A group of students from the Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) at Southern Arkansas University (SAU) just returned from a trip to Israel where they engaged both Jewish and Arab people with the Gospel. During the week, students had the opportunity to share the Gospel in the very land where Jesus once walked. As you might expect, both groups were very closed off to the Gospel due to deep roots of Judaism and Islam, and to a point, completely indifferent.
In the birthplace of Christianity, where once five thousand plus people came to Christ in one day, Christianity ranks as one of the lowest when it comes to followers. The question that comes to mind is how did this happen? When you walk the streets of Jerusalem, and you see the masses, you cannot help but think that something has failed. The same question could be asked of Christianity in America. How can we have a young generation in which ninety-six percent are lost? To be clear, the Gospel message has not failed! The Gospel is as relevant today as it has always been. So, what is the problem?
Over the past decades, there have been multiple initiatives, such as WIN School, Evangelism Explosion, FAITH, and Who Is Your One, to name a few, which urged believers to share the very thing that is most dear to them. There are powerful tools available such as The Four Spiritual Truths, Three Circles, as well as personal testimonies. There is no lack of training or of tools.
Could it be that the weak link might be us? Deep down, we have a lingering fear within us to share the Gospel. We are overly busy with meaningless things that distract us from telling others about the love of Christ. Perhaps we just have an attitude of indifference where it really never enters into our minds to share the Gospel. We do not need more strategies; we do not need more tools. We just need to share.
This past semester, students at the SAU BCM were meeting and going out onto the campus multiple times a week to share the Gospel with other students. There was fear of not knowing the right thing to say, there was fear of messing up, but they went out to share. As they went, it almost became contagious as more and more students were going out to share. Students were being faithful to the command to go and to share.
The Gospel is powerful. The Gospel transforms, heals, and restores. People are in desperate need to hear about the hope found in Jesus Christ. They just need someone to tell them. The Gospel is not broken, it just needs to be delivered.