A Faith to Share

"I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." Romans 1:14-16

As Christians, we would love for people to tell others about Jesus Christ. However, there are many Christians who are not so motivated to share the Gospel. One of the ways people motivate others to share the Gospel is by making them feel guilty. While I do not advocate this type of motivation, it is a common tool used by some within the Christian community. Often times, passages like Romans 1:14-16 are used as a tool to guilt people into sharing the Gospel. The Apostle Paul was eager to share the Gospel to anyone and everyone who would listen. Therefore, if a Christian doesn't feel the same way Paul did about sharing the Gospel, then they should feel guilty for it. They somehow must be "ashamed of the Gospel" because they aren't duplicating Paul's enthusiasm. However, there is a problem. What is the Gospel that people are desiring to share? After all, there are different definitions or different Gospels. The first question to ask someone is,"What is your definition of the Gospel?" or "How would you describe the Gospel?" You may be surprised at the answers you get. Some people may not have an answer to give at all, but for those that do, their answer may sound something like this: "Jesus died for my sins so that when I die, I  can go to Heaven." While that is not wrong, it is incomplete. The implication of this is that people believe that they are saved, forgiven of their sins and will go to Heaven when they die. But, between now and when they die, they are on their own. They must try to live a holy and righteous life of doing things like going to church, trying to stop sinning and do all the things they believe they are to do. At first a person may be enthusiastic about this new life. However, over time they will begin to realize that they are not quite as holy as God would like them to be. They are not as righteous and they are not as obedient as God wants them to be. If you were to ask this person,"What would God say about you if He were asked?" They would probably answer that God is not interested in talking about them because He is ashamed of their disobedience and failure at living up to His standards. If this is the case, then we should not be surprised that there are Christians who do not share the Gospel with others. What is exciting about sharing a Gospel that basically says, "Come and be a disappointment to God like I am"? Or a Gospel that says, "God loves me, but He is ashamed of me." There is no enthusiasm, much less the feeling of being obligated to the world, to share a message that you are not living yourself and never will. The only thing a person feels they can do is try harder to be obedient, holy and righteous. Sadly, all they will get is increasing feelings of condemnation from God because they know they are not living as He desires. The longing they have for God's love, peace and acceptance, they know is there, will never be experienced.

The Apostle Paul was not ashamed to share the Gospel because He knew and was experiencing the fullness of the Gospel. Therefore, if you want people to share the Gospel, all they need to do is to experience the living God for themselves. Therefore, as one pastor put it, "Don't try to get people out there sharing their faith. Get them a faith to share and they will share it." The Apostle Paul knew that the Gospel was more than just Jesus dying for his sins so he could go to heaven when he died. Paul knew that not only was he forgiven of all his sins, but that he now had the life of God restored to him through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is the restoration of the life of God and the benefit of forgiveness is that there is now no sin that can cause God to remove His life ever again. Once a person realizes that they are forgiven and their sins will never separate them from God again, the Lord can now begin to meet the desires of the human heart as only He can do. And as an individual grows in the knowledge of who they are in Christ, the guilt, condemnation, despair and shame that comes with trying to live an impossible life will begin to fade away. What will replace it is the knowledge of the truth that you are holy, righteous and forgiven "not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5)." Rather than trying to live a life you cannot, in an attempt to obtain things from God you will never get, you can now engage the world and give to it that which you have already received from God through your faith in Jesus Christ. Like the Apostle Paul, you will will begin feeling eager to preach the Gospel to anybody and everybody because God is not ashamed of you, you are resting from your unrighteous works of disobedience, you are forgiven, you are holy and you are at peace with God. When the focus is off of you and what you are trying to do for God, you can put the focus on Him and what He has given to you and what He is doing for the world through you. It is the difference between feeling that you have to do something for God and wanting to do something with God. That is the Christian life; God dying for you so that raised from the dead He can now live in and through you. That is a message to share!