Perhaps the idea of mentioning church to your neighbour, asking how you can pray for your uni classmates, or sharing a link to Salt Live with colleagues leaves you flustered. You know the mission to share the gospel is urgent, but struggle to get over your own awkwardness. Reading the passages like Paul’s declaration in Romans 1.15 - "I am eager to preach the gospel" - only leave you more guilt-ridden.
So, why was Paul such an eager gospel-preaching machine? The surrounding verses in Romans 1 tell us:
Firstly, Paul was in serious debt.
“I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.” (v.14)
The ESV doesn’t quite do the Greek justice here. When I hear 'under obligation', I think of the time I planned to habitually go to the gym before school to be ripped for the rugby season. One 6am session and I folded. But Paul is not under a self-imposed stricture; rather, he has a burdened conscience. The word Paul uses for himself here is the one that Jesus uses of the man who owed his master a thousand talents! Paul owed something, but his debt was not financial but moral.
One writer has likened Paul’s situation to a medieval herald¹. His city has been conquered by a new king who is offering a pardon to all who bow the knee and accept his offer. Anyone who does not take up the offer will incur his wrath. The herald is sent out to announce the good news. How do you think he’ll do his job? Eagerly! In Paul’s letter, he explains God’s anger with an evil world and an offer that reconciles enemies to the only king, Jesus. It is Paul’s world and ours today. We may not play so big a part as Paul, but circumstances require that we play a part.
Secondly, Paul was sure the gospel worked.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek”. (v.16)
Paul was sure that the gospel worked. Are we? To varying degrees, we can fail to trust that words breathed out by human lungs can change our friends, acquaintances, neighbours’ eternal destinies. But Paul was sure that they could.
He was certain that simple gospel proclamation - explaining who Jesus is, what He accomplished and why - has the weight of God’s saving power behind it. Our world thinks that military might, cancer research and fervent protests are the means through which we’ll be saved, but God has instead chosen to use our (often feeble) explanations of why we trust in Jesus. It is found not in a war cry or political manifesto but in the urgent exclamation of the woman of Samaria, “Can this be the Christ?”
Eagerness not guilt
As we consider Paul’s motivations, let us remember what they provoked in him: not guilt, but eagerness. We have the love of a Heavenly Father who loves because of the work of his Son and not our performance as evangelists. His grace is awesome, so let’s be eager evangelists.
For those of you who appreciate a starting point, here are some possible conversation starters and follow-up questions:
Do you have a philosophy of life?
Do you have an opinion on the person of Jesus? Have you heard of him before?
If you had to introduce Jesus to a friend, what would you say about him?
The thing I love about Jesus/church/the Bible is…(fill in the blank)
Is there any way I can be praying for you?
¹Ash, Teaching Romans, p.61 (Vol. 1) (London, 2024)
These articles are 100% man-made, without the use of generative AI.