gave the disciples complete authority to go out and built the nations, to teach, obey in all His command and baptize them in the Name of the Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. (Mt.28:18-20).

God hold us accountable for avoiding a chance to witness for him to warn of the wicked. (Ez. 3:18-19). And we do not deny our God to evangelize to others for if we do he can deny us as well before God and his angels. (Mt. 10:33; Lk 12:8-9).

How does one evangelize? Some of us go knocking on people’s door to evangelize, while others invite friends to church gatherings. For myself, I relate my personal experiences on how the Lord has been part of my life either in writing or through conversations with the people that I meet.

Living out the Christian life is one of the most appropriate ways of passing on the good news to the people that come into contact with us. People are more likely to be influence by our genuine love and concern and the way we live our life. At work, people should notice our consistency, honesty, truthfulness, hard work, reliability, avoidance of gossip and desire to help and encourage other people. At home parents, family, and friends will be influenced by our service to others, our patience and our kindness, far more than our words.

Sometimes we are given the opportunity to explain the gospel ourselves. One good way of doing this is to tell a story of what has happened to us. We need to pray that the Spirit of God will open the eyes of the blind so that they will understand the truth about Jesus. Sometimes when there is a calling to speak to a particular person about Jesus, we could pray for God’s guidance to show the way in that conversation. Always pray and seek the Lord for his guidance. Besides praying for our friends, we also need to pray for ourselves. When we talk to people about Jesus, we may sometimes get a negative response. The temptation at the moment is to give up. Pray for strength and boldness to preach the gospel. It is vital for all us as Christians to preserve in telling others about Jesus – by our presence, persuasion, proclamation and prayer.

Our witness for Christ should reflect a grateful heart - a sincere desire to share salvation’s blessings with others. If we shrink from giving a word of testimony, let’s ask God to give us the desire to speak out for Him. I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)

We are called to be witness for Jesus, but how well do we know HIM and the word of God? We represent Christ in everything we do and say. Therefore when we speak out for Him, we must do so boldly and clearly. This means we must be familiar with what Bible says about sin, salvation, and man’s need for faith. Study God’s Word. Learn its doctrines and put them into practice.

“Lord teach us the way to proclaim the good news to others. There may be times we will face negative responses, yet give us the perseverance to continue to spread the good news and guide us to live out our lives by our actions and our words.”