How Does Your Understanding of the Gospel Affect Your Evangelism?

This past weekend I attended a world missions conference.  The conference was certainly geared toward a young audience, though I really found Bob Lenz's messages both encouraging, challenging, and even humorous.  I also found it very refreshing worshiping for hours with the band Reilly.  Lecrae really topped off the evening by boldly preaching the gospel with more passion that I've even seen from Piper...the man sure has a gift and I'm really thankful he's using it for the glory of God.

Nonetheless, in one of his messages, Bob Lenz shared the following statistic:

85% of all Christians in the Church were saved before the age of 18.  Furthermore, 75% of that 85% [i.e. 64%] came to know Christ before the age of 14.

In this particular message, Bob was talking about youth missions...how we should not overlook America's youth as the most unreached people group in the world (less than 2% of youth under age 14 are in church).

I want to first be very clear that I do NOT mean to discourage youth ministry in any way.  It is indeed a very important calling and one that must be done.  Christian parents, especially have an enormous responsibility.  My reason for writing this post is that I cannot help but look at that statistic as though the cup were half empty: we, as Christian adults are only reaching 15% of those who didn't grow up in a Christian family.  As someone who had never heard the gospel until I was 20 years old, that statistic breaks my heart.  Had God not brought someone into my life to share with me who God was and what He had done...I would have remained dead in my sin.

Again, not to discredit the importance of reaching out to the youth that we are given the opportunity to evangelize, but have we (the church as a whole) given up on unbelieving adults?  Bob shared another statistic: "9 out of 10 Christians will never lead another person to Christ." That statistic might break my heart even more than the first.  Is our faith really that stale and unfruitful?

I'm currently reading Bonhoeffer's biography (which I'm having a LOT of trouble putting down).  The book is worth buying even for the 2 page foreword by Tim Keller.  He writes:

"True grace comes to us by costly sacrifice. And if God was willing to go to the cross and endure such pain and absorb such a cost in order to save us, then we must live sacrificially as we serve others. Anyone who truly understands how God's grace comes to us will have a changed life. That's the gospel, not salvation by law, or by cheap grace, but by costly grace. Costly grace changes you from the inside out."

Now, if we really have been affected by the gospel; if we really do understand it...why do only 10% of Christians end up leading another to Christ?  How are we not so excited about Christ, and so understanding of what they are missing that we don't time-and-time-again share the gospel and disciple them, even when it is uncomfortable?  If we really understand the gospel, how are our hearts not so set ablaze by what He has done for us that Christ is not our single all-consuming passion? I have to admit that I am as guilty of pursuing other passions (often godly passions) as the next guy.  I think we, as a church, really need to take the time to focus ourselves solely on the gospel.  I know that I need to meditate on it with no outside distractions until I really get it.  And even when we do think we "get it", we need to not glance away, lest we might lose sight of it.

If our eyes are actually on the gospel, I am certain that we would be so excited about it, so clear on God's absolute hatred of sin and it's resulting consequences, and so amazed by God's love for us, that we could do nothing more than proclaim Christ with the passion that would make anyone who sees us, ask about our joy.