The man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he … began to proclaim … how much Jesus had done for him. – Mark 5:18-20
f we find it worthwhile to send missionaries into alien environments, and if we praise those who make the decision to leave their homeland and go overseas, then we need to confront the question: “What am I doing to tell others about Jesus? What am I doing about my street, my workplace, and my own spheres of influence? Am I boldly proclaiming the freedom and life promised through Christ?”
Our Christianity can grow too comfortable. We may think, “I’m a fairly decent human being. I show up at church every Sunday. I find inspiration in the Bible. I look after my family.” But that is not a description of the transformed life that Christ called us to when He told us to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-19). That lifestyle is not what has converted unbelievers across the world throughout history. That complacency sees faith simply as an add-on, a decision made along the way, like someone deciding to join a gym just because they know it’s good for them.
Like the man possessed by a demon in Mark 5, before we can passionately proclaim Christ as Lord and Savior, we first must become acutely aware of how helpless we are: held captive by our sin, roaming in the land of death. Only then can we fully realize the freedom, joy, and life to which Jesus Christ has delivered us. If we have grasped what Christ has done for us, then we will not need to be told that such a merciful deliverance should not be kept to ourselves but shared, whether with the ends of the earth or simply with those immediately around us.
You don’t need to read books or take a class to share Jesus. You can simply tell others how Christ turned you right side up. Jesus had the man in Mark 5 start with his family and friends. His plan for the gospel to spread throughout this region started with one transformed life. So you may not be able to answer all your friends’ questions. You may not know all about the doctrine of the Trinity. But if you are in Christ, you do know that while you were once blind, you now see.
The church is not a pleasure-cruise marina but a lifeboat station. It is our duty, and our privilege, to do as that rescued man did: to go out onto the sea of life to…
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Fanny Crosby, “Rescue the Perishing” (1869).
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus the mighty to save.
Who is Jesus calling you to go to today?
