This Gospel Is Bearing Fruit And Growing

I am convinced that Christians need to expand their world view. Most Christians in North America do not know anything beyond their own little version of the world, which is usually their family and friends. Many do not know what is happening in their own country let alone what is going on in another country. Worse than not knowing what is going on in the world, most Christians have no idea what is going on in the Body of Christ.

For us the Kingdom of God is what is happening in our church. We assume that what is happening to us and our church is what is happening to everyone, and if it is not, we don't really care. We don't have a clue what is happening in the church in our city, in our country or in the world. There are many organizations that take the time to share the news about what is happening in different parts of the world. I have the privilege of hearing from many of you concerning what is happening in your church. This is important because we need to be reminded that the Body of Christ is much larger than our little part of it. Paul reminded the Colossians that wherever the Word of God was being preached great things were happening:

"All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth." (Colossians 1:6)

Reading the many reports available on the Internet I see that it is true that the gospel is bearing fruit and growing in many of the harshest regions of this world where many face death when they express their faith. Did you know it is believed there are more Christians in China than there are in the rest of the world combined? But are we seeing fruit and growth in our part of the world? If not we have to ask why?

From my own personal observation the "why" seems to be an easy question to answer. We are not bold enough to share the gospel with our neighbour. Maybe bold isn't the right word; perhaps the word lazy better suits our situation. Either that or we just don't love our neighbour enough to share the good news of the grace of God; we don't care. I know we might tell people about the love of God but I don't think many of us are specific about his grace.

We are too quiet about our faith. There is no boldness to it. We are too lazy to sit down with a friend and explain the gospel. We consider it a personal thing, between us and God, yet Jesus told us to go and make disciples. Our faith is not a personal matter when our neighbour needs to know about it in order to be saved. Without us sharing the great news of God's grace our neighbour is going to die. The impending financial crash should not be what is occupying our thoughts; the fact that so many are going to their graves without Jesus should be.

We need to understand that the gospel of grace is a powerful thing; powerful enough to move a man's heart to be transformed by the Holy Spirit. It is the greatest weapon against the darkness of ignorance that we have. It isn't that people do not believe in God, they are simply ignorant of the truth of the gospel of grace, but you are the truth bearer. You need to be sharing it with as many people as you can. Forget what people think about you. Jesus said if you are ashamed of him before people, he will be ashamed of you before the Father. The only reason the gospel is not bearing fruit and growing in our neighbourhood is because we aren't sharing it. In the rest of the world the Kingdom of God is advancing as more people turn to Jesus. It is time to throw caution to the wind and become bold in our faith. Your neighbour needs to hear the good news.