GO with the Gospel
Recently, our CCFW leadership team has been reflecting on some important questions about outreach in our city: “How can we reach the lost for Christ?” “Who is our target population as a church?” and “How can we equip our people for more effective evangelism?” While all these questions are crucial, we have realized that at the heart of them lies a fundamental need—a personal desire to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Every true believer possesses this desire because every true believer is filled with the Holy Spirit. However, not every believer heeds this desire or obeys God’s commands. This is why the New Testament is replete with verses commanding believers to GO and share the Gospel. Our default sinful inclination is towards spiritual idleness and self-love rather than loving our neighbors.
To name a few of the desires we should follow in regard to evangelism:
Seeking and saving the lost (Luke 19:10)
Always being prepared to give a defense (1 Peter 3:15)
Knowing nothing but Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1–5)
Having compassion and courage (Matthew 9:36–38)
Becoming a servant to all so that we might win some (1 Corinthians 9:19–23)
Not being ashamed of the gospel (Romans 1:16)
Preaching the gospel (Romans 10:14–15; 2 Timothy 4:1–5)
For the past three weeks, we have been emphasizing the need to go with the gospel. Dan Wieden, the creator of Nike’s slogan, “Just Do It,” was inspired by the last words of a death row inmate who said, “You know, let’s do it.” Wieden recalled thinking, “How, in the face of that much uncertainty, do you push through that?” He adapted the phrase to "Just Do It" to avoid giving credit to the inmate. This sentiment is similar to Christ’s command in Matthew 28:19, “Go and make disciples.” We should feel the same urgency because Scripture tells us that we are “dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” and to “present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness” (Romans 6).
What is our excuse for not making disciples? What is our excuse for not sharing the gospel? What is our excuse for not passing out a KTC invite card? When we dig deep, we realize that there are no valid excuses. Starting with myself, let’s challenge one another to be ambassadors of Christ as we GO with the gospel.
Pastor Caleb
“If all of your prayers were answered in the affirmative, would your kingdom expand...or would God’s?”