Every
organization has reason for its establishment or existence – thus their core
mandate which is most often enshrined in its mission’s statement. For instance
coca –cola has as its mandate to produce coca-cola drinks. That’s their mission
and they are committed to accomplishing it ingeniously.
In
the same vein, the church –which is the collective body of Christ- has a
mandate or a mission. This mission (which others refer to it as The Great Commission)
is found in the gospel of Matthew.
Matthew 28:18-20 (RSV)
And Jesus came and said
to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that
I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age”.
The mission of the church is to speak or preach the gospel –
of salvation. It is not the mission of the church to build nice church
edifices, schools, hospitals and the likes. Though they are all good, the
primary purpose and mandate of the church is to speak the gospel which only has
the potency of transforming peoples’ lives.
As part of the mission is to ‘Go’! The church is not a
‘sitting church’; it is a ‘going church’! The church must not wait for people
to come. It must rise up and ‘Go’!
This command by the Lord Jesus is not to a selected few; but
to all believers. Every believer is an automatic Evangelistic candidate. And
preaching of the Gospel is and must be the heartbeat of every church –thus every
assembly of the Lord
.
WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?
1 Cor 15:3-4(RSV)
For I delivered to you
as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in
accordance with the scriptures that He was buried, that He was raised on the
third day in accordance with the scriptures.
The gospel is all about the atoning death, burial and
glorious resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and His power to forgive sins
and bring salvation to them that believe thereof (Romans 10:9-10; 1 Peter
3:18).
It is only the gospel that can change drunkard to soberness.
The gospel has the potency to liberate the sinner from his/her many sins (John
8:1-11). It is only the gospel that can bring total transformation in one’s
life. Since the gospel is the power of God, it has the potency to make things
new (1 Cor 1:18; Romans 1:16).
Do you seek newness in your life or the lives of friends and
loved ones? Go to the gospel and present the good news which has the power to
save and transform lives to them (Acts 16:31).
PARTNERING THE HOLY
SPIRIT IN EVANGELISM
Acts 1:8 (RSV)
But you shall receive
power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all
Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth
The Holy Spirit has been given to us believers, among other
things, for preaching the gospel. We are enjoined by the Lord to be His
witnesses by preaching the good news after we are born again and have received
the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit teaches us the Word of God and gives us
utterances in preaching (John 14:26; 1 John 2:27; Luke 12:12). He, the Spirit
of God convicts sinners of sin, righteousness, and judgement (John 16:8)
Every believer has the Holy Spirit living in them (Ephesians
1:13-14) and are therefore adjured to share the gospel message with others with
the help of the Spirit of God living inside of them (1 Cor 3:16; 2 Timothy
4:1-2).
BUT WHAT DO WE SEE
NOW???
We have abandoned the basic commandment to preach the gospel
to the hurting world and expecting that sinners will rather run to the church.
But Jesus Himself came down from Heaven so to seek and save sinners (Luke
19:10).
Today, church leaders will not permit the use of church’s
musical instruments outside the church auditorium for evangelistic purposes. Yet
the Lord expects us to win souls with them. Also the church has become
complacent and is comfortable with the ‘few’ members in the body of Christ.
While the Lord expects that all our activities and programmes
are geared toward winning of souls, our activities are rather sending souls
away from the Lord. How pathetic it is!
Our crusades, conferences, conventions, seminars, naming and
wedding ceremonies, funerals of church members, rallies, homilies, church
gatherings, and even dinners or buffets are all to have a primary purpose of
winning at least a soul. But most often than not, these programmes are
organized just to ‘happy’ ourselves. May the Lord Almighty have mercy on us!
WHO TO BLAME?
Well, the Lord knows best. But current breed of leadership
has lost the passion for evangelism. There are many untapped militant youth
awaiting for leadership to tap what is within them for the work of evangelism.
There is now misplaced priority in the church. Instead of
fasting and praying for souls, we are feasting. And everyone is culpable.
Our church meetings have become materialistic. All our prayer
meetings are geared toward securing a good job, a good marriage, visas, etc at
the detriment of empowering members to go out and share their faith with
others.
THE WAY FORWARD
Let’s get back to the basic massage of preaching the Gospel.
Lets preach about the Parousia (The Second of Christ (2 Peter 3:10).
Church Leadership everywhere should make it a primary duty to
get the gospel preached. They should use the youth who are ever ready and
channel their zeal and strength toward the preaching of the gospel.
Let’s preach the gospel at the least opportune time. We need
not to wait for crusades to be organized. No! At anytime anywhere, let’s
preach. In the buses, at the market places, lorry stations, highways and
everywhere.
Note that there are people who are always ready to sponsor
the work of missions. Let’s prepare our hearts, minds and bodies for this
heavenly and noble task and the Lord will provide the rest.
CONCLUSION
1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.
May the Lord Almighty build His Church!
#Jesus is Lord!
Excerpts from the
preaching of Elder George Amponsah at the climax of the evangelism week
of the Church of Pentecost on the theme
“Remain in The Basic Teaching of Christ in Evangelism” drawing his inspirations
from the biblical text Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15
#Emphases are all mine
Richard Adu Poku
Email: richardadupoku2045@gmail.com
