Share the Gospel – Go On! Speak!

Acts 18:9-10 – “And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”

Many of us as Christians know of times in which God has called us to share the Gospel with some random person, but instead of obeying, we came up with an excuse and walked away from the awesome opportunity to be used by God.  This has happened in my life quite often recently, so I began to consider why I have been constantly saying “No” to God when it came to this issue.  Now, it is true that after you say “No” the first time, it becomes easier and easier; so, that constant refusal has contributed to it, but what were my excuses and what were the actual reasons behind them?  After careful consideration, I found that there were two main reasons why I did not share the Gospel:  1) Fear of “Something” (i.e. what people will say, not knowing what to say, being rejected) and 2) Inconvenience.  These two main things were not two new attitudes that only developed in my own life, but are certainly the two most common reasons why Christians in general refuse to share the Gospel.  These two things have kept Christians from being used completely and fully by God to bring about His kingdom in this world.  So how do we overcome these feelings when we are prompted by God?  Easy enough!  Just like Christ battled temptation, we will battle these feelings with Scripture as well.

The first feeling we need to conquer is fear – the fear of “something,” whatever it may be.  Now, the Bible actually addresses the most common fears we have when sharing the Gospel.  For example, if you are afraid of what people will say when you share the Gospel, refer to Luke 9:26, “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”  Why are you afraid of what people will say?  Usually the reason behind it is because you are ashamed of Jesus Christ.  Don’t be ashamed of Him.  He is a gracious and loving Savior who died for you.  How dare you be ashamed of a Person who loves you that much?  Why would you be ashamed of sharing this great love with others?  No boyfriend/girlfriend would be ashamed of his/her significant other at a party.  So why would we be ashamed of Christ, who gives us a greater love than this?  His love alone should dispel that fear of shame, for it is something to take glory in – God loves you.  Another example is if you are afraid of not knowing what to say.  In this case, remember three points.  First, remember that when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will guide and teach you what to say – Luke 12:11-12, “And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”  Second, remember that if you have no idea what to say, preach Christ, His Crucifixion, and His Resurrection; in other words, go back to the basics.  Paul never swayed from this simple message – Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1-2 – “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.  For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”).  If Paul, one of the greatest missionaries and Bible heroes, preached something so simple, who are we to try to vary that message?  Third, if you are afraid of not knowing what to say, then study and be ready to share it by reading and meditating on and memorizing Scripture (1 Peter 3:15 – “…Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…”)  Also, to answer the example of fear of being rejected, remember that you are not the only one they refuse to listen to, they are actually rejecting Christ (Luke 10:16 – “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects Him who sent me.”)  If you are afraid of persecution, remember that persecution is a guarantee to all believers for we are enemies of the world, but in the midst of persecution just remember that He is with you in all of it (Matthew 28:19-20).

If fear is the one thing that is stopping you from sharing the Gospel, then place your heart’s and mind’s focus on Jesus Christ; for knowing who He is, His character, His promises, and His faithfulness should keep you from being afraid, for you have the Almighty God on your side.

The second feeling we need to conquer is that feeling of being inconvenienced.  A lot of the time, we don’t share the Gospel when God prompts us to because it is out of our “time schedule.”  We need to get home and watch a TV show.  We have an important test to study for.  We need to go get dinner ready for the family.  We find reason after reason to show that the “practical” thing is to wait until a more convenient time to witness.  This is the wrong attitude to have, for we were bought with a price, no longer to serve ourselves but to serve the One who saved us – Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:15).  We need to remember that our lives don’t belong to us any longer, for when we made the decision to become Christians, we chose to give our lives to Him as Savior and LORD.  He must have foremost authority of all we say and do, meaning that if He wants you to share, you should do it.  Who in his right mind, would say no to the request of his king?  No one.  So why are you doing that to our LORD, the Lord of lords and King of kings?  Also, we must take heed to the verse in 2 Corinthians 6:2b – “…Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”  This moment that God has called you to share the Gospel may be the perfect time, in which God is calling a ready heart to Himself.  Now is the day of salvation, for you know not when that person’s life may end.  It could be a minute from that point, a day from that point, a week from that point.  Is it not an urgent message you have to share?  D.L. Moody, a great evangelist, at one point in his ministry after sharing the Gospel told the people attending the church to come back next week with a decision.  That night the Great Chicago Fire occurred where many people died, some who may have been in that church that night.  From that point forward, Moody never stopped preaching the urgency of the Gospel.  There is no next week to receive, receive now.  If that message is that urgent, should we not share it no matter what – no matter what the “inconvenience”?  We would be extremely mad at a person if he knew he could prevent something bad from happening and did not (like in the CBS show Person of Interest).  We are in that same position; we can prevent people from living a life apart from God and living out eternity in hell.  We should do everything in our power to share this news.  We belong to Christ and have an urgent message to share – what can be more important than that to make you feel like sharing the Gospel is an inconvenience?

Our passage in Acts 18 was a direct word from the Lord to Paul to continue to share the Gospel in Corinth even in the midst of persecution and trials, for Christ would always be with Him.  (He did also promise him physical safety, although that may not be a guarantee for us.)  Knowing that Christ is always with us though, which is a much greater promise than mere safety, let us not be silent in sharing the Gospel.  We have been given this great opportunity to be part of God’s ministry in this world.  We have been honored with the chance to care take this beautiful message of redemption.  We have been given a sacred duty to be watchmen warning the world of the upcoming judgment if they choose not to turn to Christ.  Unlike Jonah, may we not run from God’s calling for us to witness but let us run to Him, trusting that He will use us to say what needs to be said to that person in that time to bring them, as well as, ourselves, to a closer walk with Him.  Share the Gospel!  Go on!  Speak!