Spiritual Gifts seem to be a muddied water few in the church want to wade through (It isn’t, if we’d read the Scriptures, we’d know what they are!). They are also the very thing people use to avoid doing anything in the church! I don’t know how many times I’ve approached someone to ask for help in ministry and have heard “that is just not my gifting.” The biggest excuses, perhaps, come from requests to share one’s faith in Christ and Testimony about His work. I hear “Evangelism is not my gift.” Well, if we look at the lists of gifts, we’ll see if that gift belongs to anyone: From 1 Corinthians 12: utterance of Wisdom, utterance of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, various tongues, and interpretation of said tongues. If we look to Romans 12, more gifts are listed: service, teaching, exhorting (reasoning/arguing through the scriptures), generosity, leadership and mercy. In searching each of those lists of gifts, I see one missing from both: evangelism.
Evangelism is sharing one’s faith. In the lists of church office, evangelists DO show up (those who are there to preach the word, and set the church in order), but every believer is responsible for giving a defense for their faith and sharing their hope in Jesus. Why? Because we have been cured of the incurable disease, sin, and it is only by participating in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, submitting to Him as Lord that we have this hope. We should be excited to share this hope that we have! We have friends, neighbors, enemies and family who are dead in sin and may not even know it, and this hope we have in Christ Jesus is what may bring them life! Loved ones, we should fight on our knees for them in prayer, yes, but we should also do everything we can to demonstrate and share the love of Christ with them as well. Jesus died for them, shouldn’t they know His love? Then be the messenger of that love, and pray that they come to that saving relationship with Jesus! Romans 10:5-17 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
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