Essentially, evangelisation has to do with the sharing of the good news of Jesus Christ.
Everyone has a right to know the basic message of the Christian faith and the church is charged to share that news afresh in each generation. As has often been said, 'God has no grandchildren' and we are all to find a personal faith, knowledge and experience of God for ourselves. As Christians we have found that faith in Christ, and want to commend it to others for serious consideration. Evangelisation is about sharing that faith, and the way in which it happens today.
The Christian faith is based on the Old Testament scriptures which we share for the most part with those following Muslim and Jewish traditions. Our faith as Christians is rooted in the teachings of Jesus found in the four Gospels written by the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The initial experience of the Early Church is recorded in the rest of the New Testament, and this has shaped the teaching and development of the church around the world for the past 2000 years. About a third of the world's population follow Jesus today, in many varied and different ways.
In the history of the church, there have been times and examples where evangelisation has been aggressive and not shown the love, forgiveness and new life which Jesus came to offer. In our day, we believe that Christians have good news which can transform individuals, communities and the whole world for the better, as we pray the prayer the Jesus taught us: 'Your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven'.
So, we are followers of Jesus who want to share good news with everyone, and work for a better world which reflects the Kingdom he came to preach. That Kingdom has values of justice and mercy, reconciliation, grace and truth in which we aim to exhibit the 'fruit of the Spirit' described in Galations 5:22,23: 'love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control'.
These news items are here to help us all share in that 'unfinished task' together, fulfilling Jesus' Great Commission to to his first disciples: 'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age'. Mt 28:19/20
Jim Currin
