Missional churches not only teach their people to accept responsibility for sharing the gospel and making disciples, we also prioritize equipping their people to be “gospel fluent.”

The gospel properly shared has the power to save people.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." Romans 1:16-17 (NASB) 

We do not want to alter it in any way. If we want to see the promised results, we should apply ourselves to studying how God presents the gospel in scripture and teach our people to do the same.

Many of us are not clear regarding exactly what is the gospel and how to share it properly. Modern evangelistic campaigns have tried to streamline the gospel message into something that can be easily remembered and quickly presented, but often at the expense of the beauty, breadth, depth, and impact of the true gospel. If we ask an average follower of Christ what they would tell a person who expresses a desire to become a follower of Christ, we would probably hear a response something like this. “Tell them to ask Jesus into their hearts.” If someone has already heard and understood the gospel message, this could be a proper next step, but it is not a good way to present the gospel. Others equate the gospel with the doctrine of justification by faith, but this is not the gospel. It is a wonderful benefit of believing the gospel.

What is the gospel?

Simply put, the gospel is the story of Jesus presented as an announcement of who he is, what he has done, and what he is going to do; all of which demands from us a response.

The appropriate one is to declare allegiance to him, receive the benefits he died and rose to give us, become his follower, and join his mission on the earth to go and make disciples.

John the Baptist was privileged to announce Jesus’ public ministry to Israel and the world. He told us four things about Jesus that are each important aspects of the gospel. Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the Baptizer in the Spirit, and the coming glorious Son of Man. If possible, every gospel presentation should present Jesus this way and explain the meaning behind these four titles. (Click here to read more about this.)

1. Jesus died for our sins as the Lamb of God to reconcile us to God the Father.
2. Jesus rose from the dead in power as the Son of God, the messianic king, and the Lord of lords.
3. As the Baptizer in the Spirit and the Lord of the harvest, Jesus ascended to the right hand of his Father in heaven and poured out his Spirit upon the church to equip and empower her to fulfill the Great Commission.
4. One day our Lord will return in the clouds of heaven as the glorious Son of Man prophesied by Daniel. He will judge the living and the dead and rule over God’s eternal kingdom.

There are four books in the New Testament that are called gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. None of these are neatly organized theological summaries of the doctrinal implications of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. In them, Jesus is presented as an historical figure who fulfilled Old Covenant prophecies that God would rescue us from Satan’s dominion, bless the entire earth, rule forever as a king on David’s throne, be a prophet the likes of Moses, and come again in glory one day in the clouds as the divine and glorious Son of Man to judge the world in righteousness.

Each of the gospels presents Jesus in such a way that the reader is invited to recognize that he is indeed the Messiah promised by God, the one sent to die for our sins as God’s Lamb, who also rose from the dead as Lord of lords, and who is coming back again to rule the nations. The gospel invites people to surrender to Jesus the Lord and receive forgiveness of sins and life everlasting from Jesus the Savior. The gospel also invites every person to bow his or her knee to Jesus and join him in his worldwide missional enterprise. It is an invitation to be a disciple – a follower of Christ who fishes for people and teaches others to do the same.

Missional churches commit to training and equipping their people to share the gospel and to grow in confidence in their ability and responsibility to share it.

Missional churches expect their people to share the good news themselves, not simply bring people to church meetings to hear the pastor. Missional churches believe that sheep beget sheep, that disciples are competent to minister, and that the Holy Spirit is equipping, empowering, and leading the entire missional enterprise.

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