It is undeniably important to share Jesus Christ with those who do not yet believe in Him, but it is also important for those who already believe. Not just any verse in the Bible leads to salvation for unbelievers. Romans 10:17 states that ‘faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ”. The word of Christ means the message about Christ. The Bible’s ultimate goal is to testify about Jesus (John 5:39), but it can be also read simply as a self-improvement book or a book on morality and ethics.
Even after coming to faith in Christ, we need to continually get to know Him better. Even the apostle Paul, who was very knowledgeable in the Scriptures, said that he was determined to know nothing except Jesus Christ for the rest of his life. Jesus asked the disciples ‘Who do you say I am?’ (Matthew 16:15-16) near the end of His ministry, after having taught them for 3 years. As you can see from the question, Jesus proclaimed and brought the good news of the kingdom of God by coming to earth himself. Jesus himself is the Good News and he can never be fully mastered.
That is why after Jesus ascended into heaven, his disciples preached Jesus Christ to unbelievers in the temple as well as believers within each household. ‘Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ’ (Acts 5:42). The reason why we must devote ourselves to getting to know Jesus better after believing in Him is to truly experience the salvation He has brought in our lives. In other words, it is to be freed from sin, leading to ‘righteousness and holiness’ (1 Cor 1:30), to be ‘perfect in Jesus Christ’ (Col 1:28) and to ‘become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ’ (Eph 4:13-14)
However, if the church does not share or preach Jesus Christ, it cannot witness the salvation of souls or experience life-changing miracles. When China became a communist country, it was thought that churches will die out forever. On the contrary, numerous underground churches emerged in China and it is currently believed to be the nation with the greatest number of Christians in the world. Similarly, Iran, which became an Islamic republic in 1979, has the greatest number of Muslims converting to Christianity in the Middle East. Even though believing in Jesus can lead to death, it has helped those facing persecution to concentrate on Jesus Christ alone. And by doing so, they experience the transforming power and wisdom of God’s kingdom, which Jesus proclaimed and brought down to earth. That explains how Christianity has revived and flourished in these places, despite extreme persecution. This phenomenon was already been testified in the book of Acts.
The bigger problem lies for Christians living in a free, secular society. We tend to pursue worldly pleasures and success, more than Jesus Christ. We prioritise the issues which immediately affect our daily lives, such as our exam results, our career and a stable income. We talk and pray about these things in the church. I’m not saying that these things are not important or necessary, but it is a problem when these things become our ultimate desires.
The one sure thing which frees us from our worldly concerns and keeps our focus on Jesus is persecution. The only other ‘cure’ is evangelism. When you share Jesus Christ and the gospel, you constantly meet unbelievers who ask why Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. Hence, conversations with unbelievers will often be much more Jesus focused than with believers within the church. This is the reason why I evangelise every week: for the salvation of others, as well as my own.
