The Gospel is for Everyone

The Gospel is for everyone. This is a lesson I learned and continue to learn the hard way. We do not choose who to share it to; but our attitude should be like that of the apostles Peter and John who said “we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:20).”

During the Missions Exposure Trip in Catanauan, God taught me to face this reality through the most unexpected people. I was sharing the Gospel to a friendly-looking teen on the shore when an old man who was evidently drunk called my attention.

Totoy,” he barked,“Why don’t you come here and share what you’re teaching about God to us? We also want to listen.”

I turned my head and felt that I would rather not. I figured from my past Missions Trip experiences that drunken men weren’t the best people to share the Gospel to. I paused for what felt like eternity until finally, I wheeled reluctantly to where they were.

I sat and talked with them—around five if I remember right—for two whole hours. There were moments I felt giving up because our conversation was going in circles. But I held on and shared what I could of the Gospel because I sensed that they were really asking genuine questions.

I couldn’t forget the realization of one of the men when I started talking about the sinfulness of humanity. I shared that the Bible teaches that all have sinned and there is no way a person can cleanse himself of sin. Furthermore, unless this sin is removed, no one can enter God’s kingdom.

The man who called was jolted back to his senses and exclaimed, “You mean if I can’t cleanse my sin, when I die, I will go to hell? But there’s no way to cleanse sin!”

At that moment I tried my best to emphasize Jesus’ death on the cross as God’s means of cleansing sin, and faith and repentance as a person’s proper response to this gift. I don’t know if they understood it or if they believed it, but my joy is in the fact that they grasped the concept of sin and its punishment. I know that God will meet them where they are now.

I said my goodbye after praying for them when God gave me another surprise. One of the men approached me and asked, “Could you pray for me? I have a sin which I couldn’t lift up to God.” I was moved with compassion. Explaining that God alone forgives sins and I was only His instrument, I prayed for him, asking that God would help him know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

After the experience, I paused and asked God to forgive me for being choosy in sharing His Gospel. Had the man not called me, there would have been no way for me to share the Gospel to them. Now I know firsthand what it means to share the Gospel to all creation. And my prayer is that God would enable me to do so.
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1 comments:

  1. I wish everyone understood what you learned. Too many only want to reach out to those they feel deserve it. Jesus didn't come for the righteous, but for sinners.

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