It is very important that we spread the news of Jesus Christ to all people. Sometimes this is done with other believers at our side; other times it means going alone. The number is irrelevant, however, because we are commanded to go into all the Earth and tell people about Christ. (Matthiew 28:19-20)
One crucial aspect to sharing God’s Word is constancy. We have a responsibility to share what has been revealed to us in its entirety. It does not require anything but a heartfelt desire to share our greatest news with those nearest us.
In Acts 8, we see a picture of the early church under fire. Saul goes to great lengths to tear down what Jesus built. This pressure on believers led them to flee his wrath, yet in verse 4 we find that they continued to spread their news to all people. This group was likely not ordained, nor did they have churches to attend when they fled. As a matter of fact, it is implied that they did not seek audiences at all, but instead spoke their message wherever they were.
This certainly shows their willingness, desire, and need to spread what was inside of them. (Luke 6:45) When someone decides to speak, they do it as a radiation from the source instead of a concentration around it. In a sense, they don’t “preach” their message from a place of comfort; it is freely given to any who will listen. This emphasizes that we have a responsibility to share what we know because we posses it, and the early church modeled the universal responsibility Jesus charged us with.
When persecution hits a group, it is generally believed that those holding the big stick are the victors. What we see throughout history is a different story: persecution often spreads things further than the original effort! After taking great steps to disperse the core followers of Christ, it was believed that they would stop speaking of Him. When we look at the results we find the opposite to be true. (Paul himself verifies it: Philippians 1:12-13)
No book has ever been under the same pressure as the Bible. No message has been so widely spoken as the Word of God. No figure has been given the attention that Jesus Christ can claim. These facts, confronted by eons of suppression, can only be a testament to how God chose to work through our efforts to squelch His message. As a matter of fact, we find that the range of persecution extended the range of Christianity.
As Saul attempted to stamp out the followers of Christ, he actually made it more accessible. One of the precipitating actions to this change was when they stoned Stephen. After killing him, Saul drove the Christians out; forcing them to be solitary or with few ties back to the rest of the body. This only encouraged their speech, however, and we can almost state that the blood of Stephen was literally watering the roots of the early church.
I believe it is the responsibility of the church to spread the news of Christ. This means that we don’t have to do anything fancy, get incredibly emotional, or engage in passionate discussion to make a difference. All we have to do is decide to share what we have with someone else. When we choose to do good, it influences our heart; in that moment it becomes impossible for our message or movement to rendered useless. Wherever we are, we have a job to do. Are we?