As followers of Christ, we all have a duty to share the Gospel with others. We are all different parts of the body of Christ and function in different ways. We also have different spheres of influence when it comes to reaching people. The people whom you interact may never be accepting of the Gospel if it comes from a different source. Take every relationship that you have and every person that you interact with as an opportunity to share the good news of the Gospel. The Gospel is simply sharing about the life of Jesus, redemption through him and how to follow his mission.
As believers, we also have a duty to share truth. Not every verse in the Bible is about love, so people need to get off of the hamster wheel of only wanting to talk about things that are non-confrontational. Specifically, pastors have a duty to share the truth of the Bible regardless of how people respond. Anytime you confront sin and evil, there will be push back. People will get offended, and people may even leave your congregation. If these same church leaders want to continue to preach love, then they need to start by preaching truth. Truth is love. How much more loving can one be than to share the good news about heaven over hell? Why wouldn’t anyone in a position of leadership want to guide someone away hell? Telling someone what they want to hear is not leading them to truth.
Pastoring sheep is not the same as coddling wolves. Your sheep will only identify the wolves among them if you speak the truth, which is love. Pastors have a duty to share why their congregation should get engaged in the political decision-making process. I am not saying that pastors need to endorse specific candidates or parties. I am however saying issues that the Bible highlights and tells us are relevant must be talked about. Abortion, immigration, taxes, marriage, sexual intimacy, parenting children, work ethic are just a few major issues found in the Bible that are relevant to our culture shift. Pastors should openly discuss these issues in a biblical context and highlight verses that specifically speak to these issues.
We all have a duty to share the truths of the Bible.
When Christians run from talking about issues that they are uncomfortable with, they show their true colors. I remember singing the classic Crayon Box Song in Sunday School as a child. Here is how the chorus goes.
O…Red is the color of the blood that He shed,
Brown is for the crown of thorns they laid upon His head.
Blue is for royalty! Within Him did dwell;
And yellow is for the Christian who’s afraid to tell.
The last color yellow sticks in my head. The terms “yellow bellied” and “lily livered” are terms that are used to describe cowards. The color yellow represents people who are afraid to speak the truth. These people go along with the path of least resistance and avoid confrontation at all costs. They care more about not offending someone than they do about speaking the truth. As we know truth is showing love, so these individuals value fear and cowardice over love. This behavior was well documented and on full display during covid. Fear and irrational behavior resonated from many pulpits. The duty to share the truth was overtaken with a fear to control, lie and hide.
Instead of truth being spoken from pulpits and its characteristics being shared, lies were spun off as love and fear was redressed as caring. Wolves watched over flocks as manipulation filled many sermons. Those that could not face their fear head on were directed to the passive and soothing tone of online church to facilitate their direct disobedience of what is commanded of us by Jesus. Instead of going out into the world and sharing the Gospel, many chose to hide at home and turned off their light. Please tell me where any of this irrational behavior was biblically based without making excuses to justify the behavior.
We have a duty as Christ followers to share the good news to all parts of the world. When we don’t, we are disobeying God. I don’t care how you spin it or repackage it. Being yellow bellied is not what we are called to be. Let us not act like the yellow Christian who is afraid to tell. Be bold and be disciples for Christ. If you are part of the body, then start acting like it.
Mark 16:15 New American Standard Bible
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.