As a pastor who has spent several years leading, mobilizing, and equipping church members to share the gospel with lost people in our community, one of the more common sources of foot-dragging (if not outright objection) I have heard in response to the call of all Christians to evangelize is a statement which sounds something like this: “Why do I need to share the gospel? God is sovereign, and He is going to save who He’s going to save.”
Indeed, God is sovereign! He is sovereign over the wind and the waves. He is sovereign over Tokyo and Topeka. He is sovereign over the twenty-first century just as much as He was sovereign over the eighth century. He is the sovereign Ruler of everyone, at every place, at every time. And yes, in His perfect and infinite wisdom, God is sovereign over the hearts of men (Prov 21:1)—meaning, He knows (because He has foreordained) who will respond to the message of the gospel with repentance and faith, and those who will reject that same message (Acts 13:48; Rom 9:15-16).
So, acknowledging that God is sovereign, why should we, as followers of Jesus Christ, share the gospel? If the deck is already stacked (so to speak), why share?
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