Motives for Evangelism- Part 3

Part 3- Love for being effective and growing

Continuing the discussion about the motives of evangelism we need to continue to keep in mind that Christians love the glory of God and that we are seeking to love people the way that God does. The third motive for our consideration is the love to grow and be effective in the work of God.

Colossians 1:28 shows this well when it states, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”

We speak and proclaim the truth of Christ to all people. To those who are saved we speak the truth of God and teach them the mystery of the gospel and how it applies to every aspect of life. We encourage deeper growth and obedience to the word and work of God in the life of the Christian. We desire to see people serving the Lord and walking worthy of the calling to which we are called. This is an important concept for we speak and proclaim the truth of God’s word to ALL people we come in contact with, even with those who ARE believers. There is no reason that when we come in contact with individuals who are believers that we cannot encourage and teach the truth even to them.

The second group of individuals that we seek to speak to is those whom we proclaim the truth of Christ to and WARN. We warn those who claim salvation yet are not walking in the truth and power of Gods word, in the victorious Christian life that Christ’s death and resurrection has made possible for us, in the grace of God and the Righteousness placed on us in Christ. We warn those who are unbelievers of the impending judgment of God on their souls, in their being deserving of hell fire and of their being completely under the wrath of God.

Either way however there is a desire to be effective and to speak the way that God would have us to speak. We are motivated by the opportunity to speak the truth and to grow in our ability to speak the truth! Paul puts it best in 1 Corinthians 16:8-9 where it states, “But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” Paul had a vision for doing effective work, so when the opportunity presented itself he knew that remaining in Ephesus would produce in him growth, would produce growth in the kingdom and would be effective and according to the calling of God in his life. This is the passion of Paul, doing the work of God in every way that God has called and at every opportunity. It is something that Christians LOVE, the work of God and effective ministry!

The benefits or ways that we are able to grow and effective is through a deeper appreciation for 4 key things. The first is a deeper appreciation for the Sovereignty of God. We are able to accept and see the work of God and the truthfulness in God when he says that His wrath rests upon those who have seared their conscience and will not bear with the truth. We are able to appreciate His great mercy towards us since we too were once that way as well. The mercy of God leads us into the second thing which we are able to grow in appreciation for and that is the grace of God and his love for his chosen ones. Just as in Ephesians it states that we have been chosen before the foundation of the earth, seeing the work of God in the lives of those whom He is calling to Himself is always one that will amazing and create awe in our lives! We are able to see His divine hand working in the lives of those whom He has chosen, and we are able to appreciate that He has chosen us as well.

The third thing that we are able to appreciate within the concept of our being effective and growing in maturity in God is that we are able to enter into His work. The truth of the matter is that God does not need any of us to accomplish His purposes but He has graciously chosen us and given us the task of doing His work. This is an amazing and weighty responsibility. We are able to do the work of God in two key ways. The first is through prayer to God on behalf of others, we are able to seek His intervention in their lives, we are able to pray that He would work in their lives and open the truth of Jesus Christ to them, and empower them to believe in Him. We are also able to speak the truth of the Gospel. In Romans 10:11-15 it speaks of the gospel needing to be spoken, for how will people hear the truth if there is no one to speak it, and it ends with this phrase, “how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news.” So the appreciation and ability to be effective in our speaking and praying are two huge ways that we are able to grow in the work of God, and it is continually a privilege to be allowed to do so.

The final way in we are able to grow in our appreciation for the work of God is that we are able to grow in a deeper awe for the work and sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Of all the other things that are able to be taken awe in, we ought to continue to awed and amazed by the work of Christ on the cross continually. As we continue to speak the gospel and seek motivation for the speaking of the gospel, we cannot move away from the cross and the pain and punishment Christ suffered on it. The goal would be to be able to continually speak as Peter does when he states in 1 Peter 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ form the dead…” to be able to continually burst into praise as Peter does only comes as we grow in greater and greater appreciation for the Work of Christ, we seek to have an AWE for the sacrifice of Christ on the cross that will lead us into instant praise…”Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!”