What exactly does it mean to share the gospel?

 

Welcome back to my blog. I'm happy that you came to visit.

Teleios recently evaluated how often evangelical Christians share the gospel and what makes a person fear doing so.  We surveyed all attendees at one Sunday worship service in a midwestern evangelical church. Approximately 370 people participated (full results at https://teleiosresearch.com/explaining-the-gospel-and-wellbeing-among-christian-evangelicals/).

 Last week we discussed that this survey indicated Bible-believing Christians have generally high ratings of wellbeing. Although some respondents confessed to fear in explaining the gospel to others, they continued to present with better wellbeing than those who do share the gospel.

 Approximately 30% said they share the gospel verbally once a month or more. However, they also indicated that they felt a need to exaggerate how frequently they actually evangelized! Why? Perhaps they overstated how much they shared because of their hesitancy to tell the gospel to others.

The survey also discovered what many people consider to be sharing the gospel may not necessarily include a verbal explanation! In fact, a verbal gospel message came in at only #5 on the list of how people say they share. Most common methods are noted below.

Is it important you actually verbalize the gospel? Is simply living a pure life or praying for others sufficient?

The Bible indicates in Romans 10:13-15 that someone has to actually hear the words of the gospel to understand salvation. Further, the apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 2:9-10 noted that although he worked day and night to live a blameless life in front of the Thessalonians, he still verbally spoke the gospel to them. In other words, non-verbal efforts, although important, will not bring somebody to belief. A non-Christian needs to hear the specific gospel message.

Is sharing the gospel message to be feared? In a humanist society where Christians often are demonized as judgmental, and our adversaries claim they are more loving because they accept all religions (except Christianity), we often feel ashamed. Yet if our God is the God of the Bible, He has given us His power and truth to salvation and for daily living. We have a wonderful message to give our colleagues, family and friends. We are correct and society is wrong! Therefore, we should be confident in sharing these truths in a patient and loving manner (2 Timothy 2:24-25). 

As a physician, if I knew the truth about someone's life-threatening medical condition and also knew how to cure it, would I withhold disclosing the diagnosis in case my patient found it offensive or didn’t believe me?  If so, I would be a terrible doctor! We have the truth which we can help others. Our society needs the truth of the gospel!

How do we effectively share the gospel in our complex culture? That's a great question and we'll discuss this next week. Please join me as we discussed how to share the gospel.

 

William C. Stewart, MD

Email – info@teleiosresearch.com

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Disclaimer – This blog and its content are provided only as information and are intended for visitors 18 and older. No content on the website should be taken as advice or recommendation to any personal or institutional situation. The views expressed are those of the author alone and not necessarily either shared or endorsed by Teleios. Both the blog and the contents are subject to change at any time without notice. Although I endeavor to ensure that the blog and the content are current and accurate, it may contain errors. I do not represent that the blog or the content is current, accurate or complete, or appropriate for your specific requirements. I do not accept any liability from any person for the blog, the content or any other information (or the use of such information) I provide. I do not have a seminary degree, but I have trained myself in the scriptures to teach and provide this information. For any specific question, I suggest you contact experts in that field and or do your own research into the scriptures.

 

Do you fear sharing the gospel?

 

Do you ever fear sharing the gospel? Almost everyone does, so you're not alone. Today’s blog will discuss the results of a recent study evaluating how often evangelicals tell others about the plan of salvation and what makes them fear the process? The results are very interesting! You might discover something about yourself and God.

 

We surveyed all attendees at one Sunday worship service a midwestern evangelical church about telling others the gospel. Approximately 370 people participated. Full results can be seen https://teleiosresearch.com/explaining-the-gospel-and-wellbeing-among-christian-evangelicals/.

 

Almost all (96%) participants said they feared ‘sharing the gospel’ but thought they should explain it more often to others (5.1/6.0 rating). Further, participants confessed to some guilt in not explaining the gospel (3.0/6.0 rating). In total, 31% indicated that they shared the plan of salvation verbally with someone once a month or more frequently. However, perhaps the fear or social pressure to explain the gospel might have caused participants to confess they exaggerate how often they actually explained the gospel (4.9/6.0 rating). 

 

Why do people fear sharing the gospel? Participants indicated most often that they do not know what to say (56%). This makes some sense to me personally from teaching individual Bible studies, because I've never encountered one single student who was able to explain the plan of salvation clearly. Other common reasons were fear of offending the non-believer (28%) and an inability to answer objections (36%). The participants expressed hesitancy although they overwhelmingly believed that the Bible is true.

 

However, participants who disclose the gospel to others compared to those who do not, were statistically more likely to demonstrate better wellbeing (i.e., peace, joy, contentment and purpose). Why would this be? Several causes might be possible: 

·       Believers may feel better after discussing the gospel realizing they are fulfilling an injunction from the Bible.

·       A Christian who explains the message of salvation may derive joy knowing they are providing good advice and helping others.

·       If a Christian does not know how to share the Gospel with someone else, they may not be able to even convince themselves of God’s faithfulness in times of personal doubt, which may hurt their own wellbeing.

 

Also of interest in our survey was that those who told others about the gospel were more likely to be adherent in other areas of their Christian life including: teaching others, praying, praising God and having meaningful Christian fellowship. These extra measures of adherence, especially in associating with other believers, may have contributed to wellbeing (1,2).

 

Warning: Participants also noted a moderate level of guilt which potentially could have occurred, at least in part, from not explaining the gospel to others. A believer’s guilt, however, is not part of biblical Christianity. Prior research has shown that greater knowledge of the faith helps prevent guilt and enhances wellbeing (1,2).

 

Our study suggests that practicing, Bible-believing Christians generally have high ratings of wellbeing. Although Christians may fear explaining the gospel to others, those who do so show better wellbeing than those who do not.

 

Thanks for reading my blog. I hope that you'll come back again next week.

 

William C. Stewart, MD

 

 

1.     MacIlvaine, W.R., Nelson, L.A., Stewart, J.A., Stewart, W.C. (2013). Association of strength of religious adherence to quality of life measures. Complement Ther Clin Pract, 19:251-255. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2013.05.001.

2.     MacIlvaine, W.R., Nelson, L.A., Stewart, J.A., Stewart, W.C. (2014). Association of strength of community service to personal well-being. Community Ment Health J, 50:577-582. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10597-013-9660-0.

 

 

Email – info@teleiosresearch.com

Website – http://teleiosresearch.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/TeleiosResearch

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/TeleiosResearch

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/TeleiosVideos/

 

Disclaimer – This blog and its content are provided only as information and are intended for visitors 18 and older. No content on the website should be taken as advice or recommendation to any personal or institutional situation. The views expressed are those of the author alone and not necessarily either shared or endorsed by Teleios. Both the blog and the contents are subject to change at any time without notice. Although I endeavor to ensure that the blog and the content are current and accurate, it may contain errors. I do not represent that the blog or the content is current, accurate or complete, or appropriate for your specific requirements. I do not accept any liability from any person for the blog, the content or any other information (or the use of such information) I provide. I do not have a seminary degree, but I have trained myself in the scriptures to teach and provide this information. For any specific question, I suggest you contact experts in that field and or do your own research into the scriptures.