Sharing the message of Jesus is the hardest thing for any believer to do. The tradition we are a part of is conditioned to not share the gospel with others. If we all think back many of Jesus’ disciples stopped following him over this point. The early church was persecuted heavily over the act of witnessing to others. Now, when we look at very recent history, those who share the gospel are demonized. They are attacked for only wanting money or being called hypocrites.
I have been watching many YouTube videos recently about people witnessing in the streets or on college campuses and they seem to get the same response from the bystanders. They get told they are not supposed to be judging others (Mt. 7:1), or they are being hypocritical because they are preaching to live a perfect life when they themselves aren’t perfect. After watching many of these videos, the people who are arguing against the preacher are right. We shouldn’t be judging based on situations we are unclear of and we are hypocrites.
Simply put, we’re not good enough. I’m not going to ask for you to show your resume of the sins that you have committed in your life or even the sins committed within the last 24 hours. I know if I were to show people my resume I probably would have been kicked out of school, I would not be a pastor at a church, and ultimately I may be in jail. We are not good enough to share the gospel with other people. It is very hypocritical for us to tell people to follow Jesus and never sin again when we struggle every single day just doing the simple task of following Jesus (but that is a whole different post).
Now what? If all I have said above is true how do we move forward sharing the gospel with the world? The truth is we just have to be honest with ourselves. We need to come to grips that we are sinners and we aren’t good enough and it is only through the power and authority given to us by Christ (Mt. 28:18, Jn. 14:16) and his resurrection (Eph. 1:19–21). It is only by this, through the help and guidance of the Spirit can we make a difference in the world we live in.
This post is not meant to be discouraging in anyway. In actuality I pray it be the exact opposite. I pray this be an encouragement for all of us, that we think more closely next time we are sharing the love of Jesus with others, that we be more open to the yearnings of the Spirit, and we not be blind to our own shortcomings. As mentioned before, we are not good enough but it is exactly this truth making us the perfect people to share the gospel with the world.
