As we consider our future as evangelicals, we should return to the commission the Lord Jesus gave before His ascension: ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth’ (Acts 1:8).
Sharing our faith is core to our identity as followers of Jesus Christ, and Christians sharing their faith with others has been used by God to underpin the growth of the global church – despite heresy, persecution and scorn, the gospel prevails!
When we look at the audience of that day who first received the Great Commission, Jerusalem represented their home; their friends and neighbours. Judeans represented people of similar cultural and religious understanding, who would have felt familiar and easy to connect with. Samaritans were the cultural and religious outsiders.