By Not Known
The Kingdom Tower in Jeddah is about to begin construction. It will be the tallest building in the world at more than 1 kilometre high. This massive project is part of a 23-hectare waterfront district and will have a total construction area of 530,000 square metres (Singapore’s largest mall: VivoCity has an area of only 139,000 square metres). By the time it is completed, it will eclipse the now tallest building, the Dubai’s Burj Khalifa by at least 173 metres. The cost of the Tower alone will be approximately US$1.2 billion.
Imagine the foundation this massive structure will be resting on. No building may stand without a solid foundation to hold it up.
Yet, some of the most critical ministries in the church often do not stand on good solid foundation. Evangelism is one of them. What do we understand about evangelism? The way we do evangelism depends on the way we understand the Gospel. How do we share the Gospel? What is the Gospel? How do hearers respond to it? And when they do, how do they live it out? The Gospel is the foundation for evangelism.
Evangelism is not about the number who responded, or about the kinds of programmes we use, or the methods we have chosen. Evangelism is being responsible and committed to God’s call to reach out with his Word to the hopeless and darkened world with the Gospel.
What then is the Gospel in evangelism? The Gospel is Good News and may be summed up in four words: God, man, Christ, and response. God is the Creator and Righteous Judge. He is loving and merciful. He created us to give him glory and to enjoy him forever. But mankind rebelled against God by sinning against his godly character and law. We are all a part of it by what we personally do. Consequently, we are alienated from God and made to face the wrath of the Righteous Judge. Even so, God by his loving nature, sent his Son, Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, to die for us on the cross and redeemed us from our sins and guilt and brought us back to him. Finally, the only saving response for mankind to the Good News is repentance and belief by faith. Mankind needs to turn to God through Christ for forgiveness and reconciliation to God.
Without this foundational understanding, we cannot engage in meaningful and intentional evangelism. The next time we do evangelism: check again, what’s good about the Good News? What makes this Gospel, the Gospel of hope?
Let’s build strong structures with solid foundation!
Peter Poon