|
Three Reasons Why Evangelism Is So
Hard
by Xander Coleman
All scripture taken from NIV unless otherwise indicated
Dare ye
still lie fondly dreaming,
Wrapped in ease and worldly scheming,
While the multitudes are streaming
Downwards into Hell?
G.S. Railton (SASB 693)
In the early days of The Salvation Army there was an
expression used which stated that; ‘every soldier is an
evangelist’. In other words, everyone was supposed to tell
people about Jesus and get them saved. It’s a noble idea, but
I have to say that most of the time I do not see this
happening.
I am aware of the fact that everyone has different spiritual
gifts and some people just don’t have an evangelistic gifting.
I also see that as a good point and that it is important to
serve in your area of gifting. However, when I read in
Scripture where Jesus saying, “Go and make disciples of all
nations…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded
you,” (Mt 28:19-20) and “Go into all the world and preach the
good news to all creation,” (Mk 16:15) I’m pretty sure He’s
not just talking to those disciples with the gift of
evangelism. What I understand Jesus to be saying in those
verses is that all His followers are supposed to tell people
about Him, and to teach them to follow His commands. In Acts
1:8 He even promises that He’ll send His Spirit to help us out
– “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you,
and you will be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth”. Our
mission as The Salvation Army hasn’t changed. God still calls
us all to be evangelists. There are too many people around us
going to hell for us to stand by silently! If you’re anything
like me, you may find evangelism difficult. All the way
through high school and beyond I ignored this command of Jesus
to witness because I thought it was just too hard. I dare say
a good deal of people may be currently headed to hell because
of my disobedience. Here are three of the reasons I sucked at
evangelising in my high school.
1. I did not know any unsaved people. This is not
actually strictly true. I knew plenty of unsaved people, but I
didn’t have significant relationships with any of them. I
didn’t balance spending enough time with Godly friends so as
not to be corrupted by the world (see 1 Cor 15:33 – take the
time now to look it up…I’ll wait), and having significant
friendships with unsaved people so as to get them saved. I
leaned too much on the former, so I never hung out with anyone
who was going to hell. You can’t punch someone unless they’re
within arms-reach of you. I kept ‘sinners’ so far from me that
any impact I wanted to have on people for Jesus was
impossible.
2. I did not really believe in hell. Ok, so this is not
exactly true either. I did, theoretically speaking, believe in
hell. I just never made the connection that my unsaved
friends…I guess I mean acquaintances…are going there. I don’t
really know much about what happens when we die, but I do know
that Jesus talked more about hell than He did about heaven,
and that, because of sin, we are all condemned to hell. The
only way to avoid hell is through repenting from sin and
calling upon Jesus to save. I never made the connection
between the unsaved people who go to hell and the unsaved
people who I knew. The idea of them spending eternity in
misery and pain never crossed my mind (Lake of burning sulphur
is used more than once to describe it). It’s not a pleasant
thought, but it’s the truth. I had no sense that I would be
saving them from anything, so I didn’t really care. We are
called ‘saved’ because we are saved from something. They are
called ‘unsaved’ because they are not saved from it. Eek! That
thought sure gives me a sense of urgency in evangelism!
3. I was afraid of people. Okay, so this one was true.
See, I’m not a complete liar! In high school I was so afraid
of what people would think of me if I talked to them about
Jesus. I’ll let you in on a little secret…THIS IS STUPID! It’s
like a doctor feeling silly about telling a patient that she
has cancer, so just not telling her! You have a whole school
or College or workplace that is full of people who have an
illness more lethal than cancer! Cancer just kills the body,
but sin damns people to something worse than death. I don’t
really know what I was afraid of. Being rejected? The
relationships that I had with unsaved people weren’t
significant so what would that matter? Having a reputation for
being weird or ‘religious’? I’m pretty sure people thought
that already, and what’s wrong with having a reputation for
being a red-hot zealot for Jesus anyway? I also used to be
afraid that something I said would drive people away from
Jesus - not draw them to Him. The thing is that if I’m
prayed-up and following the Spirit’s leading, and walking in
love and the power that Jesus promises (remember Acts 1:8?)
then it’s not my problem, I just have to be obedient. Anyway,
they’re going to hell. I can’t make the problem much worse!
So…I don’t know if any of these problems ring true for you. If
they do, take heart! They’re not too big for God. He wants to
help you to obey Him!
Firstly, get to know some unsaved people. Just start
hanging out with them at lunch time or whatever. My suspicion
is that you kind-of know some unsaved people already. Hang out
with them more. Love the hell out of them (literally) because
‘love never fails’ (1 Cor 13:8).
Secondly, ask the Holy Spirit to give you a revelation
of hell. Think about the unsaved people you have just made
friends with (or who you already know). Think about what
eternity will look like for them. This might cause you to cry.
That’s a good thing – many heroes of the faith are reported to
have wept over the lost! Ask God help you to feel the same way
about the lost as He does. Ask Him to give you a sense of
urgency about their salvation.
Thirdly, be bold. The best way to deal with fear is to
face it head-on. Ask God for more love because ‘perfect love
drives out all fear’ (1 John 4:18). Most fears are irrational
and God wants to set you free from them. This will often look
like you choosing to speak about Him despite your fear!
Courage is not the absence of fear, but the choice to go on
despite it!
God wants the whole wide world to be saved – ‘not wanting
anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance’ (2 Peter
3:9), and for some strange reason, He chose to use you and me
to do it. And we don’t do it alone, but we have received power
when the Holy Spirit came upon us to be witnesses for Jesus
our communities and our country and to the ends of the earth.
GO!
Xander Coleman is a graduate of The War College in
Vancouver, Canada. He is a passionate Salvationist and is
working on winning the world for Jesus!
|
