A very young sister in Christ, recently shared a video of an Indian preacher with me. This preacher is well known in South India and he preaches in local language Tamil. He was saying in that piece of message that "the greatest sin a Christian can commit is to sit idel without sharing the Gospel to others. When there are so many needy people going to hell everyday, how can we sit without sharing Gospel to them? If we get out of our chair and start doing service for God then we will also automatically overcome sin. Mission work for God is a remedy for all the sins that we are committing."

She asked me whether I agree with these words of the preacher. I said I do not agree. I gave many valid arguments. My main arugment was that it is not mentioned in scripture that the greatest sin is not sharing Gospel. I believe such preaching will be making Martas whom Jesus rebuked, rather than making Mary whom Jesus appreciated. I have so much to talk about such preaching, but want to know what other believers here think about them.

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Sreeram

"For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; yea woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel." —1 Corinthians 9:16

This verse comes to mind.

But with that said, I think this young Indian preacher might have an over inflated sense of self in regard to his calling and purpose. Such is ok. Zealous people usually think the thing they are doing is the most important thing in the world, and try to compell others to get involved with what they are doing.

While I think sharing our faith should be a regular part of our lives, it is something we do in the midst of all else that God calls us to do. It is central to who we are as a people, of course. But the idea that whenever we have a free moment, we should be doing some sort of evangelistic activity is a nice idea, but it isn't something I find in the Bible.

And frankly, most "evangelistic outreach" is ineffective outreach. While there is a place for evangelistic activity, like door knocking, handing out tracts, preacing in the open air, and that sorta thing, the truth is, Christianity has always and will always spread primarily through personal relationships. Such "activity" may keep us busy enough, and may make us feel good about what we are doing, but it generally is a low yielding fruit exercise... even in places like India.

Personal relationships take time to form, and they often form in the very "casual" moments of our lives, when we are busy relating to other human beings as human beings, enjoying life, working through struggles, getting to know them, having dinner with them, helping them out, and that sorta thing.

Personal relationships are the place where the Gospel is usually shared the loudest, the clearest, and in the most compelling manner. Standing around on a street corner, while it has its place... not so much.

And I speak as one who has done a lot of the aforementioned activities... and then some.

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Jimmy H

Hmmm,
The preacher probably meant well but when we human beings start stratifying sins, only the perceived offenders on the sin in question may be affected. Notice I didn't say, 'convicted'.

Besides only cleansed and crucified vessels are of any use to the Lord. We seem to forget that the early disciples couldn't witness to non-Jews about Jesus until after the Holy Spirit was poured out on them and they knew they were filled with Him.

May I humbly suggest that instead of encouraging all and sundry church folk to 'evangelize' at every opportunity, ministers should be encouraging folks to seek to be cleansed and filled with the Holy Spirit. When the Lord of the Harvest has more 'vessels unto honor', we will truly evangelize the world. Until then.....

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Tolu