Spread the Gospel

Spread the Gospel

With all our communications devices, methods, and media, perhaps we could think that everything we want communicated has been done – one way or another. Yet there are a few things that are not communicated either correctly, accurately, nor regularly. Without being political, there are various reasons for this, not the least of which is that someone, somewhere doesn’t want you to know. However, there are one or two things that really do stand out like a sore thumb even in today’s broad-minded, liberal thinking, but very well informed and educated society.

For example, not too many younger people understand the creation story. Fewer understand or even know about David and Goliath; and very few indeed even know that Jesus Christ is not an exclamation of speech but a real historic person. Many people use God’s name, not just in vain, but  as an expression of disdain – they don’t realise who He is. The expression, “Oh my god” has no meaning to most other than surprise – their god is anything but the Lord God Almighty.

This brings to mind the commandment to preach the Gospel to all men, to take it to all nations. Now surely this cannot mean us? We are already a “Christian nation”. We are a civilised Christian nation, having a constitution and law based upon Christian principles – even if a little bit warped these days.

How can this be so? The huge majority of people do not even know the Bible, let alone Jesus Christ or God. They happily cling to the old wives tale that if we are good and treat others as we want them to treat us, then we’ll all go to “heaven” won’t we? As a nation, we cling to our constitution with absolutely no understanding of the values that underpin it. Sure, we have our own values based very vaguely upon our constitutional values – “provided I’m all right” – and we parade our values for all to see how good we are and how we are sure to get to heaven when we die.

What false hope !!

I recently heard an African preacher tell his audience that the English had brought Christianity to his land many years ago, now God has sent him over here to bring Christianity back to us again. It is my opinion that we need to look in our own back yard first before we seek out other peoples, tribes, and tongues who have yet to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our nation needs to hear that Gospel just as much, if not more so, than those who have never heard it. In many cases, the people in our own land are the same people who have never heard the Gospel – and they desperately need to hear it today.

We have an outreach program being rolled out in our church this year. The premise is that in order to win our nation, we must first win our cities. In order to win our cities, we must first win our streets. In order to win our streets, we must first win our neighbours. And in order to win our neighbours we must first win those closest to us – our families.

There’s the rub. It is easier to talk to a crowd in a theatre who we don’t know, than it is to talk to a room full of people we may know. It is easier to talk to those we may know than to a small group who know us well. And it is easier to talk to a small group, even if they know us well, than it is to talk to one member of our family who doesn’t know Jesus.

What’s to do then?

It’s a simple answer – ask God to help you. He promised, in Acts 1:8, “ But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” If you step out in faith, God will honour your faith and help you. After all, your home may not exactly be the ‘ends of the earth’, but sometimes, it may as well be.

Just do it !!