Why are we to share

Why are we to share the Gospel?
Ginger Reeves

Last year when my mother got sick, my husband brought my two stepchildren to see her and say good-bye.  They were visibly upset; they loved their “Cookie” very much.  I explained that they should not be upset, they would see her again some day since we know her to be a Christian and Walker and Matthew are as well.  Franklin used this as a great opportunity to explain why it is so important to share the Gospel with those we love.  He said that if we love them, we should share the Gospel with them so we can see them again in Heaven and they too can be with Jesus.  This seemed to comfort them a great deal.  

However, it also got me thinking that if we share the Gospel with those we love what about the woman at the grocery store or the man sitting next to us at work or our neighbor down the street from us?  The Bile tells us to “ 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:31)  Therefore, by this, we should love our neighbors and want to share the gospel with them.  We love them and as I have already stated we share the Gospel with those we love so they can be with Jesus and we can see them again in Heaven.  Right?

Ok, our neighbors, but what about the woman at the grocery store or the man at work?  Author, J.I. Packer, in his book Evangelism & The Sovereignty of God says  “…that any fellow human being whom you meet who is in need is your neighbour; God has put him there so that you may help him: and your business is to show yourself neighbour to him by doing all that you can to meet his need, whatever it may be.”  He goes on to say, “And that principle applies to all forms of need, spiritual no less than material.  So that when we find ourselves in contact with men and women who are without the Christ, and so face spiritual death, we are to look on them as our neighbours in the sense,…”.

We can surmises from this that we are to share the Gospel with everyone, not just our friends and family or just co-workers and cashiers, but with everyone we meet.  After all, isn’t that what God commanded? (Mark 16:15)