Sharing the Gospel...With Yourself
We’ve finished our two-week series that looked at some barriers we face in evangelism. Each message has been helpful to me as I work to get better at sharing about my faith. One other barrier we face in our evangelism is that we do it so little, every time it feels like we are starting over. We never get comfortable at it. What if you could share the gospel every day? You’d probably get better at it. Well, you can share it every day. How? By sharing the gospel with yourself. Now I don’t mean practicing some rehearsed speech in the mirror. I mean actually taking various gospel truths and applying them to the situation and struggles you face. Because ultimately you need the same thing as the person who has never heard the gospel. We all need Jesus and we never get beyond that.
Let me explain with a personal example. I often seek to find my worth in what I do. If I’m succeeding in my work, I think I have worth. If I’m not, I can feel like a failure. I’m often driven to be successful because I believe that will give me more worth. This appears in various places in my life. I can feel this temptation in my work as a pastor, but I also feel this temptation elsewhere. I’ve learned one of the reasons I like pushing myself on my bike is because in my heart I believe that if I can be faster than others, that gives me more worth. Perhaps that sounds silly, and it is! But it’s also the way my sinful heart works.
So what’s the solution? It’s ultimately the gospel. Nothing else will truly change me. So how does the gospel speak to this struggle? Here are a couple ways:
●The gospel shows me that nothing I do will ever be enough. I’ve learned my successes fade quickly. They have a short shelf-life. Soon I’m yearning for something new to give me a renewed sense of worth. The gospel confirms this experience - I could never do enough to be worthy. I need something else to give me lasting worth.
●The gospel offers a worth that is greater than anything I could provide. The gospel offers me Christ Jesus and says everything that is his can be mine. That far outshines any success I could achieve.
●The gospel says I can have the greatest worth right now. The gospel doesn’t just promise some future reward. No, it says, right now, you are a son of God. God gets close to you, and smells the fragrance of Christ. God loves you like he loves his son or daughter. Right now, in Christ, God sees us as having the worth of Christ Jesus himself. So rest in that! Stop trying to find worth in cheap imposters.
I need to hear the gospel as much as anyone else. I never stop needing to hear the gospel. And you know, the better I get at sharing the gospel with myself, the better I get at sharing it with others. In fact, those gospel truths that I shared with myself, I could just as easily share with an unbeliever who is struggling with the same things I am. The root sins are the same: I need Jesus as much as the unbeliever.
We all need to get better at sharing the gospel. First, share the gospel with yourself. Then share it with other believers. Share with fellow believers where you are applying the gospel in your own life. Help other believers see how the gospel speaks to their struggles. When you get comfortable at doing that, sharing the gospel with an unbeliever will actually seem surprisingly natural.
I’d encourage you make sure you listen to this next sermon series. Each week we are looking at a gospel truth, and how it applies to our life. My goal is at the end of this series, we will have eight gospel truths that we can apply both to our own lives, and share with others around us.
One book that has been helpful for me in growing in my evangelism is The Unbelievable Gospel: Say Something Worth Believing by Jonathan Dodson. I'd encourage you to read it too. If you do, let me know. I'd love to discuss it with you!
In Christ,
Pastor Jon