How can they preach unless they are sent? This is where most Christians feel they can blame it all on God. They say things like: “He hasn’t sent me.” “I’m not called to proclaim the message.” “It isn’t my gift.” “I am not an Evangelist.” “I’m not trained for it.” “It’s the job of the ministers, not lay people.” “I don’t feel the Spirit leading me to do it.” “I don’t know what to say.” “People don’t want to be saved in this day and age.” “I just invite them to church and let the Pastor do it.” On and on it goes; but, Jesus said that anyone can do the kind of ministry that helps people, if they put their faith, trust, dependency, and reliance on Him.

John 14:12 (NIV) I tell you the truth, ANYONE who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. We have a very small part in sharing the gospel message to people. We simply tell them what we have experienced through Jesus’ power and He does the rest. The ministry of Jesus is going to take it from there. He will work miracles in your friends, relatives, business associates, and enemies’ lives. Tell them what you have experienced and Jesus will confirm your story by His power.

We ALL need the shoes of the gospel of peace on our feet. If Satan is allowed to knock us off of our feet, we are going to find ourselves being defeated in a lot of ways. We don’t have to do things that are over our head. Jesus isn’t asking us to start with deep theological messages.

In Exodus 4:2-5, God asked Moses what was in his hand; Moses had a walking stick in his hand. Then God used it to help Moses share his message. Like Moses, He is asking us to use what we have. In this Scripture in Exodus we have God talking to Moses and asking him to go help the persecuted Jews that were slaves in Egypt. Moses was arguing with God, trying to convince Him that He had picked the wrong man. So God started showing Moses that it isn’t the man that is important; it is His power that matters. God had been getting Moses ready for this assignment without Moses being aware of it.

Exo 4:2-5 (NIV) Then the LORD said to him [Moses], “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. “This,” said the LORD, “is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has appeared to you.”

Jesus isn’t asking us to work any miracles; He is asking us to do our part and then He will do His part. We throw the stick down; He turns it into a snake (Don’t try this at home. Just kidding). In other words, we tell our story; He helps the person want what we have. If they yield to Jesus’ help, they will join us. If they don’t, they will keep going the direction they were going.

It is true that we all have different gifts that Jesus gives us. Some of us will be able to help people one way while others help them in different ways. You don’t have to be like someone else. Jesus has made you a certain way so you will be able to help people from your gifts, skills, and talents that He has developed in you.

1 Cor 3:6-7 (NIV) I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, Who makes things grow.

The study we just did about Philip, Peter and John, and Simon the sorcerer may have scared you. After looking at these kinds of the power of God situations, we may decide that we don’t have the power of God, and therefore, don’t qualify. Another thing that can scare us to a place where we can’t even think about sharing the message, is the magnitude of the responsibility. What if we don’t do a good job and someone fails to accept Jesus because of it? It almost feels better to do nothing than do such an important thing the wrong way.

Many Christians have decided to just let someone more qualified than they are to tell people about Jesus. But, with enough Christians feeling this way, the unsaved can’t believe because they haven’t heard about Jesus. 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, that we just presented, is saying that the responsibility for results is on Jesus’ shoulders. We are only responsible for presenting our story of what Jesus has done for us (planting and watering). If they have any questions and we don’t know the answer, we just tell them we will see if we can find out. Jesus is responsible for helping them understand the message. And, He is responsible for helping them experience salvation; He makes things grow. Being willing to share our story with them is our part of putting on and keeping on our shoes of the gospel of peace.

Rom 1:16 (NIV) I am not ashamed of the gospel, because IT is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. We will feel better about sharing our story if we just realize that IT has the power to set them free; IT is Jesus’ power that saves them. When we share our story, we are allowing Jesus to flow from our life into their life as they hear it. If they respond to that power and believe the message that is in your story, they will be saved. All we have to do is tell it to them; Jesus will do the rest.

1 Cor 2:1-5 (NIV) When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were NOT with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

1 Cor 1:27-29 (NIV) But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him. Do you feel qualified for being one of these people?

When we feel like we need to leave the preaching up to the more qualified, we are usually talking about people who are more eloquent or who have superior wisdom. This is the very thing 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 and 2:1-5 are speaking against. They are saying: “I did not come with eloquence of superior wisdom.” “I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.” Surely we can do that.

2 Cor 12:9 (NIV) But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, SO THAT Christ’s power may rest on me. Jesus’ power flows through those who feel inadequate; these are people who know they are going to need Jesus’ help. The problem we face when we feel inadequate is to feel so inadequate that we don’t believe Jesus can and will help. People who feel too inadequate wonder why Jesus would use someone as useless as them in the area of sharing Him with others. They think He probably has lots of people who would do a better job. However, we need to be used to sharing the things of Jesus, that have been done in our life, because it keeps selfishness from coming into our hearts.