Evangelism

Do you evangelize? Witness? Preach the gospel? Obey the Great Commission (Mar 16:15)? I don't. I have on occasion, but I don't do so regularly at all. I can happily announce that I'm a Christian, but announcing the message that makes me so is a different story.

I'd been ok with this for a long time. I'd watched Ray Comfort rightly preach the gospel several times and felt conviction and a desire to do the same. I bought tracts, passed some out, encouraged the youth group to "get out there" and share their faith, and even helped an established evangelism team one night. The thing is, the conviction and desire always faded away and I ended up back where I had started: discouraged, apathetic, and intimidated.

After going through the process a few times, I'd gotten tired and settled on apathetic mode. Concern for everyone else's eternity was near the bottom of my list. That's probably why I was more excited about the drive out to California than the actual reason behind the drive. I'd made up hundreds of excuses for not evangelizing and they all seemed legitimate enough. "I need to brush up on some apologetics first," "Paul did take years to prepare before he did anything."

As the seven of us headed out in one very large church van, Sarah leaned over and told me she was already very excited. "I'm also a little scared, though. I mean, Ray Comfort is so direct," she said. She knew what was ahead of her. She knew she would feel conviction, but she was ready for, even looking forward to, it. I, unfortunately, was not. I honestly didn't think anything would happen. I'd heard it all before, so what could possibly change?

We'd been settled into our seats for some time and one of the guys had just finished his message. Videos of evangelism encounters were playing as people shuffled in their seats. One particularly caught my attention.

The camera focused on Ray was speaking to a woman near a fancy fountain. "Have you ever told a lie?" he asked. She answered with a simple "yes." "Have you ever looked at another person with lust?" He continued until the look on her face showed she realized how sinful she actually was. Before saying good bye and walking away, he asked her if she had ever heard what he told her about Christ. "No, never," she replied.

Never? Hasn't everyone in America heard the gospel? Doesn't everyone know at least vaguely about what Jesus did and accomplished on the cross? I don't know why I hadn't realized it before. Hardly anyone has heard the gospel. I hadn't heard it before I converted. I'd been told that Jesus loves me. I'd been told he had a plan for my life. Never had I heard that he died on the cross so that if I believe and repent, my sins will be forgiven. Never.

The conference I attended achieved much more than I thought it could. It showed me, once and for all, that there are countless souls who have never ever heard the good news. I cried. I cried not only because I thoughts of dying hospital patients who never heard of the wonderful sacrifice Jesus made flooded my mind, but also because I feared that the urgency I felt at the moment would fade away again.

This time, I'm determined to stay on fire. I know I have to seek the lost and tell them of the salvation that has been revealed to me. I have no more excuses. They were all destroyed during a later message when somebody said something about not needing to know anything but the gospel to go out to preach it. They were destroyed when somebody explained how to start a conversation. They were destroyed when the great men of Living Waters made evangelism seem easy.

So, my dear readers, you have become my accountability group. Next week will mark the beginning of a new post category: Testimony Thursday. I'll make time each week to head out and do some street evangelism and report back any interesting stories on Thursdays. Please pray for me!