Why Am I Not Active In Spreading The Gospel?
Is My love for the souls of others lacking? We are to love all (Matthew 5:43ff). This matter involves their most precious possession (Matthew 16:26). Surely this is not the problem…
Am I not convicted enough? … about Jesus being the only way? (Act 4:12)… About an after-life?… About Hell?
Is it because I’m… Lazy? What, then, am I to the Lord but “vinegar to [His] teeth and smoke to [His] eyes” (Proverbs 10:26). With the Lord’s help, I must thrust this character flaw aside.
Perhaps I’m too much in this world … distracted by job, family, school, sports, TV, ‘things’ (Luke 8:14; 12:15)… too ‘busy here and there’ (1 Kings 20:40-42).
Is it because I don’t have enough time? (Acts 24:25) But I have enough time for other optional pursuits. I had better make time (Ephesians 5:16; Colossians 4:5).
Have I been duped into believing that it’s good enough to ‘teach by my good example’? True, ‘We are the only Bible the careless world will read’… But was teaching ‘by example’ all the early teachers did? (E.g., Barnabas, Aquila & Priscilla, etc.)
Is it because I feel I don’t know enough? Perhaps I don’t (Hebrews 5:10-12). But it could be that I’m using this reason as nothing but a crutch to support my laziness.
Do I feel that I don’t have any ‘people skills’? Then I must work on those skills, by being around… people! (Colossians 4:6).
Is it because I know few outside the church? If so, I need to cease being a religious ‘hermit’! Jesus, our example, constantly acquainted Himself with sinners (Matthew 9:10-13).
Is it because I have uncorrected sin in my life? If this is so, then it is true that I have no business teaching others (Matthew 7:1-4). However, to simply not teach is not the solution. I need to acknowledge and repent of my sin to God, and then help others with their sin problem (Matthew 7:5; Psalm 32:8; 51:12ff).
Am I guilty of prejudging potential converts? I.e., have I thought that this world is too busy, too wicked, too indifferent to listen to the gospel? I need to consider some of the ones Jesus and His apostles sought to teach and convert, such as the Samaritan 5-time divorcee’ and Simon the sorcerer (John 4:18; Acts 8:9ff).
Have I grown despondent over previous lack of ‘success’? Perhaps I have had a bad incident or two? It could be that my definition of ‘success’ is all askew. Whether others accept the gospel or not, simply teaching it to them makes me a success (Luke 10:8-12).
“Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together” (John 4:35,36).
--Mike Noble
Is My love for the souls of others lacking? We are to love all (Matthew 5:43ff). This matter involves their most precious possession (Matthew 16:26). Surely this is not the problem…
Am I not convicted enough? … about Jesus being the only way? (Act 4:12)… About an after-life?… About Hell?
Is it because I’m… Lazy? What, then, am I to the Lord but “vinegar to [His] teeth and smoke to [His] eyes” (Proverbs 10:26). With the Lord’s help, I must thrust this character flaw aside.
Perhaps I’m too much in this world … distracted by job, family, school, sports, TV, ‘things’ (Luke 8:14; 12:15)… too ‘busy here and there’ (1 Kings 20:40-42).
Is it because I don’t have enough time? (Acts 24:25) But I have enough time for other optional pursuits. I had better make time (Ephesians 5:16; Colossians 4:5).
Have I been duped into believing that it’s good enough to ‘teach by my good example’? True, ‘We are the only Bible the careless world will read’… But was teaching ‘by example’ all the early teachers did? (E.g., Barnabas, Aquila & Priscilla, etc.)
Is it because I feel I don’t know enough? Perhaps I don’t (Hebrews 5:10-12). But it could be that I’m using this reason as nothing but a crutch to support my laziness.
Do I feel that I don’t have any ‘people skills’? Then I must work on those skills, by being around… people! (Colossians 4:6).
Is it because I know few outside the church? If so, I need to cease being a religious ‘hermit’! Jesus, our example, constantly acquainted Himself with sinners (Matthew 9:10-13).
Is it because I have uncorrected sin in my life? If this is so, then it is true that I have no business teaching others (Matthew 7:1-4). However, to simply not teach is not the solution. I need to acknowledge and repent of my sin to God, and then help others with their sin problem (Matthew 7:5; Psalm 32:8; 51:12ff).
Am I guilty of prejudging potential converts? I.e., have I thought that this world is too busy, too wicked, too indifferent to listen to the gospel? I need to consider some of the ones Jesus and His apostles sought to teach and convert, such as the Samaritan 5-time divorcee’ and Simon the sorcerer (John 4:18; Acts 8:9ff).
Have I grown despondent over previous lack of ‘success’? Perhaps I have had a bad incident or two? It could be that my definition of ‘success’ is all askew. Whether others accept the gospel or not, simply teaching it to them makes me a success (Luke 10:8-12).
“Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together” (John 4:35,36).
--Mike Noble