by Mitchell Skelton

During the preparations for an evangelistic crusade in Latin America, a very poor, unshaven man came to one of the week-long biblical counseling courses. It was unusual to see a man of this condition attending an in-depth training session. Most often, those with a better education and social standing are the ones who take an active role in this type of intensive preparation. The illiterate man attended every class, but those in leadership did not expect him to do much counseling. Several weeks later, all available counselors were busy when a physician walked in. This shabbily-dressed man greeted the doctor and took him into a room for counseling. Once the director discovered what had happened, he became deeply concerned. When the doctor came out, the director asked if he needed any help. The physician replied, "No, thank you. This fellow has helped me very much." The next day that same doctor showed up with two other colleagues and asked to see the shoeless man. By the end of the week, that illiterate man had led four doctors and their wives to Christ. God needs nothing more than available servants.1

The call to evangelize was given to every Christian, when Jesus said "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel." "Go Ye" means Go Me! There are no excuses for not being evangelistic. Every Christian can evangelize in some way. You can tell someone why and how you came to Christ.

Evangelism by definition is spreading good news to a lost and dying world. Christians should be compelled to evangelize. "Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it" (1 Corinthians 9:16–19). Christians should be compelled by the love God has shown to us (John 3:16). We should be compelled by our love for others.

Evangelism has no room for excuses. If you are a Christian then you know enough to tell someone how to become a Christian. The power of the gospel message is not in the one who delivers but in the message itself. "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).

Unleash the power of the gospel today! Tell someone about Christ.

1 Christian Reader, Sept./Oct. 1991, p. 61.