I've been waiting for quite some time to write this post. I do possess quite a sense of urgency regarding the topic upon whose waters I am about to navigate, despite its delay in reaching your computer screen. Just know that its postponement has no correlation with the level of importance it has recently begun to occupy in my mind.
First, allow me to preface my discourse.
As I reflect upon the very recent closure of my freshman year of college, I can’t help but remember the way it began, and how far I’ve come since then. In August of 2009, I returned from a month-long excursion on the great continent of Africa. If you’ve been following my writing for a while, you may recall the extensive impact that journey had on my life. My return to the United States was a rather tumultuous one. Though I refused to have the “typical Africa experience” and attempted to steer clear of having to admit to experiencing culture shock, it inevitably took place.
In a matter of two weeks, I was forced to not only adjust to life back in America but also say goodbye to everything I’ve ever known and move across the country to the complete unknown. It was a struggle, to say the very least. I sank into loneliness, and I began questioning my purpose. My daily life, which consisted of writing papers and reading a bunch of books written by men who died centuries ago, seemed so mundane and meaningless. I felt like those things had little relevance and made no contribution to eternity. All I wanted to do was go back to Africa, where I felt like I had found meaning and purpose.
However, as the months went on, I learned a great deal and found that purpose was slowly being infused back into my life.
Enter the concept of evangelism.
In my mind, evangelism has always been secondary, or better: controversial. I didn’t really know what it looked like because I’d never really seen it practiced. It seemed like some icky thing that really prideful Christians did to “force their beliefs down others’ throats”.
In my mind, evangelists were the people who walked around at the Rose Parade with signs screaming, “Turn or burn!” to the innocent bystanders trying to enjoy the New Years’ festivities. (“Fire and brimstone” approach? Not very effective, just saying.)
In my mind, if evangelism looked like that, I didn’t want to be a part of it.
In my mind, evangelism was sharing the Gospel through my actions. I considered mission work helping people out of the unjust oppression of poverty, equipping people with practical skills to enable them to become more competent members of society, restoring hope, bringing love, and the like.
And while being a doer of the Word certainly has a place in our faith—after all, God tells the Israelites in Isaiah:
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house, when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?” (Isaiah 58:6-7)
and James urges believers to
“be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22)—
our doing the Word does not mean we are exempt from a duty to also be preachers of the Word.
For far too long I shrunk back in fear, preferring the “preach the Gospel, use words if necessary” approach mostly because it meant that I never had to get out of my comfort zone and tell people about Jesus (that of course, would be much too risky!). For me, this approach was a “cop-out”. I was too concerned with how I would be perceived and with offending people who may already be disgusted with the church.
But if I say that I want people to have what I have, why am I not shouting it from the rooftops? Because it’s inconvenient? Because that would be shoving it down people’s throats? Because it might hurt their feelings? Because it might put my reputation at risk?
Our Savior calls us to preach the Word. How can I ignore his call? The last command he gives the disciples,
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
ought to be reason enough to share the Gospel.
In 1 Corinthians 9:16, Paul even says, “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” Conversely, Isaiah 52:7 says, “Blessed are the feet of him who brings good news!” Oh, how much more I prefer blessing than woe!
People are the currency of heaven. The lives touched by the way I live will be the proof I present for my faith at heaven’s gates.
In coming to face all of this, I have had my own value system completely upset. And I’ve learned a thing or two in the process. So to the ones in doubt—a group of which I was a part for far too long—I would like to share with you what I’ve learned along the way.
1. Jesus is what this world needs.
Jean Danielou said, “The world today does not need greater social organization but a Savior: man today needs someone who will answer the fundamental problems of his existence, which no social structure has ever been able to answer.”
While mission work does need to address people’s physical needs, it must address the soul’s needs. Lives are not transformed unless bodies and souls are restored. I am not a missionary if my work looks like the humanitarian efforts of the secular society around me. As a Christian, I must be doing it differently; I must be sharing the Gospel!
And because Jesus is what the world needs, I can’t believe the lie that people don’t want to hear this good news. This is what all creation is groaning for (see Romans 8). Assuming that people don’t want to hear what I have to share with them is silly—especially given that my friends and I saw people on our very own Christian university’s campus come to know Jesus! The proof makes it an undeniable necessity.
2. It’s not about me.
One fear I had before this realization was the fear of rejection. But I’ve learned that when people reject my words, they’re not rejecting me, they’re rejecting the Gospel: “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Luke 10:16).
Ultimately, when I choose to shrink back, when I don’t step out in faith, when I don’t share the Gospel, I’m denying God the opportunity to work through me, and I’m denying someone a chance at salvation and eternal life.
Something is terribly wrong when I begin putting my own personal comfort above God’s purposes for the world.
3. Salvation is a process.
I’m merely a cog in the machine. I’m simply sowing seeds to be reaped later.
Not everyone accepts the Gospel the first time they hear it. When I share with someone and they choose to make Jesus the Lord of their life, it’s highly possible that ten people have shared with them before me. Other times, I may be the very first one to share with them and because it’s so new, they may choose not to accept it. Nevertheless, I need to remain faithful and obedient, realizing that I my efforts are a relevant part of the process.
4. It’s fun!
Share with people their one and only opportunity for a chance at eternal life? What better thing could I ever want to do? Seeing people come to Jesus is a blast! Call me crazy. Call me foolish. I don’t care. My God uses “what is foolish in the world to shame the wise…what is weak in the world to shame the strong…what is low and despised in the world…to bring to nothing things that are” (1 Corinthians 1:27-28). I can’t believe Jesus chooses to use me and you in this process of redeeming creation!
So back to the main point…
Understanding all of this has not only revolutionized my perception of mission work, but also my feeling about my purpose at this time in my life. Though I may not be able to go to the nations, there is a nation at my fingertips thirsty for good news! There are practical things I can do everyday to contribute to eternity!
So go. Go share the Gospel. Make it a part of your daily life: at the gas station, with your waiter at a restaurant, with the man on the corner, with your professor. Ask people how you can pray for them. Ask people if they know Jesus. Share your testimony. No one can take your story from you. Besides, Revelation 12:11 says that we will overcome by “the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony”! Your testimony is powerful!
Try it once this week. I promise that any “pain” you experience is incomparable to the potential pain in hell the other person’s soul will be spared in heaven!
What post is complete without some song lyrics?
So it’s with everything I am, I reach out for your hand
The hope that changed the second chance I’ve gained
On you I throw my life, casting all my fears aside
How could greater love than this ever possibly exist?
…
So I wait upon you now with my hands released to you
Where a little faith’s enough to see mountains lift and move
And I wait upon you now dedicated to your will
To this love that will remain a love that never fails
“Second Chance” (Hillsong United)
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