Motives for Evangelism

(2 Corinthians 5:10-11).

I.                    THE PROBLEM OF EVANGELISM.

A.       What do we mean by evangelism anyway? 

1.      Evangelism, from the Greek word “euaggelos” meaning “the good news” or “the gospel”, is the dissemination of the Christian gospel.

2.      But it is more than just the dissemination of information; it is militantly zealous preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

B.        Evangelism is set forth from the very beginning of the Christian era as the principal work of the church.  We must not lose sight of this!  How else will we understand that powerful command from our Lord, “Go, therefore, and ….”  These are the marching orders under which the Lord’s army operates, the directives by which the Lord’s kingdom receives new citizens, and means by which the Lord’s body replenishes itself.  We are never more likely to be successful in accomplishing the purpose for which Jesus died than when we are involved in the work of evangelism.   

C.       Evangelism is a constant struggle for the church. 

D.       The mechanics of evangelism are not difficult.  In fact, they are very easy.  But the difficult thing is to develop a heart and zeal for evangelism.  

E.        It is obvious that many (perhaps most) Christians have lost their zeal for evangelism.  Evangelism has become a mere word, with little practical significance for our individual and everyday lives.  Brethren, we must change this!  And when we solve the problem of motivation we will find that evangelism is once again one of the most important aspects of our lives.

II.                 THE RELATIONSHIP OF MOTIVES TO EVANGELISM.

A.       What do we mean by motives?

1.      A motive is something that prompts a person to act in a certain way. In other words, it answers the question, “why should I?”  Therefore motivation may be understood as an inner drive.  When this inner drive is properly harnessed it can result in an intense drive toward a goal.  “People who are motivated push themselves forward, plow through inevitable setbacks, heading ever onward to their dreams” (Denis Waitley, in his book “The Joy of Working”). 

2.      Right motives for evangelism involve a sense of duty, a divine, inner compulsion to seek and save those who are lost.  Whenever evangelism does not occur, a lack of right motives will always be found at the root.  And when we have the right motives behind our efforts to evangelize, we can’t fail!

III.               PROPER MOTIVES FOR EVANGELISM.

A.       Improper motives.

1.      Not all evangelism is done with pure motives.  Paul said to the Philippian church “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and strife, and some also from good will:  The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction ot my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.  What then?  Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice” (Phil. 1:15-18). 

a.      A drive to fulfill selfish ambitions:  a desire to be big and successful, to raise large sums of money, to improve one’s position, etc.

b.      To hinder to the work of the sincere evangelist.

2.      Regardless of the hindrance of those who are evangelizing improperly, we must be determined to evangelize with good will and sincere and honest motives.

B.     Proper motives. 

1.         P. J. Hicks has accurately recognized that, “Most member have become so involved in the things of this life that evangelism has taken a back seat, and for this reason they have become unfruitful (Matt. 13:22).  The love for the lost that motivated God (John 3:16), Jesus (John 13:34) and the apostles (2 Cor. 5:14) may now be at an all-time low among many in our congregations.  Love must be the controlling factor in God’s servants to move him to prepare himself with the best approach, lessons and materials available.  The quality that makes one a good and great teacher is the depth of love for the lost.”.

2.         Actually, there are dozens of reasons given in the Bible that should motivate us to be evangelistic, but they may all be combined under these three basic headings:  1) Love that is kindled in our hearts because of what God did; 2) Love that is directed toward God; 3) Love that is directed toward our fellowman.

IV.              LOVE THAT IS KINDLED IN OUR HEARTS BECAUSE OF WHAT GOD DID.

A.     In the past, when I was asked, “Why do you serve the Lord?”  I would respond, “Because I love Him so much.”  But this is not altogether true!  We Serve Him and Love Him because He first loved us!  “ In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. . . We love Him because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:9-10; 19).

B.     God has done for us what we could never do for ourselves.

1.      The terribleness of sin cannot be adequately described. Sin has the power to mock us and mark us, stain us and shame us.  It has the power to enslave our minds and our lives.  It has the power to condemn us to eternal banishment and separation from God.  It carries the sentence of eternal death (Rom. 6:23).

2.      There is not one good thing that we can do that deserves or merits salvation from sin (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-5). 

3.      But God made the precious gift of His only begotten Son to bear our sins and redeem us from the penalty of sin.  (John 3:16). Illustrate.

a.      “[W]ho Himself bore our sins…” (1 Pet. 2: 24).

b.      “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died…” (Rom. 5:6-8). 

c.      “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us…” (2 Cor. 5:21).

d.      “Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!”

C.     This was powerful motivation for the apostle Paul.

a.      “For the love of Christ constrains us, because we judge thus: that if one died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14). 

b.      “I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise.  So, as much as in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:14 –17). 

c.      Paul recognized himself as the chief of sinners to whom God’s grace had been imparted. “And I thank Jesus Christ our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.  And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.  This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Tim. 1:12-15).

d.      “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8).

a.      “Brethren, my heart’s desire….” (Rom. 10:1).

V.                 Love that is directed toward God.

b.      “For this is the love of God….” (1 John 5:3).

c.      “If you love Me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).  And the very last commandment given by our Lord was, “Go therefore and make….”

VI.              Love that is directed toward our fellowman.

d.      The infidel’s challenge. “If I firmly believed, as millions say they do, that the knowledge and practice of Christianity in this life would influence destiny in another world, Christianity would be to me everything.  I would cast aside earthly cares as follies and earthly thoughts and feelings as vanity.  Christianity would be my first waking thought and my last image before sleep sank me into unconsciousness.  I would labor for its cause alone.  I would take though for the morrow and eternity alone.  Earthly consequences should never stay my hands or seal my lips.  I would esteem one soul gained for heaven worth a lifetime of effort.  I would go forth to the world and preach Christ in season and out of season, and my text would be: ‘What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the world and lose his own soul?’”

3.      One of the fundamental facts of Christianity is the world is hopelessly lost and undone, wreaked and ruined, and in need of salvation.  They will stand pitifully before the judgment seat of Christ someday and give account of their lives.  They will be sent to an everlasting hell to experience pain and separation without end, unless someone saves them.  Jesus is their savior.  And, because we love them, we must “Tell someone about Jesus.” 

4.       In the word’s of the apostle Paul, “knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.”

5.      “Love works no ill toward his neighbor.”  To leave our neighbor lost when it is in our power to save him is mean and cruel.  It certainly isn’t kind. Love causes us to seek opportunity to do good to our neighbor. (illustrate – Terrible tragedies bring out the best in us.  We work together to help those who are suffering to alleviate their pain.  We spare no expense, we spare no effort, we work tirelessly, we sacrifice; but where the SOULS of men are at stake, we do so very little.)

Conclusion:

A.     I was watching an old black and white movie the other day.  I think it was an old version of the movie, Titanic.  At any rate, at the point I began watching the Captain was dying onboard a small lifeboat.  As he was breathing his last breath, he turned the charge of the boat to the most qualified man onboard.  He took hold of the man’s shirt with his right hand, looked him squarely in the eye and said, “Save as many as you can, with God’s help, save as many as you can.”  Brethren, this is our charge today.  We will not save everyone, but with God’s help we can save as many as we can.