To Encourage You

2 Corinthians 5:13 “For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.”

One of the things that can deter a person from sharing the gospel is the fear of what people might think of them if they do so.  We live in a world where the vast majority of people have no interest in spiritual things. They are living their lives as if this life is all there is.  They have no concern about the eternal consequences of their actions.  They likely view themselves as good people or at least as good as the next guy, so when someone comes along whom they certainly view as no better than they are and talks to them about sin, judgment, heaven, and hell, it is very likely that they will view that person in one of two ways: crazy or too serious.  It’s always been that way, even in the first century. 

Jesus’ own family claimed that He was out of His mind as He began His ministry preaching about the kingdom of God (Mark 3:21).  The Pharisees, on the other hand, reacted furiously as Jesus exposed their sin, and plotted to murder Him at the hand of the Romans.  It was no different for the apostle Paul as he carried Jesus’ message throughout the Roman empire.  False teachers called him crazy, but perhaps others minimized the seriousness of his claims that judgment would come on the sin of the world. Nevertheless, both Jesus and Paul continued to preach in obedience to God the Father and for the love of the people to whom they ministered. 

So, what about you and me?  Are we hesitant to share the gospel with those in our life for fear of what they might think of us?  Are we concerned that we’ll be viewed as religious fanatics? Are we concerned about their reaction if we speak to them about how they are sinners and headed for hell unless they repent and turn to the only Savior of the world?  Of course, it’s a message that many people don’t have any time for. They may reject us, alienate us, or even worse.  But if the gospel is indeed the truth that all people need to hear, if we really love people with the love of God and want them to know the good news that we know about the One Who “has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14), and if we truly want to be obedient to Jesus’ command that we go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation (Mark 16:15), we will open our mouth and speak. 

Paul asked other Christians to pray for him in this respect with these words: “To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:18-20).  Surely if Paul needed such prayer, we do as well.

May God help us to pray for boldness to speak as we ought to speak, regardless of the consequences, and to pray for other believers as they endeavor to do the same.