Moral responsibility is not a popular subject. But, don’t be fooled by the world’s message! We are each responsible to God and others. Last week we emphasized love as the foundation upon which rests all other responsibilities. Not only are we responsible to love others, we are responsible to teach others the gospel.
What we lack most in outreach is not training, methods, or opportunity. What we lack most is love. Love is the single-most important ingredient to winning the lost. Love will get us into God’s word so that we will have something to share with others. Love will inspire us to reach out to others with the good news of Jesus Christ.
Some may be questioning whether or not we are personally responsible to teach others? The Great Commission is not the Great Suggestion. Jesus says, “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 I commanded you.” This includes what He just said about going and making disciples of all nations.
God has a time table during which each of us is expected to grow in maturity to the point where we will be able to use our God-given ability to teach others. Hebrews 5:12 says, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again 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 would be alleviated if we would simply use our opportunities to teach others. 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 speaking “the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15).
— Glen Elliott —