How do you share the gospel when you don’t feel qualified? You go anyway. God doesn’t wait for you to earn the assignment before he hands it to you. He equips those he calls.
One of the biggest excuses we make when it comes to sharing the gospel is that we don’t feel qualified. We might think:
- I don’t know enough about the Bible.
- I’m not a good speaker.
- Someone else would be much better at this than I am.
Time and time again, the Bible reminds us that God doesn’t call us because we are qualified. Instead, he equips those he calls through his Word and gives us everything we need to share the good news. We don’t have to prove that we are qualified because through Christ Jesus, we already are.
Jesus equips those he calls. So who is qualified to share the gospel?
When you read through the gospels, do you notice who Jesus called to follow him? He didn’t call people with extensive religious training, great education, or impressive credentials. Instead, he called ordinary people like Peter, a simple fisherman, to share the good news of salvation with others. He even called people with messy histories, such as Matthew the tax collector, to be his closest students.
Jesus didn’t wait for these people to become perfect before calling them. He didn’t tell them to clean up their lives, learn everything there was to know, and then come back when they were ready. He called them to follow him, learn from him, and eventually go and tell others about him. They weren’t chosen because they had all the answers. They were chosen because Jesus had a message for them to share.
Are you living as yourself or for yourself?
That raises an important question: Can you still be yourself as you share the good news of Jesus? The answer depends on whether you are living as yourself or for yourself. Being yourself doesn’t mean following your every desire. It means allowing Christ to restore the person he created you to be.
The Bible paints an honest picture of who we are as human beings. Left on our own, we would rather chase comfort over sacrifice, pride over humility, and our own desires over God’s will. The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah writes, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jeremiah 17:9). That truth isn’t meant to make us hopeless; it’s meant to help us see that the problem isn’t merely that our hearts are unreliable. We need something outside ourselves to give us a new heart and a new direction.
Does following Jesus mean giving up your personality?
Jesus gives us that new direction when he proclaims: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). At first, that sounds discouraging. Does Jesus mean you have to give up your personality, your interests, or the things that make you unique? Not at all. God isn’t interested in erasing who he created you to be. He’s interested in restoring the person whom sin has distorted.
Think about a painting covered in years of dirt. The dirt isn’t part of the design, so restoring it reveals its true beauty and purpose. Cleaning the painting reveals what was there all along. In the same way, God’s work in us isn’t about replacing his creation. It’s about removing what sin has covered so that his work shines through more clearly in us.
We see this transformation throughout Scripture. Matthew’s past as a tax collector didn’t disqualify him from serving Jesus. Instead, Jesus called him away from his old life and gave him a new purpose—using his gifts to record the gospel of Matthew. Peter’s boldness, although often misdirected, wasn’t taken away either. Through Christ, it was redirected toward courageous leadership.
That is what the Holy Spirit does. He doesn’t simply teach us to behave better. He gives us a new identity. The apostle Paul writes, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Following Jesus doesn’t mean becoming a carbon copy of someone else. God doesn’t need another version of someone else. He calls you to follow Christ with the personality, experiences, gifts, and relationships he has given you, all while allowing his Spirit to transform how you use them.
Where to turn when you try to be someone you are not.
This doesn’t mean you won’t have moments when you want your own way more than God’s. Even Paul describes that tension in Romans chapter 7, admitting that he sometimes does the very things he hates. But the Christian life isn’t about pretending that struggle doesn’t exist. It’s about knowing where to take it.
When you fail, you are invited to bring your failures to Jesus, who has already carried them to the cross. His forgiveness isn’t reserved for the moments when you finally get everything right. It is the gift he freely gives to those who trust in him.
Do you have to share the gospel the same way everyone else does?
That’s the beauty of Jesus’s calling. No matter what your gifts are, you are empowered by the same Spirit. God doesn’t ask every Christian to share the gospel in the same way. The outgoing person may naturally start conversations. The compassionate person may listen to someone who is hurting. The quiet friend may build trust through years of faithful friendship. Different people, different gifts, one gospel. Paul reminds us in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.” Notice where the power comes from. It doesn’t come from your personality, your ability to speak, or how much biblical knowledge you have. The power belongs to God.
What can you do with this gospel transformation?
Jesus calls ordinary people to carry an extraordinary message. Sometimes all it takes to share that message is the willingness to take the first step. It may mean sitting next to a coworker, talking to a neighbor you see every morning, having coffee with your niece, or approaching a stranger you happen to meet. They may not need someone who has everything figured out. They may simply need someone willing to go.
- Go and listen to someone who is hurting.
- Go and tell someone what Jesus means to you.
- Go and point someone toward the cross.
