Pastor Miles McPherson of Rock Church in San Diego, California, challenged hundreds of Christians at the Modern Church Leader Conference on Monday (Oct. 21) to share the gospel with others, going as far as to say that it is sinful if they don’t.
“James tells us, if you know what to do good and you don’t do it, it’s a sin, and the best thing we can do is share the gospel of hope to people,” McPherson told ChurchLeaders during a follow-up interview.
He continued, “God has given us the ministry of reconciliation. [God] said, ‘If we follow him, he’ll make us fishers of men.’ So if we’re not doing what he called us to do, we’re not following his lead to seek and save the lost.”
McPherson, who was a defensive back for the San Diego Chargers from 1982-1985 before founding Rock Church in 2000, said Satan wants followers of Christ to isolate themselves from the world so they don’t tell others about Jesus.
“A lot of times, as Christians, we create our own sense of righteousness, [saying], ‘Here’s our own path. I’m not an evangelist. I’m just going to go over here and learn the Bible,’” McPherson said.
“And that’s exactly what the devil wants us to do. [Stay] in the corner to keep to ourself,” he added. “But we’re a light. We should set it up on the hill.”
McPherson encouraged Christians not to let fear get in the way of sharing the gospel. “God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear,” he told ChurchLeaders. “The devil wants to intimidate us from sharing the gospel, from even saying you’re a Christian [or] carrying your Bible.”
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“We’re the head, not the tail. We’re a light in the darkness,” he explained. “Darkness never stays when the light is turned on. Ever! If we turn our light on, we’ll actually see how powerful the gospel is—the power of God unto salvation.”
Being fearful about sharing the gospel is really a “deception, and one of the ways to get over that is to learn the gospel,” said McPherson.