Sunday

I heard a few, what I considered, beautiful clarifications today at church about evangelism.


When Jesus is preaching, teaching, illustrating in parables the Gospel ... it is, proclaiming the Gospel (preaching), it is explaining the Gospel (teaching), and it is painting the Gospel (illustrating). The last bit is kind of my own take on the explanation I heard.


It seems to be a very clear, concise and logical progression. First people must hear the Gospel ... it must be proclaimed to them. They must first hear that there is such a thing as the Gospel (How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? Romans 10:14b). Second, after they hear, it truly must be explained, for it makes no sense to our lowly human minds and hearts (For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God 1 Cor. 1:18). In fact, in many cases instead of being good news, the Gospel offends. People do not want to hear that they are sinful and hell bound (literally), that is offensive. That is why we must explain the Gospel, as Christ did ... not simply proclaim it. Evangelism includes proclaiming and explaining. But also, it helps if we can paint a picture of the Gospel. Thats why Jesus illustrates the Gospel and the Kingdom of God with so many parables. How many times has an illustration helped you grasp a theory or a concept, much less the most bewildering, seemingly backwards "religious" jargon you may have ever heard (refer again to 1 Cor 1)? My answer is, a lot. His parables are not stories, nor mere metaphors, but they are nuggets of Gospel Truth, wrapped in an earthly covering to help us understand heavenly truths!


I think that is an awesome & beautiful description of evangelism!!!