Resources Needed to Proclaim the Gospel (1)
By: Abraham Raymond Eli
Tags: Evangelism, Christianity, Myths, The Gospel, Theological Education

You may be believing a myth when it comes to what you think you need to proclaim the gospel

Whenever the issue of proclaiming the gospel is raised, objections arise from those being asked to go proclaim it because they feel that they don’t possess the requisite requirements.

When God asked Moses to go bring the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt, he felt unqualified and raised several objections. One unspoken objection was his being a fugitive from the law in Egypt.

God, knowing the goings-on in a man’s heart, in answer to Moses’ unspoken objection, said,

Go, return to Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead. (Exodus 4:19, NKJV)

God knows our deepest fears, and if we would yield to Him all will be well. See what Moses became eventually — the deliverer, the Law-giver, etc. Yet, at first, he felt incapable!

So, if you feel unqualified and incapable of proclaiming the gospel, you’re in good company — Gideon and Jeremiah, among others, also felt unable to do God’s work. Most of the perceived requirements that make people feel unqualified to proclaim the gospel are, more often than not, myths.

In this article, we shall look at some of the objections people tend to raise when they are asked to go proclaim the gospel and expose them for the untruths they are.

“I am not good at public speaking”

Similar statements include: “I’m not a good communicator,” “I’m shy,” “I have stage fright,” “I can’t even write”….

Paul, who wrote 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament, had a problem with public speaking. Hear what he told the Corinthians about himself:

I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom…. (1 Corinthians 2:3–4, NKJV)

And this is what some of the Corinthians thought of his preaching:

. . . Paul’s letters are powerful and sound important, but when he is with us, he is weak and the worst speaker you have ever heard. (2 Corinthians 10:10, ERV)

But when you see what he accomplished in the course of his ministry for Christ, you know that his inadequacy was a non-issue.

When Moses objected to being sent to Egypt because he stammered, God said:

And who do you think made the human mouth? And who makes some mute, some deaf, some sighted, some blind? Isn’t it I, GOD? So, get going. I’ll be right there with you — with your mouth! I’ll be right there to teach you what to say. (Exodus 4:11–12, MSG)

In much the same way, God will be with your mouth and give you utterance to proclaim the gospel in His power with impact in the lives of the hearers (see Colossians 4:3–4).

“I don’t have any theological qualifications”

Similar statements include: “I have no Bible school training,” “I don’t know the Bible at all,” “I don’t know the Bible enough,” “I can’t memorize scripture”….

Well, Peter and John were laymen — fishermen, by profession. But on the day when they stood before the Sanhedrin — the council for civil and religious affairs in Israel — they amazed them.

The members of the Council were amazed to see how bold Peter and John were and to learn that they were ordinary men of no education. They realized then that they had been companions of Jesus. (Acts 4:13, GNB)

What had happened to Peter and John was that they had been filled with the Holy Spirit (see Acts 4:8). And even the Sanhedrin observed that they had been with Jesus.

So, if you have no formal education whatsoever, you can still proclaim the gospel, provided you are born again and filled with the Holy Spirit.

When the Lord said —

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15, NKJV)

— He did not specify any academic or theological qualifications. If you are born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, you are qualified to preach the gospel!

“I just got born again”

This seems to be a very cogent reason not to want to go out there to preach the gospel. At least one would reason that you cannot speak to people about something you are barely able to comprehend yourself. However, this objection is also a myth.

Within hours, or even minutes, of being delivered from demonic possession, mental disorder or insanity, the erstwhile madman of Gadara — a man who had terrorized the region and made the graveyard his home — wanted to go with Jesus:

But Jesus would not let him. Instead, He told him, “Go back home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how kind He has been to you.” (Mark 5:19, GNB)

This man went and began to proclaim the good news of how the Lord had delivered him throughout the region, comprising ten cities!

When Saul of Tarsus — Paul, the apostle — came to Christ, he was blinded by the brightness of the Light from heaven. But when his sight was restored three days later:

Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. (Acts 9:20, NKJV)

The erstwhile madman of Gadara and Saul of Tarsus had nothing but the testimony of what God had done for them.

Your testimony of what God has done for you is scriptural, powerful, and capable of impacting those who hear it positively. And it is all you need to proclaim the gospel even at that early stage.

“I have no money”

Some people think that they need to have loads of money to preach the gospel, particularly with the advent of modern gospel ministry enterprises and their emphasis on money. This again is a myth! The truth is that proclaiming the gospel was never meant to be cumbersome. To begin with, it was always meant to be a one-on-one or small group affair.

When sending His disciples to go preach, the Lord told them not to take either money or a change of clothes! He assured them that they would be adequately taken care of (see Matthew 10:9–13). Indeed, Jesus and His disciples were sustained by some women, among several others, during their preaching circuits (see Luke 8:1–3).

No one does God’s work at his own expense (1 Corinthians 9:7). Even the money that we have is given to us by God.

Whatever your needs are, God will meet them. If a need is not met, it’s either not yet time for you to have use for it or it is not needed. It’s a want, not a need!

Money has its usefulness, but it is by no means a requirement for proclaiming the gospel. For instance, how much money do you have to have to preach to your next-door neighbour or your colleague at work?

“I can’t reach the people God wants me to reach”

When we talk about proclaiming the gospel, some people think of foreign travel or someplace far from home. So, when asked to take the gospel to the world, they are stumped because they just can’t see how possible it is.

I used to think: What a herculean task it is to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. But the Lord has shown me that with technology and the internet, the gospel will reach the ends of the earth — including places we cannot reach physically. So, you don’t need a lot to get the gospel out there. You already have the internet, social media, and self-publishing/audio-video broadcast platforms!

“I’m handicapped”

This covers all disabilities — blindness, being crippled, etc. True, this can be a challenge, but it isn’t insurmountable!

After several objections, Moses finally said to God:

My Lord, I beg you to send someone else, not me. (Exodus 4:13, ERV)

Moses was saying, “I’m hopelessly handicapped and can’t do what you are asking me to do.” But God’s response was:

“All right! I’ll give you someone to help you. Aaron the Levite is your brother, isn’t he? He is a good speaker. In fact, Aaron is already coming to meet you, and he will be happy to see you. I will tell you what to say. Then you will tell Aaron, and I will help him say it well. I will tell both of you what to do. So Aaron will speak for you. Like God, you will speak to him, and he will tell the people what you say. (Exodus 4:14–16, ERV)

Problem solved!

If you are handicapped, God will give you someone who will be your aide, so that you can accomplish the task set before you.

This is synergy — a combination of things that do more when they are together, than they do separately. This is possibly why the Lord sent His disciples out two by two (see Mark 6:7 and Luke 10:1).

“I’m too young”

This would include statements like, “I’m too old,” “I’m sickly,” etc.

Jeremiah was very young, but God still called him and gave him a voice to pull down and build up nations (Jeremiah 1:4–10). Recall that Moses was 80 years old when God called him, as was Joshua when he took over from Moses.

Charles Spurgeon’s wife was said to be sickly, and she seldom attended her husband’s meetings. Yet, she used her funds to print and distribute her husband’s books to pastors in rural England to advance the gospel. Her illness did not prevent her!

The truth is, neither age nor ill-health can disqualify you from proclaiming the gospel — except you don’t want to proclaim it! Indeed, nothing should disqualify you from proclaiming the gospel!

Let me let you in on a secret

God deliberately chooses people with inadequacies. This has always been His pattern, and it won’t change.

Brothers and sisters, God chose you to be His. Think about that! Not many of you were wise in the way the world judges wisdom. Not many of you had great influence, and not many of you came from important families. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. And God chose what the world thinks is not important — what the world hates and thinks is nothing. He chose these to destroy what the world thinks is important. God did this so that no one can stand before Him and boast about anything. (1 Corinthians 1:26–29, ERV)

Yes, God knew of your inadequacies. Yet, He chose you.

God always nullifies the things that we perceive as disqualifying us from proclaiming the gospel, so that it will be clear to all and sundry — including you — that His work is done in His power, not yours.

In this way, you are incapable of boasting, which will keep you humble. You will also be more likely to always give God glory for using you to achieve His purposes!

We have this treasure from God, but we are only like clay jars that hold the treasure. This is to show that the amazing power we have is from God, not from us. (2 Corinthians 4:7, ERV)

Instead of focusing on our inadequacies (which are numerous and may never be removed by God), feeling incapable, and raising objections, let us simply submit to God’s workings in our lives. And, when He is done, He will release the treasure He has worked into us to bring souls to Himself.

What next?

Many of the things we think we should possess before we can proclaim the gospel are non-issues and don’t disqualify us. Be that as it may, there are a few things that we must possess if we are to effectively get the gospel to the ends of the earth. This will form the discussion of the next instalment.