An Overlooked Privilege of the Believer: Part 1 of Sharing the Gospel
Recently, my wife and I introduced two boys to faith in Jesus Christ. They wanted the assurance that a holy God would let them into heaven when they die. Spiritually, their decisions brought them from death to life. What a privilege to be part of that!
It struck me how simple it is to share one's faith, and yet the methods of doing so are vast. And not all methods fit all people, whether on the giving or receiving end.
Three Things God Cannot Do
On that particular day, we met a couple from our church at a local flea market here in Middle Tennessee, where they had set up a booth to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with passersby who expressed interest.
Their primary prop was a wooden board with three round signs numbered one through three. The signs could be rotated to see what was on the other side.
At the top of the board, another flippable sign read "See three things God cannot do."
Wait! Were our friends suggesting there's something God can't do? Not at all. But now you know why that board draws onlookers.
The other side of those three signs read
- "God cannot lie"
- "God cannot change"
- "God cannot let anyone into heaven unless they are born again"
with citations to supporting Bible passages.
As Debbie and I stood chatting with our hosts, two boys visiting from Pennsylvania happened to walk by our booth. One of our friends invited them to take the quiz. Then he flipped the sign on top, which asks its readers to consider how sure they are that they will go to heaven when they die.
These boys wanted to be 100% sure. So our friend invited them into the booth, where Debbie and I sat down with them to explain the Gospel. They were ready to receive it and made the most important decision they would ever make. Praise be to God!
Party to a Miracle
As with a physical birth, it's a miracle when someone comes to faith in Jesus Christ and experiences spiritual birth. I always wonder how God works these things out. So, I asked these two boys if they'd been thinking about eternal matters recently. One of them said yes.
Would he still be wondering about his eternal destiny now if he hadn't decided to spend time at a flea market while visiting Tennessee—and our friends hadn't set up their booth there? And where would his spiritual journey lead him now that it couldn't before, with God's Spirit residing within him? How Divine encounters like this come about boggles my mind. They're life-changing. I remember my own as an eight-year-old boy in a small town in northern Maine.
Biblical Precedent
A model for a Divine encounter occurred in Acts 8:26-40 (NKJV). The Spirit drew Philip out to the desert, where he happened to meet an influential traveler from Ethiopia who was reading Scripture but not understanding it. Prompted again by the Spirit, Philip explained what it meant, and the traveler gladly accepted it.
We'll never know what Divine encounters God has planned for us if we're not open to them. Only the Spirit can draw seekers who have yet to make life's most important decision. And only the Spirit can remove their spiritual blinders so they can understand the good news. But God has enlisted believers to help translate and share His transformative message of love. How would the Gospel ever have spread across the globe without the willingness of believers to share it?
“Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go near and overtake this chariot.’
So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’
And he said, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’”
—Acts 8:29b–31a (NKJV)
Part 2 explores grass-roots impediments to the spread of the Gospel.
