Apathy in Evangelism | Romans 10:13-17
Romans 10:13-17
13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
“People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.” ——D.A. Carson
1. Problem with apathy in evangelism
a. What is apathy in evangelism?
b. What does apathy do in evangelism?
1. Apathy makes us Comfortable with what should Convict us.
2. Apathy makes us Complacent when we should be Compassionate.
3. Apathy makes us Cold toward eternity.
4. Apathy turns us into Consumers instead of Carriers of the gospel.
2. A portrait of passionate evangelism
a. There is Concern for the lost
Romans 10:1
“Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.”
Romans 9:1-3
“I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,”
Romans 15:20
“And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named…”
Matthew 9:36
Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
Matthew 23:37-39
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. 38 Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! 39 For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
b. There is Consistent prayer for salvation
Romans 10:1
“Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.”
c. There is Commitment to go where the gospel is needed
Romans 10:14–15
“How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!’”
Matthew 28:18-20
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 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.’”
Romans 10:15
“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things.”
Romans 15:20
“And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named…”
Acts 9:15
“For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.” — 1 Corinthians 9:16
“Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.”
d. There is Courage to speak the gospel in love
Romans 10:14–15
“How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?
And how will they hear without a preacher?
How will they preach unless they are sent?
Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!’”
2 Timothy 1:7–8
“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner,
but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God.”
Acts 4:20
“We cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
“When the church is silent on issues that the culture is screaming about, then a whole generation only hears one worldview. The church must speak up, disciple up, and train up a generation to navigate through cultural issues with truth and love. Silence is not an option.” —— Shane Pruitt
3. The prescription for apathy in evangelism
a. Believe the gospel
Romans 10:13–15
“For ‘Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent?Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!’”
Romans 10:9–10
“That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
b. Apply the gospel
Colossians 2:6
“Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”
c. Share the gospel
2 Corinthians 5:17–21
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Philippians 2:4
“Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”