If someone asks you about your faith, then you should respond. 1 Peter 3:
The collective church has the responsibility to spread the gospel to the world. Matthew 28:
If you are in a place where no one knows about the gospel, then you should make an effort to spread the gospel, Acts 8:
Some believers are gifted to evangelize, Ephesians 4:
Not every believer is required to spread the gospel actively. I tell people about the good news occasionally, but I do not do it actively. According to Paul, evangelists are the ones most actively spreading the gospel.
See also
What is my calling?.
I completely agree, though I'm sure some will take issue with me. When I was young and easily influenced, I would listen to preachers continually harp on us to stop being lazy and get out there and preach the Gospel...or people will go to Hell on our watch!
I have a totally different approach today. There are always people interested in the Gospel, but as nations go, there are "hot times" and "cold times." We can't force the Gospel down the throats of those who are not hungry!
There were times when I ran into someone interested in hearing the Gospel, and immediately the Christian next to me took over and started teaching and preaching, leaving me an idle observer. This happened enough times that I fully came to understand that the Holy Spirit had not gifted me with evangelism--I had other uses.
I've found that more often than not, I don't instigate conversations of evangelism or even conversations about the Lord. I'm able to recognize that people instinctively know who I am and ask if they truly need something spiritual out of me. I normally only answer questions, and only then if I perceive someone truly interested.
Otherwise, I'm just defending truth to protect those vulnerable to lies. That appears to be my greater usefulness, protecting others from lies and deceptions so that others can speak truth to them without all of the interferences.
So I can relate to what you're saying in my own way. My own pastor constantly harps on us in the congregation. He says it's his job to tell us to evangelize, and our job to evangelize. I don't really respect that so much, since he should view himself as available as we are for this kind of job, the Lord willing.
Anyway, I don't listen to preachers telling me I have to evangelize any longer. Jesus didn't say I should just go out and evangelize. I tried that years ago, passing tracts out randomly on the street--I didn't know when to quit. I came to recognize something called "spiritual guidance" and "responsible ministry," as I've been explaining.
God is not desperate to use us as if He can't do the whole job Himself. He has simply *chosen* to use us, but only in the giftings that He has given. Otherwise, we are trying to be somebody else or act out of character with who God created us to be. That kind of evangelism will be very awkward and unproductive.
Jesus has asked us to *pray* that God will send forth laborers. That means it may not be us--it may be someone called to that.
At any rate, our work isn't causing people to go to Hell. Whether they get the whole Gospel or not, they will be judged for what the Holy Spirit speaks into their conscience. And He does that every day, even if the person doesn't fully recognize who it is that is speaking. They will be judged by what they know and by how they respond to what they do hear.
But whatever our ministry we cannot be ashamed to speak up when called upon to do so, depending on our gift. We should not hide our light that appears when we do good works in Christ.
We don't boast, but we work with the Lord in whatever we do. The world will see it. And the world will see our love for one another. If we do our part the whole world will hear better and may be able to do better than otherwise.
