Do you feel responsible?

Do you feel responsible?

I recently heard that (at best) only 20% of America is “churched”. Why?

My opinion is that believers (myself included) have embraced the rat race to the extent that we’re neglecting the great commission. -Before you tune me out, this is not another rant against consumerism and “keeping up with the Jones’”. I rather enjoy my lifestyle. I just think we put so much effort into attaining and maintaining our lifestyle that we have little or no time or strength left over for spreading the gospel of Christ.

I’ve been wrestling with this myself recently, and I think it’s something pandemic in the North American church. Fact is, I think many of us (believers) fall into this trap of viewing our relationship with Christ as mere “fire insurance”. Not that we’d ever come right out and admit that, of course. We figure, “Hey, I’m good. At least I know where I’m going.” -For many of us, our lives Monday through Saturday show little else of our walk with Christ. We’ve positioned ourselves in communities of like-minded people and become comfortable with the status quo.

When was the last time you took personal responsibility for spreading the gospel?

Let’s look at something found in John 1:40-42 (NLT) to illustrate my point.

“Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means ‘Christ’). Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, ‘Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas’ (which means ‘Peter’).

In the ESV, vs 41 states: “He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’…”

Of course, many of us know who Peter was, but what I find interesting about this passage is the way he was introduced to Christ. Andrew sought Peter out first, proclaimed to him the good news, then brought him to meet Jesus. This is a beautiful picture of evangelism! More to the point, Andrew clearly felt responsible for introducing his brother to Christ.

Do we feel responsible for bringing others to Christ?

Without painting a picture of gloom and doom, I think many of us could agree on the spiritual state of our country. Isn’t it time we take responsibility for the gospel, bring the lost to Christ, and introduce our communities to the local church? God has called each of us to some form of ministry. We need to become intentional about how we live/what we’re living for, how we represent ourselves (shrugging off our fear of what those around us will think), and boldly proclaim Christ to a nation in need!