Questions/Answers Series: Gospel/Evangelism/Difficulties

1. What is the Gospel?

The Gospel is “Good News of Jesus Christ” The Gospel is comprised of several components. First, People need to know that God is Love and God is Holy. Second, People need to recognize that everyone is a sinner and the punishment of that sin is the eternal separation between God and Man. Third, people need to understand that God is a merciful God and sent his one and only son to die a painful death on the cross and rose again on the Third Day to save us from the punishment of sin. Fourth, if anyone accepts this Truth, they are the adopted children of God. This is the Gospel in a nutshell.

1. What is evangelism?

Evangelism is the communication of the Gospel message to lost sinners with the intention of bringing them into a saving relationship with Christ, that is, into the family of God through the experience of the New Birth. My definition of Evangelism is gospelize. Gospelize is a coined term that was termed by Charles Spurgeon. For example, gospelizing your youth ministry is “to build a context in which the good news of Jesus is moving both deeply into the souls of your teenagers, and outwardly through your teenagers to others.” When Christians are centrally focused on the gospel and make the gospel center of your life, you are outwardly communicating the gospel to others so that they can be brought into the saving relationship of Jesus Christ. I know it is not part of the question but it is important truth to be noted, “From self-harm, to suicide, to self-image challenges, to sexual temptation, this generation has been bombarded by the Evil One. Our young people live in the midst of a generation of walking wounded who are longing for hope and looking for answers,” (Greg Steir, Gospelize Your Youth ministry. Arvada, CO: A D2S Publishing Book, 2015.) What better way than to communicate the gospel to them so that they can enter a saving relationship with Christ which is in a nutshell, evangelism.

1. How are evangelism and discipleship related to one another?

Without Evangelism, you cannot have discipleship. Evangelism is the communication of the gospel to Lost sinners with the intention of bringing them into a saving relationship with Christ, that is, into the family of God through the experience of the new birth. Biblical Discipleship, on the other hand, is “Helping another believer make biblical changes toward Christlikeness.” First they have to saved in order to be transformed into the image of Christ and be adopted in the Family of God. Therefore, without evangelism, you cannot have discipleship.

1. As we have discussed in class the Know-Be-Do paradigm how do these concepts relate to evangelism?

Know-Be-Do paradigm is crucial. Knowing meaning that we need a firm understanding of the Gospel. Being means being the person God can use. Doing means displaying Christlike attitudes and actions to other people. Therefore, The Know-Be-Do paradigm is very important to evangelism because it all collates in evangelism.

1. Why is evangelism an important part of the Christian life?

Evangelism is crucial to the Christian Life because God calls us to spread the Gospel to society. Evangelism is the outflow of our Christian walk with God.

1. What examples do we have in Scripture of those who were evangelists?

Paul, Peter, and John were all evangelists in the Bible. John was evangelizing even before Jesus was born. He was proclaiming from the rooftops that Jesus is coming. Paul is another one who were evangelist because in Acts 16 he evangelized to the Jailer. Acts 16:31 states, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household.” Peter was another evangelist because He went before the Sanhedrin and still proclaimed the gospel even when he was threatened. These are the examples of evangelists in the Bible.

1. Can a Christian have a real genuine relationship with an unbeliever?

Yes, a Christian can have real genuine relationship with an unbeliever but if the unbeliever does not accept Jesus Christ and changes his/her ways, he/she will become stumbling block and will lead the Christian into sin.

1. What is the best method for sharing your faith?

My actions is the best method for sharing my faith. I try to be respectable and show Christlikeness to everyone who is around me. My Actions are the outflow of my personal walk with God/Jesus Christ.

1. What difficulties do we face in sharing our faith with others in today’s cultural environment?

We face several difficulties in sharing our faith with others in today’s cultural environment. However, God can help us overcome these difficulties. Difficulties can include being called a homophobic, racist person who hates everyone even when we speak the truth in love. Another difficult is fear. We are fearful to evangelize but the Jesus Christ can cast out our fears and anxieties associated with evangelism. Therefore, these are some of the difficulties in sharing our faith with others in today’s cultural environment.

1. Considering the reality of hell why do believers not share their faith more?

Christians (believers) do not share their faith more even when considering the reality of hell because they are fearful that they will be an outcast. However We should not be fearful because God can cast out are fears and anxieties.

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