Recently I heard a popular missionary share the gospel like this:
“You can be born again if you receive the Lord as your Savior…and confess Him, and open the door of your heart to Jesus.”  Later, he told his crowd, “you just take the first step down the aisle and Jesus will help you make all the other steps.”  His list of requirements for having eternal life got bigger and bigger the longer he spoke.

I heard another speaker repeatedly tell students that to be saved they must, “enthrone Christ on the throne of your heart.”

These are outstanding examples of how not to share the gospel!  Why?

Not Clear

These examples do not give clear instruction on exactly what to do to get eternal life.  They present multiple issues and raise many questions.  Poor lost people are left with wondering what it means to confess Jesus, how in the world to get the door of their heart open so that Jesus can get in, and how to enthrone a king in their heart.

Not Simple

Such gospel explanations are not simple either.  Rather than explain the simple story of how Jesus died and rose again to pay for all our sin, lost people are left under the impression that they must make up for their sin by obeying Jesus as a master and not sinning anymore.  If they jump through the evangelistic hoops to achieve all this, they have won heaven.  If they fail, they won’t make it. 

What happened to the good news that the gift of God is eternal life?

Where is, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9)?

Not Biblical

The most shocking lack in these failed attempts at evangelism is Bible verses.  No verses were quoted.  There was no explanation of the cross work of Christ.  Grace was absent from the presentation.  And the lost were never told to believe in Christ. 

Evangelism today is full of man-made attempts to get people to walk forward, pray the prayer, give everything to God, turn from all their sin, and obey Jesus in everything – and they might be saved if they back it all up by good works. 

I do not doubt the sincerity of these zealous men, or their love for God.  The two that I mentioned earlier were likeable.  (I spent two enjoyable hours with one of them – who changed his message).  But the gospel has been lost in the muddle of organized religion and man-made tradition.  The glorious gospel has been lost in the shadows of evangelistic invention.  And the lost are left behind, stuck in the mud.

May God help us return to the clear and simple gospel appeals of God’s preachers in the early church.  We need a return to the issue that God places before lost people: will they put their faith in Christ or will they not?

The One Issue of Evangelism

Discipleship for believers has many issues.  Evangelism has only one.

There is no record  in the Bible of a lost person being  confronted with saying a “sinner’s prayer”.  No preacher ever told anyone to walk anywhere to be saved.  They told them to believe in the Christ who died and rose again.  The spotlight of evangelism was on what Christ had done – not on what man could do.  The following are examples of evangelism in the Bible.  Note what the lost were told to do, and the clarity and simplicity of the message.
 

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Jesus, to Nicodemus; John 3:16

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him”

John the Baptist, to all; John 3:36

“To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.”

Peter, to Cornelius’s house; Acts 10:43

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…”

Paul, to the Philippian jailor; Acts 16:31

Sharing the gospel is the most important thing a person can do, since it potentially can affect eternity.  For this reason, anyone who ever shares the gospel should be clear, simple, and biblical.  The key, dominant word in the Bible for presenting the gospel is the word “believe.”