Camp Meeting Devotions - Day Fifty-Five

Babies are little miracles. When you hold a baby, you are holding the handiwork of God. Babies bring joy for most people and families. There is great anticipation before the baby arrives. There is celebration when those infant boys and girls are delivered. Without babies the population of the earth would have died off a long time ago. 

This morning I do not have babies on my mind. I have evangelism deep in my thoughts. The fact is that by most measures the church is not reproducing disciples as effectively as we used to do. Church attendance is down. Baptisms are way down. The average age of our congregations is getting older. We have disciples who are not making other disciples. 

We love to study the scriptures. Many enjoy worship. A good many do not mind service. When it comes to evangelism, it is nearly extinct. In a seminary class, a professor told his students that 90% of Christians have never witnessed about Jesus to anyone. He went on to explain that 95% have never led anyone to Christ. Let those statistics sink in. Where do we fall? Are guilty?

The gospel means good news. It seems like it is bad news with how few people share it. There are excuses. The same ones passed down from generation to generation. People fear being rejected. They fear not knowing enough. They fear offending people with whom they share about Jesus. The truth is we face the crisis of the two C's. We don't really CARE that people perish and go to hell. We are COWARDS. Fear paralyzes us. 

After Pentecost in Acts 2, the once cowardly disciples became bold. They fearlessly proclaimed salvation through Jesus to hostile crowds. They even suffered for doing so. They were threatened, beaten, imprisoned, and some even martyred. None of this deterred them. The whole book of Acts is one gospel presentation and one gospel sermon on top of another. These were usually followed with two responses. Many got saved. The apostles got persecuted by those who opposed their message.

 Romans 1:14-16 (NASB

¹⁴  I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
¹⁵  So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
¹⁶  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Notice what Paul wrote. "I am under obligation." "I am eager to preach the gospel." "I am not ashamed of the gospel." Do those things characterize disciples of Jesus today? Do we feel an obligation to tell others how to be saved? Are we eager to tell others the life transforming message of Jesus? Are we ashamed and embarrassed to tell others the gospel of Jesus? Our actions speak much louder than our words.

• Have you ever witnessed to anyone? If you have, how long has it been since you last did so?
• Have you ever led anyone to faith in Christ?
• What indications do you exhibit that you care people are perishing to eternal doom without Jesus?
• Do you need to repent of not caring and acting cowardly? Will you be a disciple who goes out intentionally trying to make other disciples?