What Is “Sharing Jesus”?

So what does it mean to share Jesus? First, we will look at the Greek word euangelion that means, “good news.” Second, we will consider an excellent definition of evangelism (i.e., sharing Jesus) by Dr. Roy Fish.

Sharing Jesus and Euangelion

“Evangelism” is an English transliteration of the Greek word euangelion. Throughout the New Testament it refers to the “good news” of the saving message concerning Jesus Christ.

In one of His first sermons, Jesus spoke these words in Mark 1:15, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel [euangelion].” That good news changed lives and enabled people to turn from their sin and turn in faith to God.

Jesus also taught that the Gospel is worthy of one’s complete devotion. He said in Mark 8:35, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s [euangelion] will save it.”

Likewise, the Apostle Paul spoke frequently about sharing the Gospel. Indeed, Paul would share Jesus with anyone at any time, refusing to be ashamed of the Gospel. He said in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel [euangelion], for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Paul also stressed that everything he did was for the purpose of verbally sharing Jesus with lost people. He said in 1 Corinthians 9:23, “I do all things for the sake of the gospel [euangelion], so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.”

Thus, the word “Gospel” (euangelion) refers to the “Good News” about Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death and victorious resurrection that brings salvation to a lost sinner when he repents and believes in Jesus.

A Definition of Evangelism (Sharing Jesus)

In the 1980s, I attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. One of the most popular professors at Southwestern was Dr. Roy Fish, professor of evangelism. Here is his insightful definition of “evangelism” (i.e., sharing Jesus):

Evangelism is the compassionate sharing of the Good News of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit to lost people with the intent of winning them to Christ as Lord and Savior that they in turn might share Him with others.

In his definition, Dr. Fish speaks of:

The Spirit of Evangelism— compassionate. Like Jesus, Christians must love lost people. When Jesus looked at lost multitudes, He felt compassion for them (Matt. 9:35-38). He also felt a genuine love for individuals with whom he shared the Gospel (Mark 10:17-22).

The Communication of Evangelism— sharing. If you want to share Jesus, you must set a good example for lost people, but you must also verbally share the Gospel of Jesus as Philip did with the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:35).

The Content of Evangelism— the good news of Jesus Christ. The Gospel focuses on Jesus’ atoning death for sinners, His burial to verify His death, and His bodily resurrection from the dead (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Any message short of this is not sharing Jesus!

The Power of Evangelism— the Holy Spirit. Christians rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to embolden them to share Jesus (Acts 1:8). We also rely on the Spirit to convict lost people of their sinfulness, their lack of righteousness, and the judgment of God to come (John 16:8). The Holy Spirit also converts the repentant, believing sinner by transacting regeneration, the new birth (John 3:5-9; Titus 3:5).

The Recipients of Evangelism— lost people. People who do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior are spiritually lost. Jesus compared a lost sinner to a lost sheep, lost silver, and a lost son (Luke 15). Also, after Jesus saved Zacchaeus, our Lord confirmed that His mission on earth was to seek and to save people who were “lost” (Luke 19:10).

The Purpose of Evangelism— winning them to Christ as Lord and Savior. The Christian’s goal in verbally sharing Jesus is to win lost people to Christ. The Apostle Paul sought to defer to people and serve them in various ways so he could win them to faith in Christ (1 Cor. 9:19-23). Paul also commanded all Christians to “run in such a way that [they] might win” lost people to Jesus (1 Cor. 9:24).

The Perpetuation of Evangelism— that they in turn might share Him with others. Mature Christian believers should urgently train all new Christians to share Jesus as soon as possible. One reason is because immediately after their conversion to Christ new disciples often have more connections with non-Christians than at any other time later on. Consider Matthew (Levi). Immediately after he became Christ’s disciple, he contacted many of his lost friends and invited them, as well as Jesus and His disciples, to his home for dinner (Luke 5:27f). That illustrates why one important aspect of the Great Commission is to teach new believers to observe all that Christ commands us (Matt. 28:19-20), which unquestionably includes sharing Jesus.

Challenge:

When is the last time you verbally shared what the Bible says about Jesus with a lost person with the intention of leading that person to salvation in Him?

From Share Jesus Like It Matters This book is available on Amazon. It is also available at deep discounts by the case at www.auxanopress.com 

I have just completed a 12 week Bible study based on this book. It is available on Amazon, as well as part of my Good Questions Have Groups Talking subscription service.

This service is like Netflix for Bible Lessons. You pay a low monthly, quarterly or annual fee and get access to all the lessons. New lessons that correspond with three of Lifeway's outlines are automatically included, as well as a backlog of thousands of lessons. Each lesson consists of 20 or so ready-to-use questions that get groups talking, as well as answers from well-known authors such as Charles Swindoll and Max Lucado. For more information, or to sign up, click here.