| The Absolute Necessity of Evangelism |
- I want to thank you all for the privilege of being here tonight… A couple of years after I graduated, Edith
haven’t walked by her office recently, but if she knew that I have been hanging around Yale for 25 years, she
might get a little upset!
- My wife, Pilar, and I have had about two and a half days of tears, prayers, phone calls from all over the
very timely. So bear with as I may break down in the middle of speaking. I was up until 2:00 in the morning last
night, preparing for this time, because my days have been so full. May we bow our heads in prayer?
- Lord Jesus, we thank you that we are alive today, on this day when we remember your death.
- Thank you, Lord, for that death. We have no words to express our gratitude for, because of what
you did, we not only have life now, but we have it forever. We thank you, Lord, for everyone who is
here tonight, but Lord we are not satisfied. We pray for the many more on this campus and in the
City of New Haven who need you just as much as we do. We ask that this weekend ahead will be a
time when some can come to know you. In Jesus name I pray, Amen
- I am speaking tonight on the absolute necessity of evangelism. By this term, I am referring to our efforts
may earn us criticism because some people are offended by the open declaration of the truths of God’s Word.
Nevertheless, as Paul states in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God
for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a
righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The
righteous will live by faith.’”
- I know as one who has been around Yale for 25 years that it is easy for those of us who are believers here
specifically to teach the wisdom of Christ Jesus. But another wisdom prevails in this place today, one that has
little room for Jesus except as a historical curiosity. We who believe in Christ are also viewed as a curiosity--if not
an offense--by those who do not so believe. Make no mistake, Paul meant exactly what he wrote in I Corinthians
1:21, “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through
the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.” To those who do not believe, the Gospel of
Christ is foolishness --because they will not and do not understand it. We cannot change this fact. No matter
how much we may want to dress up what we believe to seem wise in the eyes of those who do not believe, we
cannot do so. But to those who do believe our words, the Gospel of Christ may be the means of their discovery
of a life they never knew existed. Unfortunately, when we preach, there is no way to know in advance who will
and who will not believe. Only God can see what is hidden in people’s hearts.
- In September 1969, a young man from Wenham, Massachusetts entered Harvard as a freshman. He was
Congregational Church, the church founded by the Puritans, for all of his youth—yet he had never heard or
understood what it was to be born again, or to know the forgiveness of his sins. In his first week at Harvard,
however, he met believers in Jesus, including Andrew Burrows, a member of Yale’s Class of 1966. Those
believers invited him to come to a Bible study on campus. The young man went to that study and brought along
a friend. When Andrew and the others spoke to him about Christ, the young man replied that he was already a
Christian, but that his friend was not.
- The group of believers therefore began to speak to that friend about the new life that is ours in Christ, with
he now realized that he really wasn’t a Christian. He did not know Jesus in the way that they were describing, but
he wanted to know Him. That young man received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior that very night. On
Wednesday of this week, that young man died when his plane crashed into a mountainside in Bosnia, cutting his
life short at the age of 44. Nathaniel Cushing Nash the 5th had 27 years of walking with and serving Jesus, for
most of those years as a reporter in New York, Washington, Latin America, and then in Europe as the Frankfurt
bureau chief of The New York Times--and as their economic correspondent covering everything from Paris to
Moscow.
- More than that, Nathaniel was a very dear friend to me and to many others. He was present at the very
Bible studies at Yale? “With God, all things are possible!” Nathaniel was my roommate in Yonkers for several
years. In 1973, he and I and two others from Yale were interviewed over dinner in Manhattan by a New York
Times reporter who wanted to talk with us about our faith in Christ. After dinner, Nathaniel helped me work out
the details of a tune I wrote that night for Psalm 133: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to
dwell together in unity!”
- Nathaniel was an avid gardener and a gourmet cook who prepared meals for, among others, at least
expert tennis player whose father long hoped that he would go professional, only to be disappointed when he
chose instead to serve Jesus, and to enter the field of journalism. Last night, on the CBS evening news, Dan
Rather described Nathaniel as one of “the world’s greatest reporters.” Tom Brokaw devoted 3 minutes of the
NBC evening news to the story of his life and his death, and ended the segment with his own personal moment of
silence. Above all, Nathaniel was a lover of Jesus Christ, a man of prayer and a diligent student of the Bible. He
was also a lover of people, young and old, barbers, gardeners, or Senators. All of this would never have been if
someone had not had the courage to tell that young student at Harvard about Jesus Christ 27 years ago.
- Last weekend, while my wife and I were visiting friends in Washington, D.C., the Lord put some verses on
read Psalm 49, verses 7-20 in the New International Version:
- No man can redeem the life of another
- or give to God a ransom for him--
the ransom for a life is costly,
no payment is ever enough--
that he should live on forever and not see decay.
For all can see that wise men die;
the foolish and the senseless alike perish
and leave their wealth to others.
Their tombs will remain their houses forever,
their dwellings for endless generations,
though they had named lands after themselves.
But man, despite his riches, does not endure;
he is like the beasts that perish.
This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,
and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Selah
Like sheep they are destined for the grave,
and death will feed on them.
The upright will rule over them in the morning;
their forms will decay in the grave,
far from their princely mansions.
But God will redeem my life from the grave;
he will surely take me to himself. Selah
Do not be overawed when a man grows rich,
when the splendor of his house increases;
for he will take nothing with him when he dies,
his splendor will not descend with him.
Though while he lived he counted himself blessed--
and men praise you when you prosper--
he will join the generation of his fathers,
who will never see the light [of life].
A man who has riches without understanding
is like the beasts that perish.
None of us knows how long we have to live. My only brother received Christ as his Savior as a 12-year-old
away from faith in Christ when he entered high school. By the time he arrived as a freshman at Yale in 1973,
faith in Christ was only a memory from his past. Nevertheless, he had every prospect of success here, a genius-
level IQ, an 800 on his Physics achievement among others, everything a freshman should have to do well at
Yale—except Jesus.
His roommates had the bad habit of using drugs as did many back then, and my brother went to their
a trick on him by mixing a large dose of speed in an alcoholic drink which they handed to him. He drank what he
was given, suspecting nothing, and suffered a drug-alcohol reaction that landed him that night in Yale-New Haven
hospital. He stayed in many other hospitals and institutions for most of the rest of his life, a life which ended at
the age of 33 when his heart stopped.
It was done as a joke, but my brother could never return to Yale, though he tried many times. He could
again live on his own. For 12 long years, my brother was never seen by anyone to smile. But, in the mercy of
our gracious Lord, Gregory came back to Jesus in the last few months before he died--and he smiled once
again. When he did die, everyone at his funeral in the little mountain town of Silverton, Colorado knew that he
had entered eternal life with Christ--but he could never again get back his life here on earth.
The King James version for verse 8 of Psalm 49 reads, “For the redemption of their soul is precious, and
those around us will have to live either. Many graduates of this university have gone on to grow rich, to have the
splendor of their houses increase, and even to name lands and corporations after themselves. But the
Scriptures reveal that a life lived without Jesus Christ might as well never have been lived at all. Who remembers
who was the greatest American doctor of 1936, or the most successful trial lawyer of 1892, or the valedictorian of
Yale’s class of 1783? Who cares? Success in this life has value for a little while--but, as the poem says, “‘Tis
one short life, t’will soon be past, and only what’s done for Christ will last.”
The Scriptures do not call us to be lazy or careless about anything we do as servants of the Lord. This
and I both have three young children, and in both of our families we have twins. In fact, we are commanded in
Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” I can tell you personally that
Nathaniel did just that—and the Lord blessed him for it. But in all his concern about making the most of his
natural opportunities, and he did, Nathaniel never forgot to make the most of his spiritual opportunities. Only the
Lord knows how many people learned more about Jesus because they heard the words and witnessed the life of
this intrepid reporter.
The greatest gift that you as a believer in Jesus Christ can give to your friends and classmates is to tell
They may believe you and come to know Him, too. If you tell them, at least they will have the chance to decide for
themselves. If you don’t, God will have to use someone else—if He is to get through to them.
“For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever.” Do you remember what Jesus said
and dale to find that one sheep, and that is why some of us are here tonight. He left the ninety nine others to do
so. What are we willing to leave so that some lost sheep might come home to Jesus? Are we willing to speak to
those closest to us about our Good Shepherd? Are we willing to support the public preaching of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, and to forget about any personal embarrassment we might feel as a consequence? Who was more
embarrassed than Jesus when He was hung naked and bleeding on a cross, sentenced to die for crimes He had
never committed?
The Bible says in Hebrews 12:2 that Jesus “despised” the shame of the cross—he was not a masochist.
the same time change us into creatures fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. He loved us, but do we love those around
us in this dying world enough to speak up for Him? At stake is eternal life or eternal death for somebody else. If
we belong to Jesus, we are safe in His arms. But what about those who don’t know Him yet? Isn’t their
redemption precious, just as precious as ours?
Maybe they won’t listen to us, just as they would not listen to Jesus. Maybe they will mock us, as they
believe--not because we are wise or powerful or eloquent, but because “God is moving, by His Spirit, moving in all
the earth.” All He asks us to do is to get with the flow of His Spirit. Redemption wasn’t our idea, it was His.
Salvation isn’t our work, it’s His—to draw a people for Himself out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and tribe. If
you haven’t already, will you accept tonight the privilege of becoming a co-worker with Christ, one who is not
ashamed of His Good News, for “it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes?”
One thing I can tell you from personal experience, and with this I will conclude. There are few joys greater
now understands. Someone who hated Jesus, like Saul, now loves Him, like Paul. I will close with the advice that
Timothy Dwight, one of Yale’s greatest presidents, gave to the students present at the Baccalaureate address of
1814. “Christ is the only, the true, the living way of access to God. Give up yourselves therefore to Him, with a
cordial confidence, and the great work of life is done.” Many are in heaven today because President Dwight was
not ashamed of the Lord who saved him. If you will also refuse to be ashamed of the One who saved you, you
can be sure that on the Judgment Day, someone--and maybe a lot of “someones”--will walk up to you. They will
shake your hand, or hug you, and express their gratitude that you introduced them to Jesus--by your life, by your
words, and by your prayers. What greater reward can you have from this life than that?
(Message given at Good Friday gathering of believing undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty at Yale, April 5, 1996)