A solemn duty
I don’t know about you, but I often view my responsibility to share the gospel not so much as an obligation but a common courtesy: I have extremely good news that can help someone, and I want to share it with them because they are nice folk. There is a measure of truth to that in our motivation to share the gospel. After all, the very word “gospel” means “good news.” But it is so much more than just wanting to share it with someone out of courtesy. Souls are on the line for eternity.
Due diligence
In the United States legal system, there is a concept called “due diligence.” It is the effort made by one party to prevent injury to another party. In other words, if you know something can cause someone harm, in some cases, you have the legal obligation to warn that person.
This is why we see warning labels on everything. The sign at the fast food drive through has to say, “Warning: Coffee is hot.” There are even warning labels on bottles of sleeping pills that say, “Warning: May cause drowsiness.” In our litigious society, companies have to put out these warnings in order to show due diligence in regard to people’s safety.
As believers, we must perform our “due diligence” in sharing the gospel. I cannot think of greater harm that can be caused than that of letting someone slip into eternity without knowing Christ as their Saviour.
While it is not a legal obligation, it is a moral obligation. It is not simply a matter of witnessing if I feel like it. Paul writes, “Woe unto me if I preach not the Gospel!” (1 Cor. 9:16). How can we sit by and watch people run headlong into hell and not lift a single flag of warning? As I write these words, I have a sense of guilt that I do not do my own part in sufficiently giving people a warning of the inevitable danger of living apart from God.
Out of love
While businesses give warnings to customers out of duty and for fear of being sued, we preach the gospel out of love. This love is for our Lord and our fellow man. In light of all Christ has done for us, and for the love that He has placed within our hearts, we should discharge our duties of preaching the gospel with gladness. God’s love compels us to no longer live just for ourselves, but for others (2 Cor. 5:14). For us to do otherwise is to shirk our responsibilities as believers.
Yet, we may tell ourselves (and others), “but I don’t have the gift of evangelism.” Just because we are not gifted in a certain area does not absolve us from our responsibility. We are not told if Timothy was gifted in evangelism. It appears he had the gift of shepherding. But this did not let him off the hook in terms of the gospel. Paul told him to, “Do the work of an evangelist” (2 Tim. 4:5).
Our responsibility is to present the gospel. It is not to convince people or win arguments. What they do with what they hear is their own responsibility. Just as warning labels don’t keep people from scalding their mouths with hot coffee, but they do keep the restaurant from being liable for it.
In love
How should we share the gospel? The difference, once again, is in our motivation. If we preach Christ out of our love for Him and our concern for others, we will care how we present it. We will want to present it in a loving, concerned way, not in a manner where they feel we are simply doing a duty.
There is a song by a Christian songwriter that says, “Don’t tell them Jesus loves them until you’re ready to love them, too.” I do not totally agree with that lyric. I may be in a backslidden, selfish state when the opportunity comes to tell someone about Christ, but I ought still to take that opportunity. We are to preach it in season or out of season (2 Tim. 4:2). Paul even says in Philippians 1:15 that some preach the gospel out of envy and strife. However, I do understand the point of the song. Our presentation of the gospel is much more convincing and much more effective when it comes from a genuinely concerned heart. That is the proper motive for sharing our faith. If we are letting Christ reign in us, this shouldn’t be a problem.
Either way, it is our obligation. In 1 Corinthians 9:17, Paul goes on to say, “For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.”
I can preach the Gospel willingly and receive a reward. But even if I don’t, I have a duty to perform, a commission to discharge, a responsibility to fulfill. I cannot evade my obligation to warn others of the impending doom that befalls them if they die without Christ.
When we look at evangelism in this light, it changes our outlook. Seeing it as our moral obligation should stir us all. Being motivated by the love of God and the concern that God places within us for others should move us to action. Being willing to move and share the Gospel brings us reward. May we all do our “due diligence” in sharing God’s love with a lost and dying world.