Tonight we were out sharing our faith at a local street fair. We have a booth that our church pays for and the reason that we are there is to share the gospel. I thought I would relate one instance in particular. I shared the gospel with three young men. I use a very interactive question and answer type of dialog in order to engage them and walk them through the gospel. There was a young man who would come up from time to time and then he would go away. After sharing the gospel with them and making sure that they were clear on the salvation that has been offered to them in Jesus Christ I sent them on their way. The thing that makes me pause is that within a few minutes the guy from the edges of the conversation comes up to me almost crying in gratitude for me sharing the gospel with his friends. He was so glad that I had given his friends the gospel message. Now don't get me wrong. I am excited to be able to share the gospel. But there is nothing special or magical about me or my words. This young man who was so grateful could have been the one to share the gospel with these guys. I bet if I had pressed the issue I would have found out that he really did not understand how to share the gospel. Oh I am sure he could give his testimony. I do not doubt his genuine gratefulness. To be honest I do not think that the problem really is his.
What I have found is that there is an overwhelming rejection of personal evangelism among most people that call themselves evangelicals. This rejection has been initiated and fostered by pastors. Dozens of pastors have asked me with an air of incredulity, "Does that really work?!?" The resounding answer is yes it does. The other common thing is that people are claiming to go out to do evangelism but what they are really doing is name it and claim it theology on the street. They go out and pray for healing of headaches and backaches etc. So they spend a lot of time looking for just the right person and are not really equipped to share the gospel message. They may not even know how to share the gospel message. When you live a God focused life you are going to come to understand that healing evangelism and lifestyle evangelism are poor substitutes for evangelism. The God focused life causes us to realize that we have met and know the most incredible being that has ever existed. Why would I want to share anything less than the way to know Him. The gospel message in a nutshell is this: In order to know Jesus people must recognize that they have sinned against God and are in a desperate situation without hope apart from Jesus. People need to know that they must repent and believe on the Lord Jesus. People will not get this from watching us or having us pray for healing. Anyone can do it, you just have to have the reality of how magnificent Christ is burned into your heart by constantly gazing at Him. People really do need to hear this message and someone really does need to tell them. Who will tell your friends? Will it be you? Or will you wait for someone else and be really grateful that your friends finally heard? Will they ever hear? What's it going to be?
Only a recent follower on your blog, and one who doesn't typically care to post comments, you hit one of my soft spots! I couldn't agree with you more! The Great Commission extends to ALL believers and is NOT the job of the pastor, but is both a privilege and responsibility to all of us who call ourselves "believers."
ReplyDeleteWhatever "method" one uses, the power is in THE word, not our words. Many fear evangelism because frankly, few who hear "choose" to accept what Christ did (appears low yield) or we might seem inadequate, or we might be called a Jesus Freak, but that is not the point of evangelism. It is not about us. Our job as "evangelist" is to sew seeds. That seed will scatter to all types of soil, God's word does not return void. When our evangelism team goes out to share the Gospel, most often, converts are not made. But, we have to remember that this is NOT our job to make converts...it is God's job. And it is a privilege that God chooses to use people to reach people.
Many pastors push "lifestyle evangelism". I have never heard of anyone coming to know Christ based on how "John Doe" lived his life! Frankly, John Doe is guilty of not sharing the powerful Word! Lifestyle evangelism certainly isn't very threatening, but it is also quite ineffective. I'd bet, if any one of us met our earthly hero, be it Michael Jordan, Phil Michelson, or whomever we would RUSH to tell our friends all about everything that happened at our meeting with him! If we REALLY love Jesus, shouldn't we be just as anxious to share who He is and What He did? How much do you really love Jesus? (not you Argyl, but other readers!) If you aren't sharing the Gospel....you might either pray that God embolden you... or question your faith. Many "claim" to be born again believers....sharing is proof!
God Bless you Argyl!
dwayne