Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Go and Tell Your Friends

"'Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.'  And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him" (Luke 8:39)

If you have ever visited a well-stocked Christian book store, beloved, then no doubt at some point you were impressed with the amazing selection of evangelistic tools available to churches and other outreach ministries.  I am not sure that I could personally list how many different programs I have taught to congregations over the years, all in their own right good and solid approaches to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with those who do not know Him.

What is so very amazing to me by contrast, however, is what Jesus told the former demoniac whom He had delivered from his spiritual, mental, and physical bondage.  When that young man wanted more than anything else to travel with Jesus, to sit at His feet in worship and adoration, the Master refused his request and rather sent him on a very special mission of his own.  Basically, He sent that new believer "home" to be a personal missionary in his own hometown.

There is so much for us to learn today about personal evangelism, beloved!  The first lesson which comes immediately to the eye here is that evangelism is not primarily a program or an outreach tool.  It is rather a way of life that is to be carried out throughout the normal day to day routine of living.  Very simply, we are to "tell" as we "go."  That young man set free by Jesus did not first go to seminary and earn his degree. He did not even sign up for an outreach training seminar.  He simply went home and began to tell everyone who would listen all about what Jesus of Nazareth had done for him.

Then we also learn that the most natural place for personal evangelism to begin is within one's own family.  "Return to your house" is what Jesus told the young man.  And though none of the synoptic gospels records that he went home and began with the members of his own family, it seems obvious that such is precisely what he did.  In fact, he told his whole family and then began telling his neighbors until he had covered the entire town.

Finally, we note here that the focus of his sharing was not the precise doctrines of grace but rather what Jesus had personally done for him.  You see, beloved, that was the one thing about which this young man was already an absolute authority.  He knew what Jesus of Nazareth had done for him!  And, if you think about it, that is precisely what a "witness" (Greek martus) is, one who speaks authoritatively of what he knows firsthand to be true.

What has Jesus Christ done for you, beloved?  If He has transformed your life by grace, then He has also given to you the instruction to "go and tell" those who are a part of your life, those within your personal arena of influence.  Go and tell - now that is a winning approach to evangelism!

Ron