Which people should we share the Gospel with? We must be willing
to make disciples of anyone. Jesus taught his disciples to witness in their
hometown, in their country, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). He said,
“Make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). But not all people will be
equally responsive to our witness. So we should focus on sharing the Gospel to
those who are most likely to convert to Christ.
Through prayer, we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us to the best
prospects for evangelizing. Within our own culture, we may be led to witness to
family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, or other people that we have some
relationship with. We find that certain people respond best to us.An older man
may be effective in speaking with other older men. A young girl may be most effective
in speaking with other young girls. Often, people of our own race may respond
better to us than people of other races. We love people of every age, sex, and
race, and we want to fellowship with all people. But we also want to see the
church grow as fast as possible. So we seek out those who respond readily to
the Good News. As missionaries to other people groups,we follow the Spirit and
see which people respond to the Gospel. We may then be led to focus on
evangelizing the people group that is most responsive.
Jesus sent disciples to evangelize and told them if the people in
a city did not respond favorably that the disciples should move on to other
areas (see Luke 10:10,11). In the same way, if you evangelize in the proper
way, and people in a particular place do not receive Christ as Lord,simply go
to another area.
The Apostle Paul gave priority to evangelizing people who had not
heard the Gospel (see Romans 15:20-21). We strive to do the same. (For details and for free course
visit <www.missionstraining.org>)
