Booting Up For Service

One day, famed evangelist D.L. Moody approached a stranger on the streets of Chicago and asked, “Sir, are you a Christian?” “Mind your own business,” the man growled. “This is my business,” was Moody’s reply.

Sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with unbelievers is not only the business of vocational evangelists, but it is the assignment of every believer. It is the reason God has left us here on earth.  

As we have seen the last few weeks, making God’s business your business (or as Paul says, having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel) gives purpose, stability, and direction to your life. But living out your purpose can also protect us from the attacks of Satan by providing the motivation to make three critical choices in life. 

• Purity over Immorality 
• Generosity over Greed 
• Diligence over Aimlessness

“Well, Pastor, how do I adopt God’s purpose as my purpose? How can I effectively share the message of Jesus Christ with others?” Let’s discover four important components for “Booting Up for Service.”

1. Conviction of People’s Need for Christ  (John 14:6)

You will find it difficult to risk rejection by sharing Christ’s offer of salvation with a work associate, friend, or family member until you are absolutely convinced that, without Christ, they are destined for an eternity of separation from God.

2. Confidence in God’s Power to Save (John 6:44)

Someone once asked the legendary pastor Charles Haddon Spurgeon how he reconciled his evangelistic fervor with his belief that God would only save those He had chosen. “If the Lord would paint a yellow stripe down the backs of the elect, then I would walk the streets of London pulling up shirttails. But since He hasn’t, I preach the gospel to everyone,” the pastor replied.  

You can’t save anyone. Only God can perform a spiritual resurrection. That realization removes a lot of unnecessary pressure from evangelism. While we have a responsibility to clearly articulate God’s message, ultimately, a person’s response to the gospel does not depend on our rhetorical skill. We are simply God’s mouthpiece through which He voices His invitation.

3. Consideration of a Person’s Level of Interest (Luke 8:5-15)

A growing number of evangelistic organizations like Evangelism Explosion, which has trained millions of Christians how to share their faith, have embraced “relational evangelism” rather than “confrontational evangelism” or what I call “dump truck evangelism.”  

In dump truck evangelism, the Christian memorizes a canned presentation of the gospel and then scours the landscape searching for some poor, unsuspecting victim on whom he can unload his spiritual dump truck, regardless of the unbeliever’s level of interest. While we hear occasional success stories from this approach, the truth is that very few people respond positively to this kind of presentation.   

Only a heart that is open and receptive will respond positively to the gospel. The problem with the dump truck approach to evangelism is that it fails to give any consideration to a person’s level of interest in hearing God’s message. The Christian uses the tactics of a sanctified telephone solicitor who is trained to begin delivering his spiel as soon as the other party answers the phone.

How well do you respond when your dinner is interrupted by an uninvited telephone call attempting to sell you a product in which you have no interest? Probably the same way most non-Christians feel when they feel forced to listen to a pitch for something in which they have no interest.

Many unbelievers have rejected the gospel, not because of the offensiveness of the message but because of the offensive approach of some of the messengers.

4. Comprehension of the Message (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)

When we do find someone whose heart is receptive toward the gospel, it is important that we be able to communicate the basics of God’s message. After all, we are His representatives.

The job of an ambassador in a foreign country is to accurately represent the one who sent him. He is not responsible for crafting his own message, but for articulating the policy of the one he represents. As emissaries from heaven living in a foreign land, our task is to voice God’s offer of forgiveness to the world. Think about it. God could not speak audibly from Heaven, so the King of Heaven has chosen to voice His appeal for reconciliation to mankind through you. You are the final link in a chain that originates in Heaven and extends to the person to whom you are speaking.

Are you equipped to share His offer accurately? 

Any presentation of God’s message of salvation should contain at least four essential truths.  And every time you share one of these truths, you should include a Scripture—remember it is the “word implanted” that is about to save your soul. And along with the Scripture verse, there should be an illustration to help people visualize the truth you are sharing.

Four Essential Truths in the Salvation Message

• Everyone Has Sinned (Romans 3:23)
• We Deserve to be Punished for our Sin (Romans 6:23)
• Christ Died for Our Sins (Romans 5:8)
• We Must Receive God’s Gift of Forgiveness (John 1:12)

Today God invites you to make His business your business.