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For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16, ESV).
I led 500 young people to know Jesus in the first few years of my Christian faith, but it’s been a while since I’ve led someone to Jesus. Have you shared Jesus with someone recently? Have you ever led someone to the Lord?
In the first years of my Christian walk, we used the phrase “personal evangelism” meaning that as individuals, we should be willing and know how to lead others to Christ.
I think leading someone to Jesus has fallen out of favor in many churches.
There’s an edge to personal evangelism as we imply the other person is lost and needs Jesus as Savior. Are we as Christians feeling uncomfortable with this edginess of “lost” vs. “saved” as too judgmental?
Yet we have the passage in John 3:16 saying, “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
That’s blunt! You have to believe in Jesus only! John 14:6 below gets more pointed. . .
Jesus continues with, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). This passage implies that “some” will perish and “some” have eternal life, and it’s worse than “some” as Jesus further clarifies, “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14).
Not “some,” but “many” will be lost.
This “lostness” forms the urgency of saying to others that Jesus is the only Savior and that unless we have faith in Him, we don’t have hope for life in eternity.
Are we sharing this gospel?
During the Jesus Movement and the following two decades, “sharing the gospel” became a central focus of books and numerous sermon series. Evangelicalism as a movement places a strong emphasis on personal salvation.
I haven’t heard many sermons lately (actually, not one) on sharing Jesus. Perhaps the “lost/saved” implication must be softened to be attractional for non-believers coming to church. I understand this. I also understand the phrase, “Share Jesus, Love then Speak,” which I saw on a church billboard recently.
I believe it’s best today to emphasize the peace in Jesus as the conversational starting point when speaking with those who are not following Jesus. It’s more their felt need, than saying that the person is going to Hell.
Peace opens further doors of conversation, while accusations of Hell start arguments.
Be kind, be circumspect in our conversations, listen carefully to needs, show compassion, and answer questions with patience. As Paul writes about his personal evangelism technique. . .
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person (Colossians 4:5-6).
Graciousness with salt — what a description of sharing Jesus, as sooner or later, all people need to know that there are eternal consequences to a decision about following Jesus or not.
Let’s ask God to bring someone for us to share Jesus with this week.