Who’s Your 1?

Posted bySteve

“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.” (Romans 1:16, ESV).

Sharing the gospel is expected of all who follow Christ, yet we often make the practice of evangelism more difficult than it should be. Some surveys report that 90% of evangelical Christians never share their faith with anyone. We are called to be witnesses empowered by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). Sharing your faith involves sharing all that Christ has done for you. To share the gospel, we must know the gospel.

Know the Gospel

The gospel is centered in the person and work of Christ. Jesus was:

  1. Born of a virgin. Jesus was conceived not by the will of man, but by the will of God (John 1:13). The Father took the initiative to bring salvation to all who believe.
  2. Lived a sinless life. Jesus was unique among all humans (he was fully God and fully man) in that he never sinned. The rest of us are sinners by nature. We choose to live in rebellion against God, but Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, never sinned.
  3. Died a vicarious death. He died on the cross in our place, taking the punishment we deserved because of our sin. He paid our sin debt, a debt that he did not owe so that we can be forgiven.
  4. Was buried in a borrowed tomb. Jesus died on the cross and was buried in a borrowed tomb (he only needed it for three days) that was sealed with a large stone.
  5. Rose victoriously from the dead. As believers, we are now alive in Christ Jesus because he has given us eternal life. The resurrection affirms that we serve a risen Savior. The message of Easter is that He is alive!
  6. Ascended to the Father. There he waits for the fullness of time when he will return. He sent the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He guides believers into all truth. He glorifies Jesus, not Himself (John16:7-14).
  7. Promised that He would return. Jesus will return for his church, not as a baby, but as the King of kings. The kingdoms of this world will fully become the kingdom of our Lord. He will reign forever and ever. Hallelujah indeed.

Share the Gospel

All believers are called to share the gospel. J. D. Greear, the President of the Southern Baptist Convention and the pastor of the Summit Church in Durham, NC, along with the North American Mission Board are calling on believers to unite in an evangelism strategy called Who’s Your 1? The strategy is simple but strategic.

  1. Pray. Ask the Lord to help you identify an unbeliever that you can pray for on a regular basis. Because many believers live in a Christian bubble, it is sometimes difficult to develop relationships with those who are lost in darkness. Ask God to move you outside your comfort zone to encounter people who do not know Christ. God may burden you for a family member, a server at a restaurant, someone you know from the gym, a neighbor, etc. Focus on one person and commit to pray daily for him or her.
  2. Look for an opportunity and invite your 1 to worship with you during the next three months. The holiday season provides a host of opportunities to join in the celebration of Christ’s birth. Invite your 1 to go with you. Talk about the significance of Christmas and how Christ has changed your life.
  3. Spend time building a friendship with your 1.
  4. Initiate spiritual conversations. Don Whitney includes evangelism as a spiritual discipline.[1] If we fail to be intentional about sharing the gospel, most likely we will never get around to it and thereby we disobey the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20).
  5. Invite and help your 1 to receive Christ. Move your 1 toward responding to Christ.

Greear uses the acrostic FISH to inform this strategy: Friendship, Initiate gospel conversations, Share the gospel, Help them make a decision. Take a minute (only sixty seconds) to view a video on Who’s Your 1 narrated by J. D. Greear at https://vimeo.com/317997728. Join the movement.

[1]Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, revised and expanded (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2014), 119-39.