Christ did not send me to
baptize, but to preach the gospel… —1 Corinthians 1:17
{CHAMBERS} “Paul states here that the call of God is to preach the
gospel. But remember what Paul means by “the gospel,” namely, the reality of
redemption in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are inclined to make sanctification the
goal of our preaching. Paul refers to personal experiences only by way of
illustration, never as the end of the matter. We are not commissioned to preach
salvation or sanctification— we are commissioned to lift up Jesus Christ (see
John 12:32). […] Jesus Christ labored in redemption to redeem the whole world
and to place it perfectly whole and restored before the throne of God. […] The
one passion of Paul’s life was to proclaim the gospel of God. He welcomed
heartbreak, disillusionment, and tribulation for only one reason— these things
kept him unmovable in his devotion to the gospel of God.”
{ELGIN} Have you ever thought
of yourself as a preacher? Probably not. In our present day economy, preacher has a
connotation of someone devoted to ministry, standing behind a pulpit on Sunday morning. While I was in Haiti … my moniker was “Pastor
Charley”. I did not pastor a church but
the Haitians associated me with those who did.
Although I am ordained as a minister of the Gospel in Baptist circles, I
never pastored a church and never will, most probably. My point, I am called to ministry and so are
you, each in our own way according to God’s shaping. We are all called to “preach the Gospel”. (1
Peter 3:15) “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready
to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in
you, with meekness and fear” You don’t have to stand behind a pulpit to lift
Jesus up. To tell people what happened
in your life. Telling people about your
life before Jesus, how you met Jesus, and your life now that you follow
Jesus. I think we make it difficult with
“methods” when it should be as natural as talking about your family or why you
do what you do for a living. (2 Timothy 4:1-5) “I [Paul] charge you
in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the
dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach
the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort,
with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not
endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for
themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from
listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be
sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” I am certain there
are some people that you have known that you wanted to avoid when you saw them
coming. They “attacked” you with the
Gospel. Dr. John Maxwell said “people
don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” It’s true.
Another thing that is true is that you cannot save anyone. Our part is to tell about what happened to
us. His part is to send His Spirit to do
a work in the person’s heart. Their part
is to believe the truth and by faith in Jesus be saved … or not. You are to “fulfill your ministry”. Pretty simple, huh?
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