Here is an article by Michael J. Kruger showing that the initial impulse of Christians was to spread the Gospel. Indeed, one of the greatest truths I ever learned was that it was ordinary Christians who first spread the Good News, not the elites. This case is found in Acts 8. 1-4. After Stephen’s martyrdom, a fierce opposition developed against the Christians: And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles (vs. 1 NIV). A few verses later, the activity of these dispersed, ordinary believers is detailed as: Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word (vs.4 NIV).

In many churches, today, the pattern is reversed, in that, it seems, the defacto job of Christians is to invite others to hear the elite pastor at their church. The ordinary Christian has forgotten how to present Jesus to the world. All Christians are supposed to be missionaries. Christians are to represent Christ and not themselves, the culture, or country they live in. A question Christians should ask themselves is: “Am I dying to myself and seeking God’s Kingdom in the biblical way?” If this question is not an affirmation, then they have failed the basic command of Jesus: And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple (Lk. 14.27 NIV).

A Forgotten Fact about the Earliest Christian Movement – Canon Fodder