Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
The passion to evangelize
‘For in him we live and
move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We
are his offspring.’
One day every
tongue will confess, every knee shall bow, and every heart will acknowledge
that Christ is Lord and Savior. How many times have we heard that verse
taken from Philippians 2 or how many of us have actually thought about how that
will be accomplished? This week’s theme is making Jesus known. Let
us introspect - how much of our lives are dedicated to evangelizing in the name
of Christ? 1% 10% 20% 50%? For most of us, the answer is on the lower end
of the spectrum between 0 and 20%. For most of us, we are more concerned about
how people react to us rather than doing what we were commanded by Christ to
do, which is to proclaim His name. We are afraid we will be mocked, held
outcast, labeled a nutcase or fanatic or, worst of all, be completely ignored.
However, today’s passage shows how Paul was unconcerned about the reaction of
others. Right before today’s passage, we read that Paul was dismayed that
there were so many idols being worshipped in Athens. They were even
worshipping unknown gods (verse 23). So even though he was being
challenged by various philosophers, Paul showed no hesitation and agreed to
share his witness and testimony about Christ. The reaction as we see in
verses 19-20 is skepticism about Paul’s message.
Luckily, Paul perseveres. In today’s passage, he proudly proclaims the
name of God. He did not solely rely on merely stating I am right and you
are wrong as many “televangelists” try to do today. Instead, he spoke
directly to the people and related to them as we see in the key verse for today
(verse 28). Most importantly, he never strayed from his primary message - God
is Lord and Christ is the son that was sent for us. The public reaction he
received was mixed as we see after today’s passage. In verse 33, we hear
that some sneered but we also see that others not only wanted to hear more but
became followers of Christ. We too must realize that when we evangelize,
it is not us but God who determines the heart of the men and women we
encounter. Though we may not understand why, there will be times that we
too will be scorned, mocked and doubted. However, the parables of the
lost coin and lost sheep reminds us that even if one person finds Christ, we
have done what God has commanded us to do – to go after the lost (James
5:19-20)
Let us not spend time weighing our “successes” and “failures” in
evangelizing. Let us instead feel the burning that Paul feels when he
said “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel “(1 Cor 9:16) and never be
ashamed of the gospel because it is for Him we are here (2 Tim 1:7-12).
Prayer: Lord, enable us to remember that you
did not give us a spirit of timidness but a spirit of love, power and
self-discipline (2 Tim 1:7) so that we may fearlessly make known the Gospel you
have entrusted for us to spread (Eph 6:19). Let us be unashamed of You
and proclaim why we accept you as our Savior and Lord with gentleness and
respect (1 Peter 3:15).
Thought for
the Day: Every day is
an opportunity to witness Christ. The only question is will you answer the
call?
John. C. Thomas, St. Thomas MTC, NY.