In Romans 1:15 Paul tells the Romans that he is “eager to preach the gospel to you also who are at Rome.” He was excited. He couldn’t wait to get there to declare the gospel to them.
I’m not aware of your experience, but I don’t know many people today who are “eager” to evangelize. In fact, any time I hear about evangelism training it’s usually coupled with one word: FEAR.
People are afraid to talk about Jesus.
Most are afraid of rejection. Many fear being awkward.
How could Paul feel the opposite? How could he be eager to evangelize?
HOW TO BE EAGER:
He tells us why in Romans 1:16,
16 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.
#1 BE CONFIDENT
“For I am not ashamed…”
Most of our reasons to be afraid of evangelism have to do with ourselves. We’re nervous of what people will think of us. Paul didn’t think about himself. He had died to himself. The reason he was eager to preach was because he was confident in the Gospel.
This is amazing because, from every worldly standpoint, the Gospel was foolish! There were plenty of reasons to doubt it or be ashamed of it. He was walking into cities telling people they were totally wrong! It declared their worship wrong, lives sinful, and only destiny was hell unless they turned and trusted in a Messiah that was crucified and raised from the dead.
It sounded silly!
Paul knew it didI He had said elsewhere said, “but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:23-24).
The “foolish” message overtook the Roman Empire and has been spreading for the last 2000 years! It’s been attacked from every angle and still continues to change people’s lives.
The first step to growing in eagerness is to simply decide that what sounds foolish to everyone else is actually the power of God to save. We don’t have to dress up the Gospel to impress anyone. We must simply embrace it and proclaim it.
#2 IN THE MESSAGE
“…not ashamed of THE GOSPEL.”
Another reason people are not eager to share the Gospel is that they don’t know the Gospel. The message is fuzzy to them.
When asked where to turn in the New Testament to find the most succinct description of the Gospel, I always point people to 1 Corinthians 15:1-5.
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
To encourage boldness and eagerness to evangelize, we must help our disciples know the core message of the Gospel.
- Man is sinful and separated from God (v. 3)
- Jesus died for sin to pay for sin (v. 3)
- It was God’s plan and doing, not our own (v. 3, 4)
- Jesus rose from the dead and reigns as Lord (v. 4-5)
- We must respond in repentance and faith (v. 1-2)
The Gospel is deep. It is profound. We can study, meditate on it, and come to understand it more for all eternity. However, it’s also simple. We must help our disciples be confident in the message. Tools like the 3 Circles and the Romans 6:23 illustration are helpful in presenting the Gospel and building confidence in disciples to share.
#3 THAT IS GOD’S POWER TO SAVE
“for it is the power of God for salvation.”
John tells us, “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19).
There is an enemy, Satan, who opposes us. He is actively blinding the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot grasp the truth of the Gospel. Not only that, the lost are spiritually dead. That’s what evangelists are up against.
The power of marketing, persuasion, peer pressure or influence do nothing to do battle against that enemy. Satan loves when we rely on that stuff. It is the Gospel alone that is the power to save.
The reason Paul is eager to preach the Gospel is that he knows this is the POWER OF GOD!!! God has the power to save. He leads people to Christ. And He is drawing people to Himself. We are instruments in His process. We’re the ambassadors.
A lot of times we don’t believe the Gospel is the power of God. We have a hard time believing the message itself is sufficient. So we add all that other fluff.
But God has always saved by His own power over our cleverness:
- He told a man to build a boat in a desert because it was about to rain.
- He had Moses lead His people up against a sea so that He could part it in half.
- He told an army to march around a city 7 times and scream to win a battle.
- David took off all his armor to do battle against a giant with a few rocks.
We help our disciples cultivate an eagerness to evangelize when we remind them it is God who has the power to save.
#4 EVERYONE WHO RESPONDS
“to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
The Gospel must be received by repentance and faith, but it’s available to everyone who responds. We don’t know who God has chosen for salvation, but it could be anyone! That gives the evangelist incredible confidence to share the Gospel with everyone.
I’ve seen a lot of students get intimidated to share the Gospel with certain people. They rule out some as too wild or too far gone. It creates fear and can paralyze them.
We need to help them see the Gospel is for everyone! In fact, in the Scriptures, it’s often those farthest away from God who come to follow Him. So we can be bold and sow the gospel broadly!
God is the one who saves, and He can save anyone!
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE:
Put those statements together. How do we cultivate an eagerness to evangelize?
“BE CONFIDENT IN THE MESSAGE THAT IS GOD’S POWER TO SAVE EVERYONE WHO RESPONDS.”
Understand those truths and you can’t help but be eager. So what do you do with such a powerful message?
- Guard it (2 Timothy 1:14) – it’s vulnerable to attack from the outside (Jude 3-4) and we’re susceptible to abandoning it from within (Galatians 1:6-9). Help your disciples know, appreciate, and continuously come back to the truth of the Gospel.
- Unleash It (1 Cor 9:16) – those of us in Christ have a responsibility to be ambassadors to pass this on to others.
Instead of cultivating fear by emphasizing the difficulties, let’s be disciple-makers who cultivate an eagerness for evangelism in our disciples because we rely on the power of God through the Gospel.
