About Evangelism....

It was 11:32pm. I was tired, but still very much awake. My son was snuggled in his bed, and my husband was asleep in ours. I would love to tell you that I was knitting some sort of blanket, preparing meals for the sick, or scrubbing the floors of my home. But I wasn’t. I was in my Great Room with my feet propped up on a dining room chair. My Chromebook was on in front of me and my television was on behind it. I tend to feel bad when I am not doing something directly for or with my family, but I fought those feelings the best that I knew how. My mind was made up to stay up late NOT to do chores, but to watch ...The Tonight Show.

Yup, you read right.  Lecrae was going to be on the Tonight Show, and I did not want to miss the opportunity to watch as it aired. You may or may not know this, but Lecrae is a Christian rapper who released an album that quickly moved to #1 overall on the Billboard charts. And I get it. Please don’t tune me out. I understand that rap doesn’t appeal to everyone, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I know it does to some though. It was through Christian rap from ministers like Lecrae, Trip Lee, and Shai Linne that I feel like I was really introduced to the saving grace of God. Don’t get me wrong.  I was “raised in church”. My parents love God and taught me about HIm at an early age. I was a Christian long before I first heard this music. This wasn’t my first exposure to The Gospel, but somehow it was. It was years ago, but God used this music in my life to begin teaching me that my salvation wasn’t of my ability. It was all through the saving work of Christ.

When we were knee deep in bad news, the news that we could never be good enough, driven enough, or well intention-ed enough; The Good News screamed out that Jesus carried our sin to the cross. Taking on our shame, out of great love,  He died and rose again to save us. When our Holy, Holy God sees me and sees you....He sees the finished work of Christ, His righteousness. Jesus does the work, and that work is complete.

That was the missing link for me.

I thought my works could somehow make me more presentable before a Holy God, adding something to the grace of God. But like we sing here during worship, “Christ alone, cornerstone.”

As I stayed up this night, I began examining my motives. Yea, I guess you could call me a fan in all fairness, but I don’t consider myself at all fanatical. There was no doubt that what I wanted, was to hear The Gospel on mainstream television. I wanted to hear Jesus’ name glorified. I wanted to see this platform, maximized... by my standards. But then it dawned on me. I don’t know what God’s plan is for his ministry and the people that he is allowing him to meet. I don’t know why God opened this door to the Tonight Show. Maybe it was to share the Gospel on mainstream tv, or maybe it was to minister to a camera operator,  to share the genuine love of Christ to Jimmy Fallon on a personal level, or maybe it was to say a prayer for QuestLove and his family.

Evangelism. It’s what I am here to talk about.  It’s not a one person job, but it is the job of one body, the body of Christ. Collectively, it is our job.

Paul says in 1Corinthians 3:6-7

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow.”

This section of the book is a powerful reminder that God saves. He does the work. The Holy Spirit draws people to Him. But we have a job to do as well.

The truth is that often times  we put the pressure of salvation on ourselves as people so we deflect the work of evangelism to others because we are scared. We feel inadequate, and rightfully so. We can not save anyone. Our job is to be obedient and faithful to God’s calling in our lives and to plant seeds. God bring the increase. I love the Jim Peterson quote that was used at the bottom of page 106 and top of page 107 ”This kind of evangelism can hardly be called an activity in which one engages on certain occasions. It is life. Life itself becomes evangelistic.”

I’ve spoken about how God has used some Christian rappers to influence me. For you it may have been a painting, t-shirt, or a spontaneous hug at a moment when you desperately needed it but no one knew. The truth is that we all have lists of many, many things that God has used in different moments of our lives to bring us to Him, for the first time, and for the millionth time.

I don’t know about you, but I am regularly reminded that I am different. I am a spanish woman that looks black, doesn’t speak much spanish,  is socially awkward at best, has crazy hair, loves music that for the most part isn’t played on any radio stations, and despite current trends, I really don’t care much about my nails on my fingers or toes... though as a beauty school dropout, I will appreciate yours from a distance.

I can laugh about it, but some of these differences have, at times, been sources of pain in my life. God is teaching me to embrace them, but not for the sake of my pride. He teaches us through His Word to find our identity in Him and our worth in His righteousness. I struggle with this ya’ll. Often God has to remind me to find my identity in the Gospel. He constantly has to humble my prideful heart so that I can see that we really all have more in common than anything else. We are all people in need of a Savior. We all have things that make us feel different though. These differences in the hand of God, can be the very things that draw people to us, who can be uniquely influenced by us, for the glory of God.

The challenge here is to find our gifts because that’s where we will be most fruitful in our ministry.

1Corinthians 12:4-6

“Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God activates each gift in each person.”

We serve a creative God, the creator of the universe. I once read that there are over 20,000species of butterflies in the world. How much more must His creativity abound to save those He loves so dearly??

Our core Message must be the Gospel, like Paul says in Galatians, we “preserve” that message for others. We guard it. It must not change. The Gospel is the power of salvation for those who believe. However, God has given us so many gifts to be used by Him. When God calls you to speak and explicitly share the Gospel, do it, by faith, knowing that God will speak through you. But when God calls you to bake cookies for a neighbor,  share a Facebook status about HIs goodness, or use a gift that is not often seen in your circle don’t be ashamed. Do it, also by faith, knowing that God is working through you.

There is now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

So where do we go from here? Cindy, Barb, and Joanne have given us a tool with the spiritual gift test. When we take it honestly, we can better understand the fundamental gifts that God has given us. On pages 110-113, we also find characteristics to incorporate into our lives as reconciling leaders. Let’s go through them.

We pray. - The power of evangelism must come from God, not us. The Bible says that the harvest is plenty, and the workers are few. Pray to God to send more workers to the various mission fields around us. Pray for people to be saved.

We Go! - Seek to minister to unbelievers where they regularly hang out. Don’t get stuck in a “come to us” mindset.

We watch. - Watch for opportunities that God might put in front of us. Colossians 4:5-6 says, “    5Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. 6Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.

We serve. - Help with meals, wash a car, pay a stranger’s toll. Love others in practical ways as we have the opportunity.

We party. - If you enjoy hosting parties and planning events, use those opportunities to build relationships with unbelievers. Have fun with it.  

We listen. - Listen to people’s needs and concerns. People want and need to be heard. Listening develops trust on the part of the unbeliever. Probably most importantly, listening shows them that Jesus loves them and cares about them.

We Speak. - Share God’s Word with a balance of conviction and compassion. Conviction because the Gospel Message is the truth and has the power to transform lives. Compassion because that is Jesus’ heart toward those who are lost.

We wait. - You may never get to see the harvest itself, but that’s not the point. Be faithful with the assignment God gives you. He will take care of the rest in His time, according to His plan.

We team up. - Combine with other brothers and sisters in the Lord who have different gifts to reach people in a way that none of us can alone.

We train. - Allow fellow believers to see how God works through you, and encourage them to pray and ask God about He would want to use them.

We celebrate. - As we see God working in someone’s life, celebrate what God has done.  

In conclusion, 2 Timothy 1:6-9Amplified Bible (AMP) says...

6 That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands [[a]with those of the elders at your ordination].

7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

8 Do not blush or be ashamed then, to testify to and for our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for His sake, but [[b]with me] take your share of the suffering [to which the preaching] of the Gospel [may expose you, and do it] in the power of God.

9 [For it is He] Who delivered and saved us and called us with a calling in itself holy andleading to holiness [to a life of consecration, a vocation of holiness]; [He did it] not because of anything of merit that we have done, but because of and to further His own purpose and grace (unmerited favor) which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternal ages ago].

May we stir up the gifts that God has given us without delusions and without shame. There is no one greater than another. Remember 1Corinthians 3:6-7 “...neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow.”

God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. By the grace of God, and through His Spirit, let’s seek to do all of the work that God has put in our hands for the building up of God’s kingdom and the salvation of souls trusting in God to bring the increase that only He can bring.