The Urgency of Preaching the Gospel

Let me start off with a common misconception among people. Most people tend to think that winning souls and preaching the gospel are the same thing. Both may be intertwined but are actually different.

Preaching the gospel is the act of making known the message of Jesus Christ to lost souls. In doing this, you may or may not convert those souls you are preaching to. Some people have to listen two or three times before they get converted, while some will get converted on the spot.

As Christians, we should always have this scripture in mind while we go out to preach the gospel. 2 Corinthians 4:4, (TLB version) Satan, who is the god of this evil world, has made him blind, unable to see the glorious light of the gospel that is shining upon him or to understand the amazing message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is God.

Because sometimes we might preach all the gospel we know and preach the love of Christ, and some souls will not still bulge. Just know that the god of this evil world has blinded them. That’s why it is necessary to pray before stepping out to preach the gospel.

The MSG version of the scripture above puts it this way, “If our Message is obscure to anyone, it’s not because we’re holding back in any way. No, it’s because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want and that they won’t have to bother believing a Truth they can’t see. They’re stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get.”

Well, it is until the souls accept Jesus as their LORD and savior that the preaching of the gospel will transform into “winning souls.”

Since our focus is not on winning souls, let’s delve into what preaching the Gospel is and what the gospel itself is.

Simply put, preaching the gospel is the act of making known the message of God to people. And what is this message/gospel itself? It can be summed up in John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

In summary, we are to preach about the love of God that made him sacrifice his only son and through the death and resurrection of his son we have access to grace that allows us to be redeemed and all we need to do is accept Jesus and believe him.

How then do we Preach this Gospel?

We must understand that the gospel of Christ is not the gospel of fear. So any form of condemnation or inflicting fear in the hearts of lost souls is not proper. It might bring them to Christ, but it may not be sustainable.

Even as believers that were born in Christian homes, one of the parts of services that some people dreaded the most was the sermon part and honestly speaking, that should be the part that gets us excited because we get to know the master more. 

And why was this the case? Sermons felt like disciplinary action back in the day. For a message to be passed across, you must teach and carry your audience along, I think that is one thing most ministers couldn’t get right then. And most of the time, people just sit there and just listen without even understanding and the issue with that is that, the words spoken might not be applied to individual lives. 

If this was the case for church goers, what about people that haven’t even had any encounter whatsoever with the gospel of christ. That’s why when we preach to them, it must be to pass the message of Christ's LOVE. Not in a condemning tone, not in a judgemental tone, because we that are christians, it is by Grace we have been saved and we have to bring these souls in through that same Grace. 

The Gospel of Christ is plainly based on Love, God is the author of Love, there is no one that loves us as much as God. Preaching the gospel shouldn’t be terrifying, we have to learn that as christians we are not to win souls by making them scared of hell, no, it is by introducing the love of Christ to the lost souls. We are to preach the gospel of good news, say you are to share good news with somebody, how will you do it? Exactly, in an exciting manner, that should be cascaded when we preach the gospel because heaven can’t wait to rejoice over sinners. 

If we look at the way Jesus and the apostles preached the Gospel, they weren’t going about terrifying people about hell; instead, they were preaching the good news of Christ. And as Christians, the Bible has been given to us for inspiration. And it was given to us on a platter by God to guide us as Christians. We learn from what the apostles and the master have done and we get a “cheat code” to the gospel because everything has been laid down to us. 

If you read the book of ACTS, you will see for yourself how the disciples preached. They preached about repentance, salvation, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, thanks to the leading of the Holy spirit.

From the apostles and Jesus, there are some learnings we can consider. When preaching the Gospel, we have to teach. We can see this in Matthew chapter 5-7, we see how Jesus taught people that listened to him.

Another way we can preach the gospel is through our behavior. Look at Jesus, our perfect leader. In Matthew 9:10-13, we can see that Jesus ate with unbelievers, which shows us that he had no intention of condemning them; instead, he was acting in accordance with God’s mercy.

Even when Jesus had encounters with Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, he spoke with them with love and in a teachable form. 

Now, to the main discourse, why is there a need to preach the gospel urgently? 

First and foremost, we were commanded to do so via the Great Commission, as seen in Matthew 28:16-20 which says, Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” What will be the essence of knowing this good news if we share it with everyone we come across?

Secondly, we need to share the gospel urgently because many are lost. We are in the last days and people shouldn’t have to do life on their own; they should do life with God. Situations around the globe can be so negative that people need to turn to God and depend on him. People need the comforter, and it is only with them hearing the word of God that they can encounter God and decide to accept Christ. 

1 Peter 5:7, Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. John 14:16, I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;

John 14:26, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

Thirdly, we need to share the gospel urgently to refute the claims of preachers of doom. In a world where anyone can pick up a phone, go into any social platform and start preaching, we Christians need to be the ones to champion the gospel of Christ so people won’t go astray. Matthew 24:24, For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Fourthly, people need to understand that without accepting Christ, their souls will be damned. 

And in doing all this, we must understand that, as Christians, we must make sure that we are preaching a message of Christ and not condemnation. The message of condemnation makes people keep a distance, in the sense that they may feel unworthy in some way. 

If you can’t bring people to christ, make sure you are not driving them away. That is why it is necessary to ask for wisdom, just as the bible has instructed in James 1:5, “If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” 

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