Why do we evangelize?
I guess the question presupposes the reader actually is evangelizing others, or at least trying to. But why do we do it? Or, if we’re not actively engaged in evangelization, why are others?
Well, I would like to offer you my top seven reasons we might be trying to evangelize others, all of which can found in scripture.
First, we feel called to evangelize. St. Paul writes to Timothy:
“For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, and therefore I suffer as I do” (2 Tim 1:11-12a).
And again…
“For this I was appointed a preacher and apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (1 Tim 2:7).
Secondly, the evangelist may feel a divine compulsion. St Paul wrote the following to the believers at Corinth:
“For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor 9:16).
Luke records the following response of Peter and John in the book of Acts:
“…we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).
Thirdly, evangelization is seen as a God-given responsibility. Paul, once again, writing to the Church at Corinth:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men; but what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience” (2 Cor 5:10-11).
Fourth, the evangelist has a desire to win the lost. St Paul certainly possessed a heart for the lost and so he wrote to the believers in Rome:
“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved” (Rom 10:1).
And again…
“I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish: so I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome” (Rom 1:14-15).
A fifth reason we evangelize is because we recognize the eventually of a coming judgement:
“My brethren, if any one among you wanders from the truth and some one brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (Jam 5:19-20).
A sixth reason believers work at evangelizing others is because they are responding to God’s grace in their own lives:
“For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Cor 5:13-15).
The seventh reason Christians evangelize is because of their confidence in the Gospel. Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16).
I know a “top seven” sounds a bit strange; why not a “top 10?”
Well I was going to write a “top 10” but then I thought I’d ask YOU to come up with remaining three. So how about it; can you help me round out my “top 10” reasons why we evangelize?
Tell me why you evangelize in the comments section below. If you have a corresponding scripture reference to share, that is great, but not required. I’m looking forward to your answers!
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