EVANGELISM
React to this word and be honest. What’s your first thought?
Mormons?
Large, sweaty men that wipe their brow with every over-exaggerated syllable of the word Jesus?
Street corner preachers?
Wearing a sign about the tribulation?
Church?
Heaven?
Hell? Privacy invasion?
Judgement?
Necessary?
I can’t tell you what I thought about the word or thought of Evangelizing before World Race. As of now… I have a whole slew of words to attribute to the verb.
SCARY.
INVASIVE.
ABRASIVE.
DIFFICULT.
RANDOM.
AWKWARD.
In the past 3 months, I’ve passed out Jesus calendars door-to-door, hung out at parks, played soccer, solicited houses, walked house to house putting leaflets in mailboxes, VBS, walked the beaches, talked to strangers at street corners, shared a cider with a drunk in a pub, sat with street bums begging for money, did home visits to the sick / wayward / and non-believers, and talked to street vendors.
Let me be honest. Each time I went out, in every conversation I had… evangelism was NOT easy.
I stuttered, stammered, used words wrong and misquoted scripture. People slammed doors in my face, walked off during conversation, and politely agreed with everything I said so that I would go away. Some argued, some stayed silent, some cussed me in languages I didn’t understand. But most people just sat there, shifty-eyed and waited for the most awkward conversation of the day (or maybe week) to pass so they could go on with their life.
Who wants to have those types of conversations EVERYDAY… OVER AND OVER AGAIN?
I do.
Here’s why.
6For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,7and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,8dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed–for our testimony to you was believed. (2 Thess 1:6-10)
There’s two responses Jesus followers have to this scripture:
1) Praise God that my salvation secures me from this TERRIBLE fate of judgement!!! WHOOO HOOO! Party in heaven!!!
2) I am NOT OKAY with the letters in bold. Maybe I should be the one to tell others about Jesus so they can have what I have!
Both are correct, but I dare say that in the latter lies the heart of evangelism. Do we value what our faith looks like more than the salvation of others? Jesus didn’t. I’m sure He made many of pharisees, family members, tax collectors, townspeople, fisherman, and politicians have the sweaty pits when He talked about His Father.
Here is a story about one man that took evangelism seriously… not as an act of heroism, rather as a necessity.
