Seed has amazing power, but it stays dormant while the seed sits in a bag on a shelf. That can happen when Christians think evangelism is about themselves—their own attractiveness and their good deeds. They think, “My service and friendship will bring people to Christ. My example will show the way,” and they do no teaching. The Christian life is attractive (Matthew 5:16; Acts 2:47; 1 Peter 3:1). Example can draw people toward Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). But example and benevolence by themselves cannot teach the Gospel. For the Gospel is just that—Good News, the Glad Message which, by its very nature, must be told.
- Jesus commanded, “Proclaim the Gospel” (Mark 16:15).
- The mission is to “testify to the Gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).
- Generous service confirms “your confession of the Gospel of Christ” (2 Corinthians 9:13).
These terms—proclaim, testify, confess—are terms for telling. Without words, the Gospel lies dormant like unused seed. The Gospel takes effect only when it enters its soil, that is, when the human heart hears and understands it (Matthew 13:23). Listen to the reasoning of Romans 10.
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? … So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:13-14, 17).