Spreading the good news in a chaotic world has never been more important. In this post, we discover why something so simple can literally change the destiny of billions.
VII. Conclusion
Why Spreading the Good News is Important
The importance of spreading the good news, in the modern world, has never been as paramount.
A brief look at the world news cycle demonstrates a need for news that provides the planet with hope.
The good news I speak of is that God loves humankind and sent His Son Jesus to save us from sin. Sin is defined as “anything contrary to the Holy nature of God.”
It is the message we hear repeatedly as Christians, but what does it mean to us today? How can spreading this message help us in our everyday lives? Culture has changed dramatically over time, with innovative ideas and values introduced every day.
The Bible says, however (Hebrews 13:8):
The way we think about faith, religion, love, marriage, family is different from just 20 years ago.
The same goes for entertainment — what we watch and listen to today is unlike anything our parents grew up with. Quite frankly, being born in the 1970s, it is much worse than what I listened to.
The Importance of Hearing the Good News
Why is preaching the gospel important? There are a few reasons why this is the most eternally consequential task ever.
Primarily, preaching is the best way to express our love for God, but more importantly, His love for us. We love God because He first loved us according to scripture.
His death on the cross, through Jesus Christ, is what paid for our sins and eternally redeemed us. This is memorialized in the most famous Words, of Jesus, in the Bible (John 3:15-17):
When we share the good news, we let others know that we love them enough to speak about Jesus’ love for them.
They say we are “judging them” but nothing is further from true. We are judging “the sin in them,” as we do for that same sin in us.
When we preach the gospel, we must not be afraid to let people know we, as Believers, have sin as well. Tell them: “if we say we have no sin, we are a liar, and the truth is not in us.”
Scripture teaches that!
Further, comfort them with: “there is not a just person who does right and has no sin.”
This lets the lost know we are not trying to condemn them to hell! While we are given the charge to preach judgment against sin, we are not to cast people’s souls into hell.
As a Pastor, I am incredibly careful with how I present this.
Proclaiming this good news shows we love others enough to put our own reputations on the line and share what God has done for us. Further, sharing this is important because it is the best way to express our love for others.
We love others because we want the best for them and know that the Gospel is the best gift we can give. It is the only thing that can save them from an eternity separated from God in hell.
Only the good news, delivered in a Sunday message, personal witness, or another forum can change someone!
These are just a few reasons why sharing good news, instead of bad worldly news, is important. There are plenty more where these came from.
Knowing Good News Means Telling Everyone
The first and most important thing about sharing is that you know what you are talking about. Key to relational success is communication, and one cannot communicate effectively without understanding subject matter.
The Holy Bible encourages us (2nd Timothy 2:15):
If you don’t know even the basics of witnessing the best news ever, you cannot share it, right? The only way to truly preach the Gospel is to know it and love it with all your heart and soul.
The more you study the Gospel and immerse yourself in its knowledge, the easier it will be to understand and spread. It will come from the heart and truly be effective.
Without knowing who you are, your preaching will never be effective. Even the most powerful sermons will be of non-effect if you do not know who God created you to be.
The Importance of Helping Others
Evangelism is the act of sharing the Gospel and making disciples. It means going out into the world and sharing the love of Christ with others.
I question the love and faith of anyone who doesn’t perform outreach to others.
More important than “talking”, is to live out our faith and let it be seen through our actions.
We must be willing to engage in meaningful and respectful conversations with people of all backgrounds and beliefs as well.
The greatest challenge we have is not people believing in whether God exists or not. It is how we publicly live as followers of God. If I could count the number of times, while I witnessed to someone, they said: “Christians act worse than other people,” your head would spin!
Sure, I get that people want to make excuses because they aren’t living for God. However, we give them ammunition to not only accuse us, but our God as well by living “foul” and not being sorry for doing so!
Think about it from the Devil’s perspective: “God can’t keep them from acting bad, why would you join them?”
It’s not enough to be a passive Christian who keeps to themselves and does nothing to spread the Gospel. Evangelism is necessary in a modern world where people have false ideas about Christianity and God.
We must live as if we genuinely believe the good news we spread.
The Gospel Will Make You Shun the World
The Gospel tells us to shun the things of the world. It’s extremely easy to get sucked into the world and let its ways become part of our daily routines.
This leads to straying from God and losing sight of our purpose in life. You see this on a regular basis in churches. An example is so-called “worship” and singing experiences which sound, and look, no different than rock concerts.
With their “smoke”, colored lights, and “flesh feel good” presentation, it is no wonder lost people laugh at us! Why should they come when they can go to a rock concert and get the same thing?
You do not seriously believe just because someone slips in some “jesus” (little ‘j’) lyrics it makes everything ok, right?
Hear the Word of God (2nd Corinthians 6:14-16):
Those who do these things will sell it as “adapting” to current culture. It is anything but. It is “compromising to get butts in church seats.”
When you understand the importance of shunning the world in favor of God, you will start to live a life focused on Jesus and His mission. Further, you’ll start to think of the Lord as more important than others and what they “think.”
As an example, new age Pastors design worship services to appeal to the “flesh” of those who really don’t want to shun the world for Jesus. Sure, they couch it in biblical language which makes it acceptable to them, and their deceived followers.
However, one thing we can be sure of: Jesus didn’t change who He was/is to conform to those He served! He changed and conformed THEM.
Don’t forget this warning (1st John 2:15-17):
When we put ourselves first, we end up trapped in a place we should not be. This is an evil thing to do and one of the biggest dangers of living in a modern world.
You must make sure that you are living a life that is focused on God.
Actively shun, and be willing to be shunned, to follow the message of the Bible. Surely, it can be difficult at times, but necessary. When you live a life focused on God, you will be fulfilled. This does not mean there will be no challenges.
However, you’ll know your purpose and have a clear direction to follow.
Finally, you’ll be able to help others and truly make a difference by not simply spreading the message of hope but living it as well.
Developing a Solid Foundation in Jesus
The message Bible tells us that we should build our lives on a solid foundation. This means that we should get to know who God is and what He expects.
We should seek to learn more about His love and how He saved us from our sin.
A solid foundation is built only on the knowledge of God’s Word, whose name is Jesus Christ. One of Jesus’ disciples wrote: “in the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was also in the beginning with God.”
It is on that foundation; the world and universe were formed.
Believers should do our best to follow the Bible’s instructions on how to live a life pleasing to God. When we come short of this, and we will each day, we can turn back to God through repenting.
His Word says: “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive our sin (evil) and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
We should do our best to live by the Bible’s instructions, but we also must accept that we’re not perfect and make mistakes. No one is perfect and we all make mistakes. That’s OK, though, because we have forgiveness from God, and we can ask for His forgiveness whenever we mess up.
Followers of Jesus Christ must also be ready to defend our faith when necessary and be willing to answer questions.
Conclusion
Preaching the Gospel is the most important task anyone, anywhere, will undertake. The world is a dark and scary place, but we have God’s Word to guide us in this journey.
We have the Gospel to let us know that everything will be OK, and that God has a plan for our lives.
A people the Bible refers to as “the elect” were called to preach this Gospel to others and let them know about the saving grace of God. We must be ready to share our beliefs and answer any questions others will certainly have.
You better be willing to put your reputations on the line and be bold. It can be difficult to live in a modern world and remember what is important.
We must be willing to shun the things of the world that keep us from God and focus on the Gospel.
Header Image Courtesy of Chris Dixon @ Unsplash