Thanksgiving is a unique holiday. Historically, it was first celebrated in November 1621 after a successful corn harvest. The Wampanoag natives taught the Plymouth, Massachusetts settlers how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, and avoid poisonous plants. Although the harvest feast was not called “thanksgiving,” it was an opportunity to celebrate the fruit of their labor. It was Abraham Lincoln who officially declared thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863.

To a lot of people, Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season. It is the first of many occasions before the end of the year when families gather around and spend time together. Old traditions are celebrated and new traditions are created. It is also an occasion for many interesting conversations regarding sports, politics, current events, and even religion. Some of these conversations are friendly while others are heated and stressful. For Christians, this is a great opportunity to plant seed and to gather a harvest for the kingdom of God. 

The Need for Harvest

Many of us have family members and friends who have not yet put their faith in Jesus and have not yet confessed Him as their Lord and Savior. Some of them may have heard the gospel while others have no idea what the gospel is. As Christians, our desire must be for all of our family members and friends to believe in the truth of the gospel and turn to Jesus in faith and repentance. If we truly understand the gospel, then this desire should be natural and obvious. 

The reality is that all mankind is in rebellion to God and His perfect ways because of sin (Rom 3:23). The only way for peace between humans and God is by the righteousness of Jesus Christ because of His finished work (His life, death, resurrection, & ascension) received through faith (Rom 5:1). And those who continue in their rebellion will be cast out of the presence of God for all eternity. If we understand this, then we will also understand that our family members and friends will spend eternity under God’s wrath unless they turn to Him in Jesus through faith. This is exactly what John says in his gospel in John 3:36 – “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” Surely, this is not what we desire for our loved ones!

And if those who know and believe the gospel do not share it with them then it is highly unlikely, if not impossible, for them to hear it. Paul asks rhetorically in Rom 10:14 – “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?” You and I are called to be that preacher – to plant the seed of the gospel and to reap the harvest of believers – and it is important that we see ourselves as such. 

So, how do we become planters and harvesters? Here are five ways that will prepare us for our mission. 

Be Prepared

1. We need to internalize the great commission in Matt 28:19 to “Go and make disciples of all nations.” It is not a suggestion but a command. This does not apply to missionaries only but to all Christians. And it does not mean that the only way to fulfill this command is that we leave our families and neighborhoods and go to other countries. No, not everyone is called to be a missionary, but everyone of us is called to preach the Gospel. And we can do this right where we are – to our family members, friends, co-workers, etc. But it starts with realizing that each one of us is given that call. 
2. Get familiar with the Gospel. The Gospel is not “Jesus loves you.” If you prefer a 3-word sentence, you can use “God saves sinners.” Our Gospel proclamation has to include an explanation of the sinful condition of humans in light of God’s holiness, the finished work of Jesus including His death and resurrection as the only way for redemption, and the call to repentance and faith. You can know the gospel here.
3. Be always prepared to share the Gospel. This is what Paul meant in Eph 6:15, when he said that our feet should be sandaled with the readiness for the gospel of peace. As we interact with family members and friends, we should imagine ourselves in various situations and play out in our heads how we will share the Gospel in that particular situation. We can anticipate the direction of the conversation and be prepared to bring up the gospel during those conversations. As the saying goes, “our thoughts become our actions.” Let sharing the Gospel be our thoughts so that it will become our actions. 
4. We should be ready to give a defense of our faith (1 Pet 3:15). That is, we need to learn how to provide reasons for why we believe what we believe. This is called Apologetics. Christianity is not a blind faith rather it is the only rational worldview. It is built on historical facts and irrefutable truths. When we start talking to our family members and friends, there will be multiple questions and, in many cases, accusations and arguments to show that Christianity is a myth. As Christians, we should know answers to such arguments not only to refute and educate others but also to be confident in our faith. This could mean that we first seek out answers to the questions we ourselves have. As we grow in the knowledge of the truthfulness of our faith, we will worship Jesus more and proclaim this truth with more conviction. However, we need to provide answers with gentleness in order to win the person and not the argument.
5. We need to get trained in preaching the Gospel. It is not sufficient to know the gospel and the reasons for our faith but we have to also learn how to share it with others. We can read books written to encourage and provide practical ways to evangelize. We can attend workshops and seminars. And, we can also partner with others who have shared the gospel with others and learn from them. We have to make every effort to be fruitful in this aspect. 

Conclusion

As we enjoy this holiday season with our family and friends, let us be mindful of the mission given to us by our Master and Commander – go make disciples. This is the most loving thing we can do for our family members and friends, even more than giving them gifts they have waited for all their lives. 

And, let us not do it only during this holiday season but throughout the year. Jesus said that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few (Matt 9:37). Let us be those laborers in the field and bring in the harvest that God has already prepared for us.

And let’s not procrastinate any longer… 

Further Reading

1. Chap Bettis, Evangelism for the Tongue-Tied
2. Timothy K. Beougher, Invitation to Evangelism

Before His ascension, Jesus commanded His disciples to go and make disciples of all the nations. This is often called “The Great Commission” and can be found in Matt 28:19-20. This command was not just for the eleven disciples who were gathered there but it is a command for all of Jesus’ disciples. We, who call ourselves disciples of Jesus, are given the same command – to go and make disciples of all nations.

However, it is obvious that each of us cannot literally go into all the nations; and the disciples did not literally do it either. So, how do we carry out this command of Jesus. We can look at what the disciples did. Peter started by preaching a great sermon on the day of Pentecost and about 3,000 people were converted. Thomas traveled to India and made disciples there. Paul preached in the synagogues and also in gentile cities. However, can we go back to the giver of this command and see what He did? If Jesus commanded us to do something, did He do it Himself?

Jesus traveled to all the regions of Galilee and the surrounding towns and villages teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom (Matt 4:23; 9:35). But how was He going to reach all the nations? This is where we need to consider Jesus’ Master Plan of Evangelism (and yes, He had a plan!).

In his book, “The Master Plan of Evangelism,” Robert E. Coleman, lists eight principles that Jesus used to ensure that He will reach all the nations. These eight principles can be summed up in one sentence – Men (people) were His method of winning the world to God. Jesus did not invest in a program; rather, He invested in men He chose out of the world. And we can see more than 2,000 years later that His plan was perfect!

The 8 Principles

1. Selection: Jesus’ first objective was to choose men who will be with Him and carry out His work after Him (Mark 3:14). We read in the Gospels that at the very beginning of His ministry, Jesus started by calling different people to follow Him. The disciples were of various backgrounds: fishermen, tax-collector, and others. These men did not occupy a prominent place in the society but for the most part were common laboring men. But they were willing to learn. We see this in the various interactions they had with Jesus – asking Him how to pray (Luke 11:1), to show them the Father (John 14:8) and through many other questions.
2. Association: Jesus did not choose the disciples, give them a plan of study, and expect them to figure it out by themselves. No, He stayed with them and spent time with them. There was no curriculum, formal school, or course of study. He was with them and included them in all the activities He was doing. “Knowledge was gained by association before it was understood by explanation.”
3. Consecration: Jesus expected His disciples to obey Him. They needed to be fully devoted to Him. He taught this in many ways. He expected them to deny themselves and carry their cross (Mark 8:34-38), to love Him more than anything/anyone else (Matt 10:37-38), and to count the cost before following Him (Luke 9:62). “Obedience to Christ thus was the very means by which those in His company learned more truth.”
4. Impartation: Jesus not only expected all from His disciples, but He gave His all to them. He gave them all that He had heard from the Father (John 15:15), He gave them His peace (John 14:27, 16:33), He gave them His joy (John 15:11), He gave them His glory (John 17:22), He gave them His life (John 15:13), and He gave them His Spirit (John 20:22) through whom He continued to live in them (John 14:23).
5. Demonstration: As mentioned in “Association” above, there was no curriculum or program of study; rather, Jesus taught them through His own example. Jesus did everything that He expected His followers to do. His disciples were so intrigued by every part of Jesus’ life that they wanted to imitate Him. They wanted to pray like He did (Luke 11:1), to heal and cast out demons like He did (Matt 17:19), to understand like He did (Matt 13:10), to drink the cup like He would (Mark 10:39).
6. Delegation: It was not merely a show and tell with Jesus but also a hands-on practicum. Jesus assigned them work so they would learn by doing. He sent them out by themselves to preach and to heal (Mark 6:7-13), and He also asked them to baptize (John 4:2). Jesus knew very well that the message they were to preach was not something that the world will want to hear. However, He did not shy away from warning them about the hardships they would face.
7. Supervision: As part of being with the disciples, Jesus also kept check on them. He wanted His disciples to tell Him the things they had done when they were sent out by Him. He taught them that they need to pray and fast more when they could not heal a demon-possessed boy (Matt 17:14-20). He told them to have faith in Him every time they began to encourage doubts. He was by their side making sure that they were learning and getting the right understanding.
8. Reproduction: The main purpose of Jesus’ plan was that the disciples would in-turn make more disciples. This brings us back to The Great Commission. Jesus wanted His disciples to bear fruit (John 15:1-6) and to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19-20). But the disciples were not going to do this by their own power. He told them to wait for the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) and when the Holy Spirit had fallen on them (Acts 2:4), the floodgates were opened, and the disciples produced more disciples, who made other disciples.

What can we learn?

The first lesson for us is to realize that we are called to reach the nations. The Great Commission is for us, and we have to be willing to make disciples and teach them to observe everything Jesus commanded. If you are a Christian, this is not an option.

But before we teach others, we have to learn the teachings of Christ. We need to be a follower of Christ before we can make other followers of Christ. A person cannot lead unless he/she has been led by the Master. This involves studying the Scriptures, praying, fasting, belonging to a body of followers, and other spiritual disciplines. 

We cannot look to programs to achieve this mission. Instead, we have to invest in people. “The multitudes cannot know the gospel unless they have a living witness.” Not only must we preach and live the gospel, but we must also seek people to train and develop who will do the same in their context.  

It does not have to be a large number; start with a handful of people or one person! Invest your time in them. Mentor them and teach them the things you are learning or have learned. Motivate them to grow in Christ and help them carry their burdens. When they are ready, expect them to find others that they can train.  

If you are reading this and you need a mentor, reach out to your church elders, and ask them to suggest people in your church who can mentor you.

Conclusion

We are called to make disciples, and this is not an option. Just as we do not have an option to forsake our sin, we do not have an option but to evangelize. As Paul said, “Woe to us if we don’t preach the gospel” (1 Cor 9:16). Let us learn from the Master and invest in people. Men (people) were His method. Let them be ours too!

Further Reading

Robert E. Coleman, “The Master Plan of Evangelism”