Selective Evangelism

“And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15; emp. added).

Do you ever think about who you evangelize to? If you are anything like me, then I imagine you do. I have a tendency (which I think is alright) to think about who I want to evangelize to. I have essentially created a “list” of who I want to give the gospel to. Is this “list” a bad thing? I don’t think it is, but I think it has the potential to be. There is one reason I think our “list” mentality can become a bad thing. 

The reason I think our “list” mentality can be bad is because we, in essence, ‘select’ who we give the gospel to…and everyone else is excluded. Here is what I mean. Let’s say you have two friends from school who you want to evangelize to. You’re focused on giving the gospel to them and intend to use every situation as a chance to do so. That’s a very good thing. However, let’s say now that someone, not on your list, is going through a particular struggle. You of course help them but because they are not on your “list” you skip over them and don’t say anything to them about the gospel. Do you see the problem? An opportunity was presented to you that you could have used to spread the gospel, but instead you neglected it. 

Our “list” mentality can be a bad thing in the sense that it may cause us to be selective in evangelism. The word “all” in the above passage is bolded because I think that is a word we often overlook. We know that we are to give the gospel to others, but do we realize that we are to give it to everyone? I want to encourage you today (this week, month, year, etc.) to not neglect someone the opportunity to hear the gospel just because they aren’t on your “list.” 

Instead of only focusing on those on your “list”, keep a look out for every opportunity to talk to anyone and everyone about the gospel. Every encounter is another chance to spread the gospel. While I think it is good that you have people you are targeting, it’s important to always be on the lookout for an opportunity to talk about Christ. We need to not be selective in our evangelism. The gospel is for all and we need to share with all, not just our chosen few!

What's Your Offer?

^“And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on" (Mark 12:41-44 ESV).

The above verse is one that I’m sure you’ve seen many, many times before. I know I have. We know this passage is dealing specifically with the monetary offering of this woman, but I think it has a wonderful application in another area. I know the context of this passage is referring specifically to money but if you think about it, doesn’t this apply to our life as well? We are told that the widow “put in everything she had.” When I read this passage the other day I began to think about my own life. I asked myself “do I put in everything I have?” I’m not referring to money but rather effort. In my life do I give the Lord my all, or just out of my abundance? We ought to ask ourselves this question every single day and our response should be just like that of the widow’s who put in all that she had. There are two reasons we just put in all that we have in our life to the Lord.

The first reason we should offer our all is because of the example that has been set for us. Jesus during his lifetime gave everything he had, much to the enjoyment of his Father. Jesus healed others (Matthew 8:28ff, 12:13; Mark 3:10; etc.), taught others (Mark 11:17, 14:49; etc.), and even died for others (John 19; Luke 23; Mark 15; Matthew 27).  Jesus set a pattern in his life of giving things his all. We should give our all as well because Jesus set that example for us. 

The second reason we should offer our all is because God wants our all. The physician Luke wrote down these words of Jesus in Luke 9:23 “if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (emphasis added). We are also told in the New Testament to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and to give our bodies as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). It is clear from these three passages that God doesn’t want only part of us. We are to daily take up our cross, pray all the time, and constantly give our bodies as a sacrifice to God. God wants us to give our all!

We give our all because of Jesus’ example and because God wants us to. How do we do this? We have to make the decision to do everything for the Lord each day. One thing you could do is pray that God will use you that day to work for Him. Another way you can give your all is to keep this verse on your heart at all times: “choose this day whom you will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15). Write this verse down somewhere so that every time you see it you will remember that you have chosen this day to serve the Lord. These are only a couple of ways that we can give our all. If you find that there are some other ways that are better for you than do those things. The important thing for us is how much we offer. God doesn’t want a part of us, He wants the whole thing! We need to become a people who offers God our all.