At a shack on the side of the road, in a house by the bar, on homesteads in the desert. We move from one place to the next with one purpose, yet there are as many methods, opinions, feelings, and reservations as there are people on the team.
“We are here to share the gospel.”
The words are brought into realization, and we brace ourselves for the response. It feels reckless, unprepared. My thoughts unravel like the tape of a cassette that’s caught in the tape player, and I try to sort through the mess, hoping I can wind it back up:
This approach feels right and wrong at the same time.
There’s a genuine simplicity about it. An openness. We aren’t here to trick people or sell them something. We are here to share the gospel. Jesus told those he sent out to stay in faith in a place that welcomed them and to leave in faith where they are rejected. They didn’t hide their purpose or beat around the bush. They made their purpose clear and trusted God to open hearts, ready to face rejection.
But I was trained to connect first. To show the love of Christ through my actions. Because then we have a foundation of trust. So they can know that I truly care about them. At least that’s what I was taught. But maybe it would be more loving to be straight-forward, rather than hiding behind polite attempts to make things comfortable.
Maybe it’s because of our culture. Maybe everyone would shut us out if we did evangelism this way in America. In some countries, we would be deported or put in jail for doing it this way. But America isn’t those countries. And maybe we’re just cowards, afraid of rejection.
I believe that effective evangelism takes a balance. We should be bold and honest in our purpose. We should love people by getting to know them instead of pushing ourselves on them. We shouldn’t be sitting with people in their homes, preaching and praying, without knowing their names.
We should “love one another with brotherly affection” as well as “rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:10, 12).” We know our brothers, their hearts, their dreams, their pain. And we love them as they are, not as strangers. This is how we, as followers of Christ, ought to love everyone.
I want to be bold and full of faith. I want to trust God to do the work, rather than depending on my ability. I want to love fully and authentically.
I know that we will never do this perfectly, but I pray that in sharing the gospel, we might do so with words and with love. In every country, because the gospel doesn’t exist anywhere apart from love and Truth.
In so many countries, I have seen God work in people’s hearts even when we are lacking. I have seen Him draw them close, when I am lacking in the “right words” or lacking in my ability to love zealously. And I know that what He asks of us is not perfect methods but a willing heart.
