I used to hate the idea of street evangelism.
It was Christians trying to sell Jesus. They were door-to-door salesmen and God was the fancy new vacuum meant to clean up the mess in a person’s life. Street evangelists didn’t seem to care about the person more than their quota of souls sold for Jesus. And I’ve met self-proclaiming Christians like that, who turn souls into statistics and just want people to buy into the Gospel.
But I’ve also met Christians who’ve helped shift my heart for street evangelism. Christians who don’t sound like they’re selling anything. Just honest people who say that evangelism scares them. They’re scared of not saying the right thing or getting rejected or feeling disappointed. But they share the Gospel because they want to share the most important thing in their life. They want to share the secret to joy in sorrow. They want to share the unconditional love they’ve found in Jesus. They find it’s worth the fear, the awkwardness, the worry of seeming annoying, but hopefully not overbearing.
I want to be clear, evangelism isn’t my gift. I’d much rather serve the Lord by digging ditches. But it’s important to have a heart for evangelism. When the opportunity arises I want to make sure I’m not ashamed. I want to talk about God genuinely, like I would describe my closest friend. I don’t want to make Him sound like a product someone needs convincing to buy. I want to sound like I know Him, and He knows me.
In Romania, we had such an opportunity. We prayed over the city of Craiova, handed out bibles, and sought out conversations with people. I wasn’t worried about making a quota. I just wanted an opportunity to for a conversation with someone about the most important thing in my life.
Below is a video I worked on with my friend (http://averiadams.theworldrace.org) capturing the New Testament Project:
