LIFE LESSON: Sharing the gospel is an act of love

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Recently a friend asked me why do Christians like to tell us about their religion? They seem to be on a recruitment drive, something you do not see other religions do?. He was irritated and annoyed when he asked this question.

He believed Christians are doing their utmost best to shove their beliefs down people’s throats. To him this looked like Christians did not have respect for other religions because if they did they would not be invading people's privacy and spaces by sharing their gospel at every opportunity they get. Christians believe their religion is much more superior than other belief systems and that is what annoys him about Christianity.


This bothered me on 2 levels, firstly I could not immediately respond to him because I knew telling him that it is our obligation as followers of Christ would  irritate him even further and secondly I did not realize that such strong emotions could be evoked by the act of sharing the gospel.


If sharing the gospel evokes such strong emotions I then realized it is also important for me to think about why I do this so that next time someone else asks me I could respond from a personal point of view and move beyond saying it is an obligation as a follower of Christ.

Recruiting church members

I know that there are Christian groups who share the gospel with one goal in mind to increase their church membership. I do not subscribe to this and  I share my friends' sentiments here.


Sharing the gospel is about sharing God’s plan with Jesus Christ at the center of it all. To be an effective Christian it is essential to belong to a church  but it should also be a personal choice. As long as one selects a church that bases its teachings on the Bible and makes Jesus Christ the center of their teaching they should not be obliged to join a church chosen for them by the person who shared the gospel with them.


Sharing the gospel is also not just about talking about the gospel, we also share the gospel through how we treat others and generally how we live our lives.

Christianity vs other religions

Christians do not believe their beliefs are better or superior to other religious beliefs but Christianity is fundamentally different from every other religion because:


  • Every other religion teaches us to earn our way to God but Christianity teaches us that we do not have to earn our way to God we just have to believe in Jesus Christ to earn our way to God. Other religions teach that you have to work for salvation where Christianity says salvation is a free gift from God.

  • Other religions have systems of rules to appease their god. Christianity is a relationship with God where we follow God's commandments because we want to not because it is an obligation.


I must admit though there are Christian groups  who still subscribe to the above mentioned principles but that is a topic for another day.

Reasons I share the gospel

It is not about me

The Bible teaches me that God’s plan in the world is to reconcile with his people and he provided his Son Jesus Christ as a bridge for his people to get to him and those that accept this offer of reconciliation he also invites to make themselves available so that through them his plan could be realized further.


So I am sharing the gospel because I have accepted his invitation to make myself available so that through me his goal of reconciling with his people can be realized. Therefore sharing the gospel is not about me but it is about God’s plan being realized through me.

It is good news

Contrary to what I have been taught, the opportunity to reconcile with God is freely available and all I have to do is confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is an opportunity to have an intimate relationship with the Creator where I can get to know him and in return get to know my real self as I am created in his image


I believe this is good news and it would be selfish of me not to share it with those that I come into contact with.

It is an expression of love

When Jesus sacrificed his life on the cross for our sins this was a demonstration on how to love others. Jesus demonstrated to us that we express our love for others by being of service to them.


So sharing the gospel is my way of serving others an expression of love for them as demonstrated to us by Jesus.

It is good for me

All humans have a flaw and that is to be self focused. Jesus teaches that one way of dealing with our selfish nature is to be of service to others even when there is no benefit to us.


When I share the gospel there is no immediate benefit to me but it is good for me as it helps me counteract my selfish nature where I am only focused on me and my needs.


Therefore I do not share the gospel because I think it is superior to other religious beliefs but I share the gospel because I care about others.


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