Going Beyond the Sharing

So, clearly the onus is on the believers to get off their seats and get their mouths to talking about Jesus. But if we are looking to develop new Christians with any hope of long-term success, we need to have more on hand than the message of salvation. We are told to go and make disciples. This is much more than simply speaking the gospel at people. We need to get involved in their lives and see them changed.

The end of true evangelism doesn't begin until the baby Christian is delivered safely into a system of discipleship that will move them quickly toward maturity. What are the basics a person needs to know? It could be everything from how to pray or worship, to an entire reconsideration of their life. What actions that are part of their daily life are actually sin? Much of a new believer's life is going to be disrupted if they are going to be brought into genuine submission to the will of God.

This is also a time of great danger. Looking back at Luke 8, we see either the thorns or rocks or the birds are all eager to see the believer's journey end here. Satan will put every conceivable obstacle in the path of this vulnerable baby. Without someone to guide them into the world of their new faith, the new believer is in danger of losing what they have so recently accepted. Before the roots of faith can even take hold, Satan will throw every enticement and torment he can conceive in their path with the hope he can dislodge their grip on the one thing that can put the new Christian firmly in God's hands, and far beyond his reach.

Left to their own devices, baby Christians will no more be ready to resist the wiles of the devil than an infant thrown into a swimming pool could be expected to swim. We must begin to look beyond the momentary obedience of sharing the gospel and instead listen to what Jesus actually said. Go and MAKE DISCIPLES. How can we possibly imagine our responsibility ends once someone has given their life to Jesus? It doesn't. It's just beginning. Jesus spent three years with His disciples getting them ready. Can we really expect to have new Christians ready to fend for themselves in less time?

Jesus was criticized by the Pharisees for spending his time among sinners. From there we can draw our example. True evangelism requires actually getting involved in the lives of the people we want to see saved. It is more than just preaching a message a people and hoping it sticks. We are to be examples to people. How are we to be an example to anyone if we don't involve ourselves with them? It is time for Christians to look beyond the concept of word evangelism. While we are to speak the truth of the gospel message, we must live it. The unbelievers around us must not only see who we are and hear it from our lips, but must know us as we are already among them, showing His love.