Moral responsibility is not a popular idea these days. But, don’t be fooled by the world’s message! We are each responsible to God and others. Love is the foundation upon which rests all other responsibility. One such responsibility is our responsibility to teach others the gospel.
What we lack most in outreach may not be training, methods, or opportunity. It may simply be a lack of love. Love is the single-most important ingredient to winning lost souls. Love will motivate personal study so that we will have something to share with others. It will also inspire us to reach out to others with the good news of Jesus Christ.
But, some are questioning whether or not we are personally responsible to teach others. It’s amazing that such a position would require justification. The Great Commission is not the Great Suggestion. Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Mt. 28:19-20). Yes, these words were spoken to the apostles, but He also commanded them to teach the disciples to observe all that He had commanded them to do. That includes what He has just told them about going and making disciples of all nations.
God has a time table during which each of us is expected to grow and mature to the point where we should be able to use our God-given ability to reach out and teach others. Hebrews 5:12 says, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.” If we are not, in some way, teaching others, we need to go back to the basics and learn all over again what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Much of the guilt we feel about others who have either left the faith or have not responded to the gospel in the first place could be alleviated if we would simply develop the habit of using our opportunities to teach others when such opportunities present themselves. Paul said that he was “innocent of the blood of all men.” Why? Because he “did not shrink from declaring…the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:26-27). We are not responsible for whether or not someone responds appropriately to our message. But, we are responsible for presenting “the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15).
–Glen Elliott–