The Urgency of the Gospel

If we who know Jesus need Him, how much more do those around us need Him?  Every person who does not know Christ is a dead person, for life comes only through Christ.  If every believer were to tell one person about Jesus, what would this world be like?  As the days go by, I ask myself the question, "What am I doing Lord?" My life is supposedly all about you, yet so many times I let it be about me.

For most North American Christians we rarely get such a clear wake up call. Too often we’re planning for the next big thing we’re going to do, college, wedding, graduate school, new job, travel, career change or even retirement.  Too often our lives consist of our plans for the future, rather than an urgent desire to make Christ known to the lost and dying.  How often do we have a sense of urgency to share the good news of Jesus—the only hope for sinners—with our neighbors, coworkers, classmates and acquaintances?  If we truly believe that Christ is everything, then shouldn’t our lives reflect this more?

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40)

What if we lived life based on these verses?  Would we talk, dress, behave the way we do?  Would we miss a chance to tell someone about Jesus?  If these two commandments were on our hearts all the time, what would our life be like?  These days, I seem to reflect on my life quite a bit.  And as I begin to realize how short I fall from these commandments, I praise God for Jesus my Savior who forgives and covers up my shortcomings.  Daily, I look to see what I have done. Sometimes I'm proud of myself, other times I feel I could have done more.  But if I lived every second of my life according to these verses, wouldn't my life be different?

Urgency, do you sense it?

The urgency of the gospel has propelled missionaries to all corners of the earth, often at sacrificial cost to their own lives, employment, and family.

Do you see the dying people around you?  Do you sense the Spirit prompting you to say something?  I do.  It's not because I do the right thing all the time that I ask these questions, but because my heart aches for the lives that are doomed for hell unless we tell them about Jesus.  For He is the answer to all life's problems.

Urgency, do you sense it?

There should be an urgency to our evangelism efforts that flows from responsibility.  This kind of urgency often focuses on the consequences that will happen to us and others when we fail to live out the call Jesus left for us.  Consequences that are uncomfortable and unpopular to talk about in our day and age, but which Scripture unapologetically says will come due at the judgment seat of Christ. (See Acts 20:24-27)  This kind of urgency embraces a view of God that emphasizes His holiness.

But there should also be an urgency to our evangelism efforts that flows from love.  This urgency focuses on our relationship with God and with others.  Our love for God and our compassion for the lost—both in light of the hell they’re going to and the hell they’re going through—should drive us to share Jesus’ Good News with everyone. (See Matthew 9:36)  This kind of urgency embraces a view of God that emphasizes His love.

Jesus stresses the urgency of evangelism in the Great Commission, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20)

The world today is in chaos, therefore the need to evangelize in ever-greater intensity. (See Ezekiel 9:4)  To overcome the lack of this urgency in such a time when sound doctrines are not tolerated, we need the urgency of the gospel in our public and personal evangelism.  The harvest is indeed plenty, the world is perishing without Christ, the need to cover great territory and reaching many quickly with the gospel is urgent.  I implore you to be a part of sharing the Good News with all those who are lost.   

Dear Lord, help us to feel the urgency about sharing your Gospel with the world.  Give us the courage to trust that you will equip us when the time is right.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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