Evangelism: Something Worth Celebrating
When I was growing up, there was a baseball player named Kendrys Morales. On May 29, 2010, Morales hit a walk-off home run to win a game. As he celebrated with his teammates, he injured his leg. Morales missed the remainder of the season and all of the next season. Without Morales, the team struggled and missed the playoffs in both seasons. Morales and his teammates lost sight of the ultimate goal and hurt themselves, celebrating something that felt good but had no long-term impact. Instead of winning a World Series, they won a meaningless game in May.
Similarly, we can become distracted as Christians. Rather than focusing on the Great Commission, we can become preoccupied with many other things that go on. We may become distracted with good things even. It was good for the Angels to win on May 29, 2010. In the same way, it is good for us to help the people around us and to be good neighbors. But, if we stop focusing on what is most important, we risk missing the most important thing; helping to connect other people to Jesus!
Mark 1:15 contains a succinct reminder of what Jesus taught. It says, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” That was the message that Jesus came preaching! It is a simple message and it is good news. Jesus came proclaiming that we needed a savior and that He was the Savior.
There is a simplicity to the Gospel that is clear in Mark 1:15. There is no additional requirement to be perfect in this way or that way, to be organized, or to have life in order. Instead, the requirement is simple; repent and believe! For us, this not only shapes how we are saved, it should also shape our mission. It can be easy to become distracted with important things, but things that are not critical to our mission and to lose sight of our goal. Mark 1:15 challenges us to keep the Gospel that we proclaim simple, just as Jesus did.
When we keep our eyes on the simple instructions of the Gospel and the simple response that we should have to that good news, we can take that with us to the world around us. This response is what we need to have.
In the years following Kendrys Morales’s injury teams did not stop celebrating walk-off wins. But the way that they celebrated changed. In the same way, we should still care about the good things that we can focus on, like loving our neighbors, or caring for our Christian friends. But at the same time, we can also focus on keeping the main thing the main thing and proclaiming the simple Gospel to the people around us!
Pastor Daniel