The Importance of Evangelism5 min read

Did you hear about the millions of people who genuinely came to Christ recently? Probably not. Why? Simply because the vast majority of Christians do not share their faith on a regular basis. Are you part of that majority? The Great Commission of our Lord commands every disciple to go. Why do we take His command so lightly?

Biblical Incentive
Most of us are familiar with the words of the Great Commission: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel…” And we would also know that this is not just a request, but a command to every disciple; it is our God-given priority as servants of Christ on earth. Do we respect the fact that our Lord and Saviour commanded us? Do we not care that He is Lord? Why do we neglect this?

Along with His command, we see Biblical incentive. Matthew 10:8 – We have freely received; so must we give. Luke 4:43 – Jesus’ priority was to preach, as must ours be. Acts 5:42 – “They ceased not to preach.” Acts 16:10 – Luke and Paul went immediately to preach in Macedonia, knowing God had called them. Has He not called us? 1 Corinthians 9:16 – “Woe is me if I preach not the gospel!” Our priority is clear; let us fulfill it.

Another Biblical principle is found in Romans 10: “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” It is a fact: people need to be saved. “How shall they then call on Him in Whom they have not believed?” If people don’t believe on Him, they will not call on Him. “And how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard?” The people need to hear the gospel to believe it. “And how shall they hear without a preacher?” It all comes down to us. We preach, the people hear, the people believe, and then they call. Where there are no preachers, there is no calling on the Lord. And where there is no calling on the Lord, there are eternal flames that await every unrepentant sinner. How important it is to preach!

How selfish
Imagine for a moment the horrendous character of a firefighter (whose job is to fight fires and save lives) who neglects to save a victim, merely because of fear. Or worse, what if he didn’t save them, because He didn’t care? To what should our character be compared when we allow sinners to blindly walk into an endless eternity of flame where the worm dies not and the fire is never ever quenched? If the Saviour had our attitude toward souls, would we have hope? Again those words echo in our ears: “Woe is me if I preach not the gospel!”

Hell
Perhaps one of the greatest incentive to evangelize is this solemn statistic: nearly two people die every second. And the sad truth is that most are entering or have entered Hell. In the past year, how many have heard the gospel from your mouth or from a tract you had given out? Every year, over 57,000,000 people die; and a majority enter Hell. Imagine how greatly this number could be reduced if every follower of Christ followed Him as He commanded. Would you wish the following description on your friend? On yourself?

“After what seemed like thousands of horrible and painful years in Hell, I suddenly appeared before what looked to be a Great White Throne. I realized who sat on it. It was Jesus Christ. I knew I was doomed. He opened the Book of Life, and He couldn’t find my name, because it wasn’t there. I said to Him “I believed you were real, I was baptized, and was good most of the time. I should be in that book.” Then He said with a voice of divine authority, “You never repented of your sins and placed your faith in Me. It is not of works that you are saved, but by my grace. You chose your future by rejecting Me.” I realized He was right. Then He said these most devastating words: “Depart from me, you cursed into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Depart from Me; I never knew you!” An angel took me and literally threw me into the lake of fire. I took one last look behind me and saw the face of Saviour who could have been mine, but wasn’t because I rejected Him. Suddenly, I was surrounded by a spiritual darkness, unimaginable by humans. I heard the alarming, demonic screams of those who also were judged, and I felt this sudden heat, a fire hotter than any scale could measure. I was in the lake of fire, and I would never ever ever ever get out. I knew I would never see the face of a loving God in paradise, but instead be surrounded by darkness and torment. My name is hopeless, and my eternity is without hope.”

Again, how can they hear without a preacher? How will these blind and helpless people find the Lord when the ones who are there to guide them are unwilling to do so? The fate above will be their future, because most who claim the name of Christ simply don’t care. If Christ was like me, where would I be today? If every Christian had my attitude, would any be evangelized? We wonder at times why God hasn’t made a solution for the problem of the world not knowing Christ. We wonder why He has to send people to Hell despite the sufficient death of Christ. We are the solution.