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Courage is undoubtedly a positive quality. How often in life have we been told to be courageous—in children's games, in choosing a career, and in other areas? But what is true courage actually measured by? Many of us are familiar with the saying "the courage to embrace the gap." The following article may point you to precisely this gap in your life and challenge you to demonstrate what is essentially courage: the confession of your Lord.
Admittedly, the headline is slightly provocative. But that's the intention. In our daily lives of faith, we tend to avoid such questions whenever possible. We're used to living according to established routines and always staying within our comfort zone—anything to avoid conflict, stand out, and be left in peace. The lowest common denominator seems perfectly adequate to us, even when dealing with non-believers. They have their lives, and we have ours. We often behave as if faith were a private matter. "You don't talk about that!" some think. "If God sees it as right, He'll draw people to Himself."
But is that what the Bible prescribes as a guideline? Is that really what Jesus expects of you? Or, to put it more concretely: Is a true Christian even allowed to think that way? Here, we'll attempt a fact check based on Scripture. What does the Word of God say about the importance of evangelism in your life? How does it describe the relationship between faith, proclamation, and confession? We've structured the answers to these questions into the following six points.
1. Every Christian is an evangelist
The most important thing to know right away: Silence is not an option. Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He gave His disciples final instructions. Last words are generally given more attention and greater weight. So what was it that Jesus absolutely had to tell His disciples? “ Go into all the world and preach the gospel ” (Mark 16:15). In the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, this is made even more concrete: “ You will be witnesses ” (Acts 1:8). All the excuses mentioned above fall apart when confronted with these facts alone. What Jesus says here is not merely a recommendation for Christians of the higher faith level. This is a clear command and a statement of fact, an irreversible reality: Whoever belongs to Jesus is a witness! If you do not bear witness to the faith, you do not belong to Jesus.
But to take the last bit of wind out of the sails of reticence, let's add what Jesus said on this topic. He compared His followers to light and salt. Both have an effect in every situation. Their presence is always visible or perceptible. We conclude from this that a true Christian cannot possibly hide their faith and the message of salvation. If they can, they are not a Christian! As a follower of Christ, you cannot not evangelize! When Peter and John stood before the Sanhedrin, the council forbade them from preaching any further, threatening them with severe punishment. What was their reaction? Uncertainty or even fear? "We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20).
If only that were always our attitude toward evangelism! An unbridled, inner burning for the confession of our Lord and His saving message. Toward the end of his life, Paul summarized valuable advice for the life and ministry of Timothy, “ his true son in the faith ” (1 Timothy 1:2), in two letters. What were perhaps his last words recorded? “Do the work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:5). We see a very clear parallel to the last words of Jesus. But if the starting point is so clear, what so often prevents us from following this unambiguous command of Christ? We will examine one of the main reasons in the following chapter.
2. Losing face for Jesus
A major obstacle to our personal evangelism is fear of man. What will others think of me? My classmates, my colleagues? If they knew I go to church four times a week! Nothing seems more unpleasant than being belittled or humiliated by someone, having our personal pride wounded. The English have a very fitting term for this, from which this chapter is derived: "losing face." Oh, how often we fear this loss of face! A former student even had the congregation give thanks that none of her fellow students had realized she was a Christian. And she didn't study in the Soviet Union. That, too, is a testimony, albeit a pitiful one.
Friends, Jesus was willing to let us spit in his face for our sake! But even the verbal spittle of our fellow human beings is too much for us. Contempt, derision, and mockery because of the cross are alien to many of us. Some elegantly navigate life, knowing full well what behavior is required in which circles to be well-received. But according to the Bible, persecution and suffering are the most natural things in the world for someone who follows Christ wholeheartedly. Jesus had countless followers. In the 12th chapter of the Gospel of John, we even read about leading men among the people who believed in Jesus but, out of fear of the religious authorities of the time, did not profess their faith publicly. Such a confession would have meant exclusion from the synagogue, and thus from the community of public life at that time. The approval of the people meant more to them than approval from God (cf. John 12:42-43).
The message of the cross is not popular; it never has been. And yet, it pleased God to save those who believe precisely through this message (cf. 1 Cor 1:18). Either we are willing to pay the price of faith and bear the shame with him who hung on the cross (cf. Heb 13:13), or we will one day be put to shame when we appear before His throne. Jesus emphatically warned against fearing those who can, at most, take our lives. Rather, we should fear the one who has the power to send us to hell after our death (cf. Mt 10:28).
Evangelism work is carried out by young people in many of our churches. Whether it's distributing invitations before evangelistic services, running book tables, or singing in public in the streets, this important work would be difficult to do without young people. However, as a rule, only a very small percentage are willing to invest time and energy in this work. Most shirk responsibility and hide behind many pretexts and excuses. "There's plenty to do without it," they say, "besides, the timing never works for me, and I'm not someone who can easily approach other people."
Do these statements sound familiar? A missionary who died a martyr for Jesus said in his time, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, that he may gain what he cannot lose." He understood that honor, reputation, power, and money are fleeting and was willing to lay down his life on the altar to tell others about Jesus. What about you? Are you willing to lose face for Jesus? This brings us to the next point.
A true Christian cannot possibly hide his faith and the message of salvation.
3. Evangelism begins with you
"A blind man cannot lead a blind man," said Jesus (cf. Matthew 15:14). Before you can show others the way, you must know it yourself. You must have experienced new birth before you can bear witness to them. This requires a firm relationship with God. By its fruit, the tree is known. Therefore, only sweet water should flow from your (heart's) spring. We ourselves must be filled with the gospel before God can fill others through us. The changes that God brings about in you through new birth will not go unnoticed by those around you. Your family will notice it, your street will notice it, and hopefully, your entire community will too.
There are Christians who want to save the whole world, but don't realize that they themselves are not yet saved! Please don't misunderstand me: it's not about you having to become perfect before you can confess Jesus. Each of us is a sinner and must continually be examined and corrected or purified by God. But as a born-again Christian, you won't be able to live in sin. You will always strive to please the One who saved you. The Bible calls this process sanctification or spiritual life. And from this foundation, Jesus calls you to become active for Him, to tell others what He means to you and what miracles He has performed in you.
If Jesus is the center of our lives (and we claim this time and again), we can't help but speak of Him. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks," says the Bible (cf. Luke 6:45). Now that we've recognized the necessity of a life of faith in evangelism, let's apply this filter to our own lives. Most of us spend our free time with people who also attend church. What do we talk about within our Christian circles? In John Bunyan's *The Pilgrim's Journey* (by the way, highly recommended reading), the conversations of the Christian pilgrims described there revolve exclusively around God, His love, His grace, His way, and the heavenly city. In short: spiritual topics.
What are the topics of conversation among today's pilgrims? Often, our discussions revolve around work, income, hobbies—in short, the worries of this world. Perhaps a brief prayer is offered at the end, and then everyone goes their separate ways. But if Jesus isn't the central focus of our conversations within Christian communities, how can He be outside of them, among people who don't know God? Therefore, it is crucial that we are awakened to proclaim the Gospel and then go forth, igniting the other members of the church. If this succeeds, the church is able to fulfill the mission Jesus has given it.
4. The role of the community in proclamation
Evangelism is not a peripheral issue for a church; it should encompass its entire being. Churches are starting points for proclaiming the biblical message. This includes, on the one hand, preaching within the church from the pulpit, but on the other hand, it also means that people from within the church go out and invite others to join them. We see this in the parable of the wedding banquet, which the king sent out to invite. The invitation was the fundamental prerequisite for the guests to learn about the feast and to be able to decide whether or not to attend. Paul thinks along similar lines in the 10th chapter of Romans: “How then can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching?” (Romans 10:14).
Here, the call to speak out, to proclaim the message, is clear. It must therefore be clearly audible and not merely inferred from outward appearances. The proclamation must resound. No congregation will find an excuse before God for not having done everything possible to ensure that people in their community could experience Jesus' saving love. Fear of being overrun by outsiders or even of the congregation being taken over by them is clearly misplaced. God has promised that the gates of hell will not overcome the church; therefore, we need not worry that people might.
Of course, cultivating the next generation is not to be neglected, since young people are the future of the church. However, proclaiming the message to the outside world is equally important and should be done with the same devotion. The church is not an end in itself; its purpose is to serve people and show them the way to Jesus. The next chapter describes where this path can be found.
5. The Word of God at the Center
And that brings us to the core message of every form of evangelism: at the heart of the proclamation is always the Word of God. Paul placed the utmost importance on this very Word and encouraged the other followers of Christ to do the same (cf. 2 Tim 4:2). It is not about convincing people of one's own church or its structure, offering them a new leisure activity, or even advertising that good potential spouses can be found there. At the center of every evangelistic effort is the message of humanity's sinfulness and the love of God on the other side, which seeks precisely this lostness and wants to bring it back into fellowship with God.
In other words, we must preach Christ and nothing else. For only sound preaching produces sound followers. People must build their spiritual foundation on Jesus, not on us. Otherwise, we produce lifelong spiritual cases incapable of growing in faith. Jesus is the cornerstone; if this foundation is not laid, further building within the person is impossible. Furthermore, note: the message of the Bible requires no alteration!
Change is fundamentally possible in two directions. On the one hand, there is the danger of adapting to the spirit of the age. In the times we live in today, this means a softening, a widening of the narrow path, and an appeal to supposed freedoms that people are supposed to possess through faith. These freedoms usually turn out to be a space for the lusts of the flesh, as Peter calls it (cf. 1 Peter 2:16). If, therefore, the praise of God can no longer be distinguished from a dance or disco, and the vocabulary is as clean as sewage, then no one should indulge in any illusions. God has no need for self-serving displays. The other side concerns the imposition of human regulations (keyword: legalism), for which Jesus already sharply rebuked the Pharisees, because they thereby shifted the focus away from the Word of God and toward human commandments.
Paul later writes to the Colossians about a mere appearance of wisdom and self-chosen, that is, not God-given, piety. The Bible also calls this carnal desire (cf. Colossians 2:23). We see an example of this in the Acts of the Apostles, when the question arose as to which Jewish traditions newly converted Gentiles had to observe. Circumcision, yes or no? Sabbath, yes or no? The Jewish Christians would gladly impose all these rules on them. Ultimately, only the following remained: avoidance of sexual immorality, consumption of strangled animals and blood, and avoidance of idolatry. Nothing more. In the end, the devil doesn't care which of these extremes we fall into; the main thing is that we stray from the Bible and from the will of God. But if we remain true to this word and follow the call to proclaim it, we will ultimately arrive at what God has promised to those who confess His name.
Fear of man is a major obstacle to our personal evangelism.
6. Every worker is worthy of his wages.
Jesus never left His disciples in doubt that those who do His will will receive a reward. When Peter came to Him with this question, he was not turned away. On the contrary, Jesus answered clearly and explicitly. He promised rewards on this earth (brothers and sisters in the Lord) and, beyond this earth, eternal life with God (cf. Luke 18:28 ff). Our Lord is therefore absolutely specific when it comes to questions about payment. We can take Him at His word here. Of course, the primary motivation for doing anything must be love for Jesus.
And again: a born-again Christian cannot help but love Jesus and serve Him based on that love. Nevertheless, it is not forbidden to rejoice in the promised reward for doing so.
In conclusion, let us summarize what we have gathered about the importance of evangelism in the life of a Christian: Every born-again Christian is an evangelist; they cannot and will not remain silent. Their entire life is evangelism. No price is too high for them; they are not concerned with public opinion or what others think, because they always keep Jesus before their eyes, because they have experienced what being born again means, and because the resulting changes are clearly visible to those around them. This is true not only for outsiders but also for the church. The church, inspired by this Christian's exemplary life and confession, is encouraged to follow suit and begins to live out Christ's mission to proclaim the Gospel.
The church always keeps the Word of God at the center of its testimony and never deviates from it, neither to the right nor to the left. Ultimately, it expects the reward of eternal life with God. It can all be so wonderful. So, dear friend, don't wait, begin today to testify to Jesus as your personal Savior. God bless you!
Juri Langletz
Municipality of Cloppenburg