Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 1 Corinthians 9:16
What is the difference between preaching and sharing? I recently read an excerpt of Elliot Clark’s book Evangelism as Exiles: Life on Mission as Strangers in Our Own Land where this question was asked. Sometimes we give too little thought to the terminology we use as Christ-followers. When we grow up saying certain things, it’s easy to assume that the verbiage is biblical. This issue always makes me think of how we referred to the pastor when I was growing up…“the minister.” What’s the problem with calling one person “the minister”? What we seem to imply is that there is only one person who does ministry in the church. But this couldn’t be further from the truth, at least according to Ephesians 4:11-12 where we find it isn’t the job of pastors to do all the ministry, but to equip God’s people to do the ministry. In the same way, how biblical is it to speak of sharing the Gospel? I know, someone might charge me with being nit-picky. What does it matter? Isn’t it just semantics? My answer: No! It does matter. Sharing implies something we do only if someone seems to be asking for something, inviting it. I’m not advocating that we should be Bible-thumpers, clobbering unsuspecting people with Good News. But on the same token, I wonder if our terminology is far too passive for the mandate we are given in Scripture to “proclaim the mystery of Christ”? (Col. 4:3).* Again, the question might be raised, “Isn’t the difference only in semantics? Does it really matter if we call it ‘sharing’ or ‘proclaiming’?” I appreciate the analogy Elliot Clark uses, “What if a baseball coach instructed his pitchers simply to toss the ball? Not to throw strikes. Or work the corners. Or change speeds. Or pound it inside. Just toss the ball. Would the pitchers have an accurate understanding of their responsibility?” Terminology matters. How we perceive the call to evangelize matters. It makes me think of the 1X3 challenge. It is a challenge for each one in our body to intentionally reach out to three different people in three different places spiritually. #1 is to love one non-churched person. The idea here is to be intentionally looking for people for whom faith has never been a significant part of their lives and to show them the love of Christ in both word and deed. #2 is to engage one formerly-churched person. The idea here is to intentionally reach out to someone who has left the church to invite them to return and experience what it means to be growing together with God’s people. #3 is to spur-on one person at RBC. Using the language of Hebrews 10:24, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,” this is a challenge to encourage a fellow member of our body in their faith. None of these are intended to be forced or superficial acts with a short shelf-life. No one wants to be your project!!! Truly, speaking into each other’s lives requires meaningful relationship, authentic love. But at the heart of all three aspects of this challenge is Gospel-proclamation. Whether I am a long-time church member, a former church member, or someone who has never really been part of the church…I need to hear the Gospel proclaimed. I need others speaking Gospel truth into my life. I need the Good News of Jesus Christ preached to me! Why? Because there are all sorts of “bad news bears.” We are bombarded non-stop by bad news in the news media, in entertainment, in cynical talk around the water coolers of life. We also get more than our fair share of pseudo good news, those telling us that if we just buy this product or adopt this philosophy or do this diet, we will be all better. The problem is, that stuff never really works. What we need is the real Good News. We need to embrace, rehearse and proclaim the Good News that is as transformative today as it was 2,000 years ago: that God so loved the world He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him, believes in Jesus, experiences the unending, unshakable, unbelievable life of God within! So, how about you? Are you proclaiming the Good News? And are you putting yourself in a place where you can regularly receive the proclamation of the Good News, whether it’s in a church sanctuary or over coffee with a fellow believer or in daily personal time in God’s Word? Life is short. May we all be responsive to our divine mission. Preach!!! Pastor Dan *Though Philemon 1:6 does speak of “sharing your faith,” the context is not Gospel-sharing but sharing our stuff. And though Paul, in 1 Thess. 2:8-9, speaks of how he shared the Gospel, he goes on to clarify that he, “preached the Gospel,” terminology found more than 30 times in the Bible.
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Dan GannonDan has ministered at Renton Bible Church, with his wife Debbie, since 2003. Archives
June 2022
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