The Gospel of Jesus Christ produces joyful hope in our hearts. It tells us how God so loved the world and sent His only Son to save sinners from their eternal damnation. It tells us how Jesus Christ loved His elect people so much that He died for them on the Cross. It also tells us how Jesus Christ was raised from the dead to become the hope of our resurrection. It then tells us how Jesus ascended into heaven, seated at the right hand of God, now ruling and defending His people, and will return to us in His glory!

Several weeks ago, I had a very embarrassing interaction at a small Asian restaurant in my town. I was grabbing lunch with one of the elders from Christ Presbyterian Church to have a time of fellowship. After we prayed for the meal, a very kind old lady approached us and asked us: “Are you gentlemen Christians? What kind of Christians are you?” And after a very brief interaction with her, we found out that she was a member of Kingdom Hall (Jehovah’s Witnesses) in the nearby town, and she approached us because she heard us praying in the name of Jesus.
After I finished having a lunch with the elder, I had to stay little longer at the restaurant to order takeout for my wife. And as I was waiting for the food, I saw the old lady sitting at one of the booths with her companions. I decided to approach and interact with her further, curious to find out how much she knew the doctrines of Jehovah’s witnesses and also to invite her to the church.
The conversation with the old lady soon revealed to me that she was a very ardent member of Jehovah’s Witnesses. She knew her doctrines very well, and she even tried to convince me that Jesus was the created being by Jehovah and that everyone must believe in Jehovah to be saved from Armageddon.
My brain, of course, was pulling out Scripture references after references to “counter” her arguments. But, at the same time, my Asian upbringing also kicked in (most likely because I was in an Asian restaurant) and made me think, “I really shouldn’t embarrass an elderly lady in a public place and in front of her company”.  So, I told her, “I am really enjoying our conversation, and I would like to talk more about your beliefs. But, obviously, this is not a place and time for this…” And without hesitation, the old lady stopped me and replied, “Every place is a place to talk about Jehovah.” And I stood there stunned and embarrassed.
 The Absence of the Spirit of Evangelism
Perhaps one of the saddest realities of many Reformed churches in the United States is that there is a much absence of the spirit of evangelism among believers. Although believers and churches might find a great need to reach out to the communities and the lost souls around them, many believers often find themselves shying away from evangelism for various reasons. For example, some believers shy away from evangelism because they think evangelism is for extroverted people who know how to connect with unbelievers around them. Some believers hesitate to evangelize unbelievers because they think it is for educated and theological people who know how to explain and defend the Bible. Others refuse to engage in evangelism because they don’t want to find themselves in awkward or even hostile situations.
As such, at the end of the day, every Christian who finds evangelism difficult and challenging asks these questions to themselves – Why don’t I just support the evangelistic efforts of those who are clearly more gifted at reaching out to unbelievers than me? Can I not just live a normal and peaceful Christian life, caring for and fellowshipping with those who are already in my church? Must I evangelize unbelievers around me? And my answer to these questions is, “Yes. You too must reach out to unbelievers personally and evangelize those who don’t know the Gospel.”
 1. We Must Evangelize because We Are “Christians”
The first reason why every believer must engage in evangelism is because we are “Christians.” The Heidelberg Catechism question 32 shares a very helpful insight into why every believer must engage in the task of evangelism.
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Even though church is a place where the God of consuming holiness comes to meet and speak to his people, believers stand before holy God every week with confidence and joy, being clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:16). In the same way, even though church is a place where disciples fostered a countercultural relationship, believers can nurture a deep and authentic relationship of love for one another as they imitate Christ who had loved them to the point of laying down His life for them (John 13:34). Most importantly, while Satan continuously seeks to destroy a church and her saints, the Scripture testifies that Jesus will continue to protect and empower the Church so her enemy will never triumph over it (Matthew 16:17-19).

Church – a Safe, Welcoming, and Casual Place?
A big stage with smoke machines and flashing spotlights, emotional music and songs, a man wearing jeans and a shirt with tattoos standing on a podium, a sign that reads “Welcome! You are loved here!” These are the pictures that come into our minds when we think about typical broad evangelical churches in the United States of America.
In recent centuries, many modern American churches have gone through a significant shift in their cultures. For example, in the 20th century, American evangelicalism was impacted by the “Seeker-Sensitive movement,” where churches actively contextualized their cultures, practices, worship, and message to attract irreligious people.[1] In the 21st century then, American evangelicalism is impacted by various social and political movements such as “Black Lives Matter” or “Sexual Revolution”, causing many churches to embrace and promote such cultural agendas to embrace socially marginalized people.
And while these cultural and social movements, such as the seeker-sensitive, social-justice, and sexual-revolution cultures, have influenced many evangelical churches in various ways, one undeniable influence they have played is convincing churches to reshape their identity – an identity that communicates they are safe, friendly, and casual places to the world and to people.        
But this raises an important question. Is church really a safe, friendly, and casual place as many modern churches try to communicate to the people? Is church really a place where worshippers and visitors can casually and comfortably enter and enjoy their time? My answer is no. Contrary to many churches that try to communicate to its worshippers and visitors, I would argue that a church is first and foremost a dangerous place to be for anyone.
 1. A Place with A Dangerous God
The church is a dangerous place because it is, first and foremost, a place where a dangerous God comes to meet His people. Contrary to the widely spread view about God in modern American Christianity as loving, accepting, and affirming, the Bible often depicts God as an unapproachable being. For example, there are many accounts in the Bible where saints encountered God in their lives and were utterly swallowed up by fear and dread.
To mention a few incidents from the Old Testament, when Gideon encountered God at Ophrah, he cried out, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face (Judges. 6:22).” When Isaiah encountered God and saw Him with his own eyes in his vision, he also cried out, “Woe is me! For I am lost… For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts! (Isaiah. 6:5)” When Elijah encountered God at the Mount Horeb, he quickly covered his face with a cloak (1 King 19:13) because he understood the danger of being in God’s presence as God had once spoken to Moses, “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live (Exodus. 33:20).”
To be more precise, it is God’s holy attribute that renders Him to be a dangerous being because His holiness cannot tolerate any hint of unholiness or sin in His presence (Habakkuk 1:13a). In fact, the New Testament also recognizes the danger of God’s holy presence as it commands Christians to stand in awe and reverence when they come into the presence of God as it declares, “Our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29).”
It is this Holy God who comes to meet and speak to His people every Sunday when worshippers gather together in His sanctuary. The God who does not, “Leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations (Exodus 34:7)”; the God who does not tolerate man’s clever inventions or ways of strange fire (Leviticus 10:1), every man and woman who comes to church every Sunday and stands before the audience of this dangerous God.
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