Christians and non-Christians have one thing in common; they both HATE evangelism.
Fears, Inadequacies, feelings of doubt, the thought of being rejected, thinking you don't know enough, thinking no one wants to hear it, Afraid that man might punch you in the face. What's your reason for not stepping out and sharing the love of Christ? Maybe it comes down to the fact that we don't trust God enough, and all these other thoughts are just excuses we've made up to hide it. Our faith is small, and because of that our deeds look the same.
We are called to share the love of God with those around us. But you ask, "why would God call me to do something so painful?" Simple.... He didn't. God called you to do something joyfull and rewarding, you have made it painful. We turn Evangelism into a chore that God, like an overbearing parent, forces us to attempt. Because of that, we end up hating it. What reason do we have not to? The key is to change our mindset, and turn evangelism into something fun, something that actually gets through to people, something that actually, believe it or not, leaves a good impression on them.
If you think that is impossible, that is because you have dealt with too many sharks in your life. Sharks don't just live life, they attack it. I'm sure we can all recall an experience when an evangelism shark bit us. Most Christians who take on the challenge of evangelism, unfortunately, tend to get this way. They confidently come up to you (sometimes in packs), and tell you that you are a horrible person, and attempt to knock you unconscious with repetitive scripture quotes about this great God that sent them here to yell at you for not already believing in Him and accepting Him. They absolutely know what is best for you at this exact moment in your life, and they are not leaving until they have removed all of your stupidity, and forced you to pray something about a guy who died and forgave you... to some God you know nothing about, and then they want you to pladge your life to Him, all so they can feel good, and feel like they are obeying God. Oh yeah.... and Jesus Loves you. Now smile and be happy :). If you are anything like me, you were just happy when they left.
Now I'm not going to say that approach never works, because I have seen it work... But I think in most cases it does more harm than good. Personally... I don't believe that fear and confrontation is the best means to get to a loving relationship with God anyway.
WAIT! Whats that??! a loving relationship? There's love in that situation somewhere? Did I miss something? No you didn't, and that is the problem.
What if, be patient with me, I know this is hard, but what if when we want to reach out and share God's love, we actually reached out and shared God's love. That is we actually do something nice for someone, so that they actually experience this mythical love of Jesus we so casually talk about all the time, but never show. But how do we do that??? It's actually much easier than you think. This past Sunday, my friend Matt and I stood outside of Blockbuster Video and handed out Hot chocolate to their customers as they were leaving on a cold and rainy night. It's anything that isnice, unexpected, and unusual. Maybe you could design a card explaining yourself and what you are doing, and then you walk around downtown putting change in all the parking meters that are about to expire, and leave the card. Maybe you do the same thing and wash windshields. Maybe you go to a park on a hot day and hand out bottles of cold water to the people there. Or if you don't have a talent for planning and orgainizing things in advance try this one: the next time you are in line at starbucks, or your normal fast food restaurant, turn around and offer to pay for the person behind you. (might want to make sure it is not a family of 7) Not only will this astonish them, but it will astonish the cashiers working, and I gaurantee you will get asked, at least by the person you are buying for, "Why on Earth would you do that for me?" The simple reply: " I just want to show you God's love in a practical way." And Boom your in ( most of the time) and worst case scenario, it might cost you 10 bucks. Most people will be so astounded, they will want you to tell them more. Especially in the Northern half of the country, where kindness like this is unheard of. I usually just tell them that if Jesus were here today doing ministry, I think this is what He would be doing.
Here, you have to be careful not to turn back into a shark. Don't push them, let them dictate where the conversation will end. You've already done enough to influence their entire week, and possibly more. Give God time to work through what they experienced. It's not you job to save them, you don't have that power anyway. Only God can do that. You have done your part by obeying His call to share love. Let Him do the rest, and then there is no pressure on you at all.
There are three things that can happen to you when you share your faith. Either someone completely rejects you, calls you a dorkface, pushes you down and kicks you in the stomach (that first part is much more likely than any of the rest), or the exact opposite could happen, and they accept Christ and then fall to the ground and immediately start kissing your feet out of gratitude (again, the first partis much more likely than the rest). But most of the time.... it will feel like nothing at all has happened. In most situations (non-sharklike) they will simply hear you out, say "that's nice" or "thank You", and then they will be on their way. But don't be naive and think nothing has happened. As I said before, they won't forget. They'll think on it for a week or two, or might remember it much farther down the road. God can do a lot in a week. Look around you ( He created this entire world in a week). I think he could take care of that person in a week if it was His desire.
This process is called planting a seed. You put the thought in their mind, God comes along and uses other things to water and nourish it. Eventually, in God's time and not ours, the seed sprouts and grows into faith. When it comes down to it, there are three things that can happen. Either you win them to Christ, plant a seed, or they reject you. All are a success.
HOLD ON! Sure they become a believer-- success. A seed gets planted-- ok something decent is happening it just takes a while...so success. But If they call me a dorkface, and push me down and kick me in the netherregions, that can not be a good thing.
You are correct.... until you read Matthew 5:10. Jesus tells us in his sermon on then Mount that if at anytime we are persecuted and rejected because of serving Him or something He has done, we will be for ever blessed for it. So I say... success... as soon as your breath comes back :).
But I'm on a tangent..... to sum up. Jesus Calls us to love. Yes we should share our Faith, but if we are showing the world around us love, as Jesus did when he was here, then telling them why comes easily and naturally because of it. It takes all the pain and work out of evangelism.... an actually makes it a lot of fun to do. Now what's your excuse?
