What Happens When the Church Stops Sharing the Gospel | Season 3 Episode 8

In this episode of “Now Is the Time” I give you 10 negative results of a failure to share the gospel in our churches.

News

This month a great man of God, Jason Nightingale passed into the presence of Jesus! He impacted many hearts for God’s glory through Scripture recitation, clear Bible teaching, and a heart for the orphans and widows. For me he was a great example of the Gospel in word and deed!

Jason and his wife Sharon started Wordsower ministries that serves in several different countries. Please take some time to pray for Sharon and Jason’s family as they deal with his temporary loss. Also if you can donate something to Wordsower ministry I think it will really help them continue the great ministries that Jason helped start.

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Ten Negative Effects in the Church of not Sharing the Gospel

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1. We squabble more over secondary issues

Lack of evangelism means plenty of time on our hands to argue over secondary issues. Sadly these arguments are usually not profitable, they take away from valuable time and effort that we could be using for evangelism and they mar the testimony of our church to the world around us.

“But keep back from foolish questionings and genealogies and arguments and quarrels of law, for they are unprofitable and vain.”  Tit 3:9

See also: 2Ti 2:14, 2Ti 2:16; 1Ti 1:4, 1Ti 4:7, 1Ti 6:4-5

2. We start to compare our church with other churches

Discontentment with our own church is often a result of not having a healthy outward look that evangelism gives us. Once we start focusing more on our church’s problems it can be easy to compare with other churches and feel that your church doesn’t meet up.

On the other-hand lack of evangelism can also lead to an unhealthy pride in your church, in its amazing worship service, its beautiful decor, it’s well organized “ministry” activities.

3. We focus on the facilities

For too many churches buildings and structures become a goal in and of themselves rather than a tool. The goal should be the glory of God and what better way to bring Him glory than to tell others about him and so that they too can glorify him? Church buildings as a goal will serve our evangelistic efforts badly. Once they are build they can often become a burden that call for sacrifice other true evangelistic ministries in order to pay the bills.

4. We emphasize what happens in the church building

While the church building can be an important tool and significant things can take place within her walls, it will always lead us away from healthy evangelism if we overemphasize the importance of what happens in the facility.

We must keep in mind that the purpose of gathering together is to worship, instruct, and prepare the people for the work of the ministry, which should mainly take place outside of the walls of the church.

“with a view to the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ,”  Eph 4:12

5. We place too much importance upon worship style

When our focus on the gospel falls by the wayside we often tend to turn to worship style. We place more importance upon how the choir sings, what the instruments sound like, and whether it meets our subjective standards of “good” music.

In my experience churches that are wholeheartedly focused on gospel issues tend to have much more grace when it comes to varied musical and worship styles. They realize that the message of the text and the intentions of the heart are primary.

6. We easily become discontent with our church

To not do the work of evangelism is to shirk our responsibilities, it’s a spiritual laziness that will sooner or later result in discontentment. The man who refuses to go to work and instead lays all day on the couch will soon become discontent with his surroundings and with his life. The best way to avoid that discontentment is to give healthy attention to the work you’ve been called to do.

“But you be clear-minded in all, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fully carry out your ministry.”  2Ti 4:5

7. We lose the gospel power in our preaching

One obvious result of failing to preach the gospel as a church is that the preaching becomes either “self-help” or overly theological and academic. It loses its life changing redemptive value It ceases to be the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit and instead becomes either a means to strengthen my self-will or simply an exercise in academic acuity!

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone believing, both to Jew first, and to Greek;”  Rom 1:16

• Check out this post on why we need more gospel in our preaching.

8. We stop praying fervently

When gospel fervor doesn’t drive or hearts we will find it extremely hard to find time to pray for the lost. When we stop praying for the lost we often fail to use the opportunities God has given us to share the gospel with them.

“Brothers, truly my heart’s pleasure and supplication to God on behalf of Israel is for it to be saved.”  Rom 10:1

9. We forget gospel truths in our own life

They may be the most dangerous result of a failure to share the gospel. The longer we go without sharing it the further gospel truths move from our own lives. There are two directions in which we can move away from the gospel in. We can slip into legalism by forgetting the grace of God.

This is the direction that the church in Galatia moved:

“O foolish Galatians, who bewitched you not to obey the truth, to whom before your eyes Jesus Christ was written before among you crucified?”  Gal 3:1

We can also just as easily slip into antinomianism, which is an over emphasis of grace and a denial that God still has a moral law for us to follow. This seems to have been the case for the Romans:

“What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Let it not be! We who died to sin, how shall we still live in it?”  Rom 6:1-2

A true understanding of the gospel and a proper practice of the gospel in our lives consistently help us to keep the gospel close and these errors far from us.

10. We fail to grow

I am more and more convinced that I can’t really grow in my faith properly without sharing the gospel. The practice of communicating gospel truths to others forces me to trust in God and to fear him more than man. One of the greatest barriers to gospel communication is fear of man. However, as I share the gospel I show through my actions that I fear God more than man. This exercises proves to me that God is worthy and strengthens my faith and my fear!

Furthermore, in the process of sharing the gospel I often encounter questions and arguments that I had not heard of before. These force me back into God’s Word and help me shore up the foundations of my faith.

Questions: What other negative effects does failing to share the gospel produce in the church?

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