Here is a comment I wrote as a reply to another comment at Theology for the Masses. I hope you like it.
I evangelize because of joy. Jesus Christ is my joy and treasure. Like with everything else that brings me joy, I want to share that joy with others. So I will tell those who call themselves believers and those who aren’t believers (however, I do not do this as much as I should to my shame). I also share the good news about Jesus and his propitiating work on the cross because it brings joy to my Lord. I preach the gospel because he has chosen me to go and share in that joy by heralding that good news. I think/believe that this is when people see the beauty of Jesus the most is when his people live like “in [his/Jesus'] presence is the fullness of joy; at [his/Jesus'] right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11 ESV
). That’s why I evangelize, for my joy which shows most fully Jesus as the all-satisfying delight and pleasure in the universe. “I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Timothy 2:10 ESV) because my eternal joy is found in that endurance and the joy of the elect is at stake as well. Because God has ordained the ends (eternal happiness in him through faith in Jesus Christ) as well as the means (the folly of preaching a crucified Lord to a world that hates that very Lord and God), I must go out as Jesus’ ambassador and “endure everything for the sake of the elect,” issuing God’s command* to repent and believe upon his Son Jesus Messiah. I go out and preach “Delight yourself in the LORD”** through and in the Lord Jesus Christ because I delight in him and want to share it and let others share in that joy so that we can delight in it together, showing just has magnificent God really is in Christ alone.
*In Acts 17:30 Paul says that God “commands” (παραγγέλλει) all men to repent; in Mark 1:15 Jesus uses the imperative verbs μετανοεῖτε (repent) and πιστεύετε (believe).
**Note the imperative verb in Psalm 37:4, Hebrew: wehithe’annag, LXX: κατατρύφησον
Here is the comment I was responding to and here is the link to my own comment.
Related posts:
Another look into euaggelion
Luke 10:21-22 and Joy
Reflections on the Pastor