I was in an Uber recently with a Buddhist man. He was kind and happy to talk about religion. So I asked him to share what he believes. Then I asked him if it was okay for me to share what I believe. Thus, I shared the gospel. I ended up inviting him to our church.
Sharing the gospel intimidated me for years. I did not feel that it was something I could do or even wanted to do. Frankly, it seemed impossible. Here are 10 reasons why many of us don’t share the gospel and ways to overcome them.
1—We don’t understand the gospel.
The gospel (euangelion in Greek) means good news. What is the good news of the Bible? What is the Bible’s core message? That God appeared in the flesh as a man named Jesus and died on the cross to save us from eternal damnation. He died because, as sinners, we are destined to hell, and there has to be a death to erase that punishment. We are saved only if we do two things: one, repent of our sins; and two, believe in the saving act of Jesus Christ. That is it. That is the gospel. If you want to know more, dig deep, find teachers, and read the Bible. You have to start there.
2—We don’t believe the gospel.
The basis of the Christian faith is the Bible. If we don’t believe the Bible then we have a big problem. In order to believe the Bible, we must pray and search and come to a conclusion. My conclusion is that the Bible is the Word of God.
3—We have not experienced the gospel.
The Bible says that even the demons believe. It is not enough to believe the above facts are true. You must decide to personally follow Jesus, repent and turn around from sinful ways. You must apply the above belief to your life.
4—We have not put God first.
You may have given your life to Christ but have not put Him first. If you don’t make Him first, you are not going to want to share the gospel because the things of God are not of high priority in your life.
5—We have not learned how to share the gospel.
Take a class. Go on a lifelong journey to share your faith. One way is to ask others to share their faith first, then ask them if it is okay to share your beliefs, as I shared mine in the Uber story above. Remember that we share because we deeply care for people and not because we want to impose our views.
6—We think it is illegal.
While in some countries it is illegal to share the gospel, in most countries, what is illegal is discrimination. Outside of that, as far as I can tell from my experience in the business world, you are good to go. You may say, my employer does not allow me. If that is true, don’t share. But many times, we are not sure what is permissible. We assume an organization does not allow people to share their faith. Usually when we are respectful with communicating our views, we will have room to say what we want.
7—We think it is unethical.
We are afraid of being pushy or making people feel uncomfortable. But sharing the gospel can be a 1-2 minute explanation. If people don’t want to hear more, that’s okay. Plant the seed. God is able to grow it. Sharing what one believes is not unethical.
8—We think it makes us Bible-thumpers.
If ‘Bible-thumper’ means being an abusive, pushy, loud person, then don’t be that. You can share the gospel kindly and respectfully.
9—We don’t think it’s our job.
It is our job. If we leave it to the ‘professional’ church staff, like elders and pastors, we miss a huge understanding of the Biblical text. Each believer is called to the Great Commission to “go and make disciples.”
10—We don’t want to sour relationships.
You don’t have to. Sharing deep beliefs in a warm manner can engage a person and deepen relationships. One of my close friends from medical school is of the Jewish faith. We have had long and deep conversations about starkly different views on God and eternal life. We have remained close friends.
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