Christianity 101: Evangelism - Sharing God's Good News

"...’Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation’”
Mark 16:15

For many the above passage represents a form of what is called “The Great Commission.”  It is Jesus’ final instruction to his disciples, telling them to share the “gospel” with all of creation!  Another way of putting this, is it the basis for all evangelism and evangelistic efforts within Christianity.

So what is this gospel?  What does that word even mean?  And how are we, as regular people, to go about sharing it with all of creation?  I mean we aren’t evangelists like Billy Graham, so how are we supposed to tackle such a huge task?

The word translated "gospel" (Gk. euaggelion) literally means "good news" and is supposed to be just that!  But many struggle with just what the good news is.  To help clear up, just what's so good about the good news the following passage from Romans is helpful. Primarily the good news is that nothing can separate us from God's love!


Sometimes this notion of evangelism or spreading the good news can be controversial.  Often times the word "evangelism" (same Greek word as above - euaggelion) invokes negative images in people's minds.  The problem here is not with the word itself (which again literally means good news) and likely isn't with the content of that good news (that we will never be separated from God's love for us), but certainly has more to do with the methods of disseminating said good news.


Many people think there are only two real options when responding to Jesus command to spread the gospel (good news) to all of creation.  Either the "shout it from the mountain tops" option, which involves telling everyone and anyone all the time about the good news, or the "good neighbor" option which entails being a really good person, but not really talking much about the good news.  It seems that both of these options (in their extreme form) are necessarily flawed and are not truly effective in sharing God's good news of a lasting and transcendent love.  One forces itself upon people, while the other hardly makes itself known.


This is why I would like to offer a third option, namely the "being a friend" option.  All of us have friends, family, and various other connections with whom we have influence and credibility.  These are people that we've built relationships with, who know us, and who are more receptive to our words, wisdom and advice.  It is within these circles that our "good news" will be most effective, and it is with these people that we are chiefly called to share this gospel.  They serve as our evangelism field if you will.


So I ask you, who will you share the good news with today?