Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:19-27

Penn Jillette, one half of the Penn and Teller duo that’s been headlining Vegas shows for years with comedy and illusion is an atheist. Penn has never been shy about his disbelief in God. But in a video he shares a story about the time a gracious Christian businessman gave him a Bible as a gift and uses that story as an opportunity to point out that Christians who don’t evangelize must hate people. Here’s what he said:

I’ve always said, you know, that I don’t respect people who do not proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there’s a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that, uh, well, it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward—and atheists who think that people shouldn’t proselytize, [saying] “Just leave me alone and keep your religion to yourself”—uh, how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize them? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? I mean, if I believed beyond the shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming to hit you, and you didn’t believe it, and that truck was bearing down on you, there’s a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that.

Wow! That leads to some critical questions: Do we really believe there’s a hell? Do we really believe that those we care about, family, friends, neighbors will go there if they don’t commit their lives to Christ?

Though we may not actually hate them, can we really say we love them or even care if we won’t share the gospel? What else can transform lives both now and for all eternity?  

Last Sunday Jane and I attended the church where her nephew in-law, Paul Fowler, is Campus Pastor. It’s a huge church. Paul was candid and shared that most of those who attended came from other churches.

That’s great but it’s not our mission! It’s not what Jesus commanded us to do! Yet, it’s how most churches grow. One church has problems and declines, another church will boom, taking folk from the declining church. That’s not our mission! It’s just swapping fishbowls! It’s foreign to Jesus’ command to reach our world!

When we first came to Burlington, Elmbrook was a megachurch. They were running about 8,000. But after Stuart Briscoe retired, there was a steady exodus. Other churches around them boomed. That’s not New Testament church growth! It’s not the Great Commission!

I’m thankful when the Lord brings those who have moved to our area to our church. And there are times to leave a church and seek a new church home, but our mission is not musical churches.

At Grace we’re not seeking to be a big numbers church. We’re committed to being an effective Christ-followers church. When we reach people with the gospel, we’ll grow. That’s the mission! Christ-followers Reproduce Christ-followers! Our purpose statement says: Grace Church exists to glorify our Heavenly Father by continually making more disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Or as, Matthew 28:19-20 says, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

If you’re a Christ-follower, you have a mission from King Jesus. You and I are to shar our faith and reproduce new Christ-followers.

So… are you a Christ-follower? If you are, who have you shared your faith with? Who have you led to Jesus?

The purpose of the church is to glorify God by making more disciples. When we fail, we easily slip into a maintenance mentality where we focus on maintaining our religious club and neglecting the lost. Erwin McManus said, We somehow think that the Church is here for us; we forget that we are the Church, and we’re here for the world. John Piper puts it this way, The book of Acts is a constant indictment of mere maintenance Christianity. It’s a constant goad and encouragement and stimulation to fan the flame of Advent—‘The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.’ If you’re taking notes…

1. Our mission is to share the gospel. 

The gospel, means “good news.” It’s the Bible’s message that God sent His Son, Jesus, to die for the sins of humanity and rise again, offering forgiveness and eternal life to all who repent and believe. The gospel demands a response. It calls individuals to turn from sin and trust in Christ alone for salvation. The wonderful result is that those who believe are forgiven of all their sins, reconciled to God, and receive the promise of eternal life. 

The gospel is not a set of rules, moral instructions, or some to-do list to earn God’s favor. It’s a declaration of what Jesus has already accomplished. Salvation is a free gift that you simply accept. That’s the gospel.

2. The gospel wakes us up to other’s greatest need. 

The word “need” can be fuzzy. We use it loosely. If need means “essential for life,” the vast majority of what we say we need, we don’t actually need. We tend to have a distorted sense of need. We feel entitled, rationalizing that others only love us if they give us what we “need.” And we do the same with God.

What most think they need from God, they don’t really need. But it gets worse, because we think we need this stuff, we attach our happiness and significance to that which we’ve convinced ourselves we need. We look horizontally for stuff to fulfill us that can only be obtained vertically. We look to the creation to find things we’re hardwired to get from the Creator.

The greatest danger in life is not found outside of us, it’s inside us. The thing we need most is to be rescued from ourselves. Our hearts’ desire will only be fulfilled when we find our fulfillment in God.

Let me apply this parentally, even grandparentally. Think about Christmas. Your children’s and grandchildren’s need are not the “stuff” on their Christmas list. Their greatest need is to know Jesus, the Christ-child, that He came to earth, lived and died to pay for all their sin.

They don’t need an education. They don’t need to know how to work. They don’t even need good health, and don’t need to be happy. They don’t need to be successful athletes. What they desperately need is to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, to know that they’re forgiven and know they’re going to spend eternity with Him in heaven. The gospel wakes us up to other’s greatest need.

3. The gospel sobers us to realize that others’ choices have consequences. 

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, Everybody, soon or late, sits down to a banquet of consequences. We don’t like consequences. We live in an “It’s all good,” culture. But it’s not all good. Because without Jesus, we’re not good. We’re sinners and bad to the bone.  

We all sow and will all reap. The harvest has eternal consequences. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life (Galatians 6:7-8).

Eternity looms before us, reminding us that every thought, word, action, and decision carries consequences. A hereafter of reaping follows everyone’s life. Forever reminds us that life moves forward; it doesn’t go around in circles. The “circle of life” is bologna.

God designed us with a restless desire, longing for life to make sense. We dig through the mound of our own existence seeking to understand our own history. We want to know where we came from…where we’re going. It’s essential that we have an accurate worldview of consequences.

That’s not the same as an abstract appreciation of some impersonal law of cause and effect. Eternity forces us to the conclusion that the world we live in is a world under careful and constant rule. The God who created and rules all is working out His plan. God’s will will always be done. God has not only created life, He also designed how it’s to be lived.

We are created for God. We’re designed with Him in view. Consequences must be thought of vertically and relationally. Disobedience is not about breaking some abstract rule; it’s about breaking a relationship with God.

Consequences ultimately have to do with the authority of God. The big question is whether we’ve lived in submission to His will in the particular relationships and situations that make up our lives. It’s why we must share with those around us the reality of a harvest mentality. The book of Proverbs continually uses the word end. All of us must be prepared for the “end zone.” Proverbs 14:12, There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

God designed life and this world to be enjoyed, but not life apart from Him. If you don’t choose Him or His way in this life, there are devastating consequences in the next. Hebrews 9:27, Just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. Hebrews 2:12, How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

Choosing to live apart from God always has consequences, often unintended ones. Take the story of a Seattle man, who tried to steal gas from an RV. Attaching a siphoning hose to the vehicle, he started to work. Police found him shortly afterward writhing in agony. It seems that he’d attached the hose, not to the gas tank, but to the sewage tank! The owner declined to press charges; he was too busy laughing.

Facing the consequences of life without salvation, however, is no joke. Colossians 2:25, He who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done. We’re all sinners and sin has consequences. It’s why Jesus died on the cross. Jesus took our hell on Himself so we wouldn’t have to face the consequences of Hell. Are you warning those you care about of the consequences? The gospel sobers us to realize that others’ choices have consequences.

4. The gospel motivates us to be redemptive people. 

The Apostle Paul wrote: For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).

Paul was motivated. This is what it means to be focused on the gospel. God has called us to partner with Him. There’s nothing more exciting than being part of God’s rescue team! It cost Paul though and will cost us. But it’s so worth the investment. It demands that…

You sacrifice your rights. If we’re going to be effective in sharing our faith—if God is going to use us to lead others to relationship with Christ, we’ll have to sacrifice some things precious to us. We’re going to have to give up some of our time. We’re going to have to put some of our desires on the back burner. If you’re going to be involved redemptively in the lives of others, you’ll have to make some sacrificial commitments.

Joe Aldrich, author of Lifestyle Evangelism shared: When my wife and I went to Dallas Seminary, we decided we wouldn’t live in the ‘cemetery’ housing. Instead, we lived in the ‘high-class,’ red-light district.

If you want to get an introduction to life itself, that’s the place to be. We made a commitment to take one non-Christian person, couple or individual, out to dinner once a week. Did we ever get a liberal education! But what fun; we had people coming to know the Lord right and left in that place, because we simply loved them. We opened our home to them.

Wanda, the gal who lived next door to us, was a prostitute during the week and a Sunday school teacher on the weekends. She’d often come staggering into our house wearing her negligee with hair looking as if she’d stuck her fingers in a light socket. She’d have a beer can in one hand and an ashtray in the other. She’d come through our door about dinner time. Ruth would sit her down at the table to give her a cup of coffee and some food. Next morning Wanda wouldn’t even remember she’d been there.

If you’re going to mix it up with people and be a redemptive person, you have to be like our Lord and recognize this as a top priority.

In light of eternity, Paul set aside his rights. Do you want to reach those you love with the gospel? You must do the same. The reason we’re here on this earth is to fulfill the command Jesus gave us. We must be willing to set aside some of our rights to be available to lead others to Jesus.

But giving up our rights goes against our “age of entitlement.” We’re conditioned to believe we deserve a home, a car, a good job, great vacation, worship our way and retire at 55.

But do you know what I deserve and you deserve? A Christ-less eternity. By God’s grace we’ve been rescued. Everything we have is all by God’s grace. So, in reality we’re setting aside some of God’s blessings so we can share with others. To be used as a redemptive person, we must give up some of our rights—remembering our Savior Who, Though He was rich—became poor for us. Jesus gave up Heaven so we could escape Hell.

You accept responsibility. We realize we’re God’s representatives in our circle of influence. We’re surrounded by lost people. We’re God’s missionary. We’re His light. We’re their God-sent evangelists.

Every believer has a mission field. It’s no accident you’re in your neighborhood, or family, job, club or team. It’s the place you have influence. It’s where you live, work, shop, have your hair done or have your car serviced. It’s your friends at school. The people in your circle of influence are your responsibility. You’re the missionary in that “country.”

It’s imperative that we accept the responsibility God has given us. Do you know your neighbors? Their fears and struggles? Do you know if they know Jesus? It’s your mission field. To be a redemptive person you must acknowledge that truth, investing in reaching your world.

You anticipate rewards. God rewards faithfulness. As we share our faith, He has promised to reward us. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable (1 Corinthians 9:24-25).

Don’t you want to hear Jesus say when you get Home, “Well, done you good and faithful servant!” I want to meet people that I shared the gospel with, don’t you? It’s one reason we share our faith. Yes, we do it to share in the joy of seeing someone coming to Christ. We also do it to hear Jesus say, “Well done!” How would it feel for Jesus to say, “Welcome Home My child, but have you come alone? Why didn’t you bring anyone with you?”

You adopt a servant’s role. Though I’m free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible (1 Corinthians 9:19). Who humbles themselves to be a slave? Paul did. Jesus did. Why? Seeing others born again was more important than position.

Let me share stats from a shocking study from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity. One out of five non-Christians in North America do not personally know a single Christ-follower. Does your circle of influence know that you’re a Christ-follower?

There’s a direct connection between your effectiveness in evangelism and your willingness to serve others. An attitude of compassionate serving is the key. Daniel Meyer tells of an elderly woman who heard a sermon in which she felt God encouraging her to look for ways in which she could use her particular gifts and situation to minister to the needs of others. She thought about her gifts and realized that she’d been told that she had the gift of hospitality. She lived alone in a small apartment near a large university and had afternoons free. She pondered the needs around her and the people who tugged at her heartstrings. To her mind came the students nearby who were so far away from home. It was then that an idea both strange and simple suddenly arose.

She got a stack of three-by-five cards and wrote on each one the following words: Are you homesick? Come to my house at 4:00 p.m. for tea. She then included her phone number and address and posted those cards all over the campus. After a slow start, homesick students began trickling into her house each week for tea.

Do you want to know what happened when she died ten years later? 80 honorary pallbearers attended her funeral! Each of them had been a student who’d once found a hot cup of tea, a sense of home, and the gospel of Jesus Christ in the hospitable heart of this faithful servant.

What needs do you see? What needs can you meet in the lives of those in your mission field? How can you serve and build a gospel bridge?

To be a redemptive person, we must abandon our rights, accept responsibility, anticipate rewards, adopt the role of a servant. Finally…

You adapt to the culture. Notice how often Paul uses the word became.  He says to win Jews, he became like a Jew. To win those under the law, he became like one under the law. To win those outside of the Law, he became like one who’s living outside the Law. To win the weak, he became weak.

Paul knew the importance of adapting to the culture of the lost around him. He didn’t compromise his convictions, but he did learn to speak the “language” of the culture. He learned to relate. It’s what Jesus did. It’s what it means to be like Jesus. It’s what it means to be incarnational.

What about you? Are you ready to adapt? Maybe it means learning about video games to win a young person? Are you ready to learn about sports to win an athlete? Would you be willing to learn about biking to win a biker?

God wants us to adapt. Like Paul, we must be willing to become all things to all people so that by all possible means we might save some.

5. To share the gospel, you have to have a plan. 

Benjamin Franklin said, If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail! God designed us and He uses us different ways. There are many ways to do evangelism, but we need some kind of plan.

In our lonely culture and one Jesus did so often isRelational/Friendship Evangelism. Jesus was friend of sinners (Matthew 11:19). It takes time to build friendships, to earn the right to be heard to be able to share your faith. It means being there…even in their dark times. I’ve found that one of the best ways is sharing a meal with an unbeliever. Jesus shared meals at least 10 times in the Gospel of Luke alone.

Testimonial/Story Evangelism. Sharing the story of how Jesus has transformed your life. People love to hear stories. If you know Jesus, then you have a gospel story.

Preaching/Proclamation Evangelism. This is sharing the gospel directly and plainly through conversation, preaching, or evangelistic events.

Service Evangelism. Meeting practical needs in the community as a demonstration of God’s love. It may mean helping someone move or watching their children or pet. As a church we do it by serving free coffee, letting others use our building, carrying parade banners.

Invitational Evangelism. Inviting friends, family, or neighbors to church services, or to special events. Did you know that some 60% of believers will tell you that they came to Christ because someone invited them to church? Wow! Who have you invited? Who will you invite?

Bible Study Evangelism. Have friends or neighbors over and just do a Bible study. Work through one of the Gospels. We live in a religious culture. Most believe the Bible is true but have never read it. One we’ve used countless times here at Grace is Survey of Basic Christianity. Ken and Julie Stockero went through it. Here’s a video of them talking about it.

When it comes to evangelism, it doesn’t matter how – it’s Just do it!

Conclusion

Charles Spurgeon said, Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter. Which are you? Don’t go to heaven alone. Take your family. Take your friends and co-workers. Take your neighbors.

Do you know where they’re at with Jesus? When was the last time that you shared your faith with someone? When was the last time that you led someone to Christ? Have you ever? Can we help you learn how?

This summer we’re encouraging the church family to read a book our leaders are reading now: B.L.E.S.S. It’s how to build gospel bridges with those around you. Are you interested? Please note that on your Connection Card today.

So, as we tie this up, will you commit to praying for at least one person in your circle of influence to come to Christ? We’ve love it if you’d share with us on your Connection Card. If we’re going to win our world, we have to partner with Jesus and each other on His mission.

God has placed you as His missionary where you live, where you work, all of it. For heaven’s sake, please don’t go to heaven alone.