by Elder Johnny Kim

In the course of our daily lives, many of us engage in numerous social interactions with a myriad of people. If we were to consider that some, if not most, of those people might be unbelievers, then we ought to come to the realization that we are always surrounded by opportunities to engage in evangelism. Between family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, classmates, roommates, acquaintances, and strangers, there is no shortage of opportunities for the faithful Christian to share the Gospel with those who desperately need it. In fact, one thing that I’m always grateful for and encouraged by are the members in our church who take on this view and take seriously the Mission of Lighthouse: to make disciples of Christ in accordance with Matthew 28:18-20. Still, for many of us, evangelism itself can be challenging and difficult and at times even discouraging when we perceive there to be a lack of any apparent fruit resulting from our efforts. Sometimes it seems as though it just doesn’t matter how many opportunities we have to share the Gospel when no one is accepting it.

Perhaps we are prone to succumb to that kind of discouragement because of the influence of the world we live in. It is tempting for us to measure success and effectiveness in terms how the world around us measures them. When it comes to such things, we often find that this business driven world is all about numbers, statistics, quantity, and maximum impact. We can easily be influenced by the standard that more is better and bigger is better and that anything less is failure. Whether you’re a business, political party, social organization, or an academic institution, no one aims to make the least impact, to reach the least amount of people, or to be the least popular choice. So left with nothing else to consider, we Christians certainly would find it hard to help but feel like we are failing or doing something wrong in our efforts to evangelize the lost.

Thankfully, we are not left with nothing more to consider on the matter, but rather we have the most important thing we can possibly consider: the Word of God.

While we might question our effectiveness and usefulness as Gospel witnesses, Jesus speaks to the truth about how the Gospel, the good news about Himself, will truly be received and accepted. In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus provides a comparison between salvation and wide and narrow gates. He describes the entrance to the kingdom of God as a narrow gate as opposed to a wide gate which leads to hell. The wide gate is easy to find, easy to travel through, and looks as if it leads to the kingdom of God. Furthermore, the one who travels through the wide gate might also be comforted by the fact that they are accompanied by many other people headed in the same direction. But the truth that Christ reveals through His comparison is that salvation is instead like a narrow gate. It is not easy to find, it is not easy to travel through, and it is definitely not as popular as the wide gate is. Christ helps us to understand that the way to true salvation is narrow and specific. One cannot enter into the kingdom of God in any manner one chooses. One cannot enter in to the kingdom of God via any number of different paths or ways akin to passing through a large and wide gate. On the contrary, as we read in Acts 4:12, there is only one way to enter and only one means by which we can enter.

In light of these truths, we are reminded in a sober way that only a relative few will enter into the kingdom of God. No matter the way that the Gospel is preached or presented, the truth will be rejected in the hearts of those who hear it and traded for a lie that is more convenient and less intrusive and demanding. The truth is our efforts to share the Gospel and evangelize will more often than not be met with denial and rejection. If we are faithful to preach the one true Gospel in its entirety, then we are promised in the Bible that this may likely be the end result. Though Christ’s words in Matthew 7:13-14 are a sober reality, I believe that it can also serve to embolden us as we persevere in being witnesses of Christ. Rather than being discouraged, we can be affirmed that we are preaching Christ’s Gospel with all its truths, consequences, demands, and rewards rather than a lesser, crowd-pleasing message that requires no commitment, submission, or sacrifice.

Relating this idea to the context of our church, from the perspective of an elder, I have to admit that I don’t find myself so concerned when there is a dip in the number of new members who profess to be believers and join our church. Truthfully, I’m not so worried when there are periods where we don’t have as many people accepting Christ and being baptized. However, an explosion of people who accept Christ in response to the Gospel we preach on Sunday might causes me to turn a critical eye and ear toward the message that is coming from the pulpit. After all, Christ made clear what the consequential response will be to the Gospel He has commanded us to preach. It is my hope that with a similar understanding, we can all be faithful to preach at every opportunity, the one true Gospel that promises salvation for the few that will receive it. But in doing so, let us remember that we are directing people to a narrow gate that’s hard to find, isolated from the crowds, and difficult to walk through. Finally, let us persevere through rejection knowing that it’s the only gate in this world that leads to everlasting life.