Imagine that you are a skilled physician. Through a research project you isolate an up-until-now undiscovered virus. As research continues, you find, to your amazement, that in all probability this virus has infected 100 percent of the human race. Indeed, every man, woman and child from every culture on earth has contracted the disease.

As your research continues, you come to the shocking realization that this disease is also 100 percent fatal. Your thoughts  are filled with the staggering implications. "This means I have the disease," you painfully realize. Visions of your family, friends and other loved ones race through your mind. The thought of 4.5 billion people with the disease is too frightening to appreciate fully. Further research only confirms your findings. Though the symptoms may at times be almost unnoticeable and are often subtle and unalarming, though they may vary from person to person and from culture to culture, the result is the same. This virus is a killer.

After the shock of your discovery abates, your concern turns to some practical and pressing questions. Can the world bear to hear? Is there hope for a cure? You press on with your research. It would be unthinkable to break this devastating news without also announcing the good news of a cure.

Your research pays off – you find the cure. You develop a means of administering it and treat yourself as the first patient. It works! Your tests indicate the virus is destroyed. You can hardly contain your joy as you remove yourself from the terminal list. Now your thoughts turn to your family and your friends – in  fact, to the entire world. There is hope! But your joy of discovery is tempered by the sober realization of the critical condition of others. Even at this moment the virus continues to take lives.

You arrange a press conference to bring the joyful news of the cure to the public. To your surprise, only a few of your colleagues and some newspeople attend. Your colleagues seem to be embarrassed for you. "What virus? A universal disease? Who, me? I feel just fine," are the only comments you hear. Even your family and friends are skeptical of the idea of a "universal, terminal disease." A few take you seriously, but mostly, you are treated with polite indifference.

 Convincing the Sick

 In spite of this rejection and indifference, your confidence never wavers. The more your own life is changed by the cure, the more you realize what a subtle, debilitating effect the virus had on your health.

 You conclude that this virus is tricky. People don't realize they have it – until it's too late. Some will admit to the symptoms, and may even grudgingly admit that they might have the virus. But they are revolted by your contention that it is terminal and needs an immediate application of your cure. What a sad irony. The cure is so powerful and efficient, the disease so deadly, but the sick don't take the matter seriously. "Why bother with a cure to a disease that I don't have or that isn't harmful?" they reason with a deadly logic.

 The Patient Healer

 Now you must consider the question: How can I convince the sick of their condition? I can't pour the cure down their throats; they have to want to take it, you reason. The crucial necessity is to open their eyes to their need so they will embrace the cure.

Through wise reasoning and persistent efforts, you reveal and communicate the nature of the disease and the marvelous effectiveness of the cure, and some are convinced. They take the remedy. Then they join you in the cause of convincing a sick world, blind to its sickness, of the great hope found in the only cure.

 The Real Situation

 This story accurately describes the human situation since the fall of man recorded in Genesis 3. A disease has infected the entire human race. It has many symptoms, but God gets to the root of the matter and calls it sin. It is terminal if left untreated. It is deceitfully subtle. Many do not even know they are infected with sin, though they may recognize some symptoms, and may realize their conduct is not always what it should be. But God is not content to deal with the superficial symptoms of sin. His word confronts indifferent human beings with the enormous personal consequences and eternal ramifications of sin.

Against the dark backdrop of man's spiritual dilemma, the Bible  also presents the cure. Jesus Christ and His offer of salvation, secured through the cross and His resurrection, and proclaimed in the gospel, is the good news – and only hope – for our terminally ill generation. We, of course, are the physicians, following in the footsteps of the Great Physician, who came to heal sin-sick human beings (Mark 2:17). We have experienced life on the "terminal list," but have taken the cure. We have decisively met Jesus Christ, been forgiven of our sin, received the Holy Spirit and the gift of eternal life. We are grateful recipients of the grace of His salvation and participants in His Kingdom. We now want our lives to count toward bringing others to the only Savior. As would any trained physician with a sick patient, we strive to do, skillfully, sensitively and effectively, whatever is necessary to recommend Jesus to all who will listen. Indeed, we seek to persuade them to listen. This is the work of evangelism: announcing the good news of the cure to sin-sick men and women, reasoning with them and convincing them that Jesus is indeed the Great Physician who came to heal and restore them to life.

 Why Another Book

 This book is dedicated to the proposition that the motivational and structural barriers to personal involvement in evangelism must be addressed if the church is to mobilize its members to their maximum effectiveness.

Just what are these barriers, why do they persist, and how can they be overcome? The answers to these questions are grounded in the conviction that only a theologically informed, zealous approach to our evangelistic task can overcome the barriers and ensure that as many as possible hear as soon as possible and can decide as clearly as possible for Jesus Christ.

I am convinced that a sensitive heart and an informed mind are a necessary combination if the church is to succeed in its evangelistic calling. James Denney, the 19th-century Scottish theologian and preacher, dedicated his career to the belief that sound theological thinking must infuse the preaching and evangelistic efforts of the church. He wrote, "If our gospel does not inspire thought, and if our theology does not inspire preaching, there is no Christianity in either.”1 Denney was convinced that if our theologians were evangelists and our evangelists were theologians, we would come nearer to having the ideal church.

But the scenario described by evangelist D. P. Thomson more accurately depicts today's evangelistic scene. He writes, "Evangelism has too long been under a cloud. It has been associated with a crudity of thought and expression, a sensationalism of method, and a largely emotional appeal to which thoughtful men and women could not consciously subscribe."2 As a result of this "cloud," we find many well-intentioned believers on the evangelistic sidelines, immobilized by the fear of being identified with these negative features. At best, a few of the more gifted communicators among us might venture out to share Christ with friends and acquaintances. This is commendable, but is a far cry from the maximum mobilization necessary to fulfill the church's evangelistic calling. To make matters worse, the very structural supports that could serve to train, equip and mobilize believers for evangelism are ignored or criticized by those intent on avoiding the cloud. It is sad but true that motivational and structural barriers continue to hinder the great majority of the body of Christ in America from personal involvement in evangelism.

But this need not be the case. The church can share the good news with a theologically informed zeal that will protect it from ineffective or harmful evangelistic practice, will motivate the membership toward personal involvement and will undergird the structures required for translating this motivation into actual involvement. Such zeal must rest on the conviction that the person involved in evangelism is on the cutting edge of what God is doing in the world. It will appreciate the fact that the gospel is such good news that it must be announced to all who will listen. At the same time, such crucial news must be communicated accurately and sensitively so that it touches the heart and brings about a life-changing decision for Jesus Christ.

This book is addressed to the great need in American Christendom for such bold and sensitive, zealous and informed evangelism. We must tell the gospel well and we must tell it often. Our evangelism must reflect a warm heart and a trained mind so that as many as possible might listen, and that those who listen may truly hear.

I trust that this book will motivate and inform you. I hope it motivates you toward personal involvement as you grasp the crucial nature of the evangelistic task and the magnificent power of the gospel to save lost individuals and restore them to new life in Christ. I trust, also, that you will be informed as to how you might pursue this work of evangelism with boldness, sensitivity, confidence and effectiveness.

God is ready, willing and able to use you right where you are. No matter what your personality type, spiritual giftedness or circumstances are, you can play a significant role in seeing the love and forgiveness of Christ become a reality in the lives of your friends, neighbors, family, and, indeed, anyone who will listen. It's my prayer that this book will give you the tracks to run on to tell the good news often and tell it well.