Dear Friends,
The author Mark Cahill, a traveling evangelist, titled one of his
books, The One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven. He points out that the
one thing you will be unable to do is to share your faith with unbelievers, for
there won’t be any there.
The only time you and I have to share our faith in Jesus is on
this side of eternity, and I wonder how we are doing.
It's easy to lose the kind of passion and zeal we once
enjoyed when we first came to know Christ.
Whenever we become aware of this happening, we need to ask God to
restore that passion and zeal and to give us a greater desire and
intentionality to share our faith.
The great preacher of yesteryear, Charles Spurgeon, asks a
penetrating question. “Have you no wish for others to be saved? (If not)”,
“then you are not saved yourself.” The One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven,
Mark Cahill, p 55. Now I wouldn’t go as far as Spurgeon to say you are not
saved if you never witness, but I do believe a lack of witnessing can be
an indication of a lack of spiritual passion and maturity.
Would that more of us would be like the great missionary David
Brainerd, who was consumed by one ambition and that was to win souls for
the Kingdom. He wrote in his diary, "I cared not where or how I
lived or what hardships I endured, so that I could but gain souls for Christ.
While I was asleep, I dreamt of such things and when I waked the first thing I
thought of was winning souls to Christ.” George Whitefield shared a
similar ambition, when he wrote, “If God did not give me souls, I believe I
would die.”
Evangelism must never become a special task for special people at
special times, but it should be the normal task for all the church- all the
time. It is a ministry for God's rank and file. Each one of us needs to be
alert for opportunities to witness to others about our love for our Savior.
Peter writes, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone
who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with
gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who
speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their
slander” (1 Peter 3: 15-16).
Danny Lehmann, author of Beautiful Feet: Steps to a Lifestyle
of Evangelism, writes, “There is a difference between speaking truth
in love and loving to speak the truth. Too many who could be followers of
Christ are lost because someone bludgeoned them to death with the gospel truth.
They may have spoken the truth, but they failed to do it in love, and so the
lost remained lost, and the soul became hardened to future witnessing efforts.”
We need to love people into the Kingdom with both our lives as well as
our lips, and there is a need for both of these evangelistic approaches.”
Danny told how his friend Ray Comfort, another traveling
evangelist, promised to give $1,000 if anyone could ever catch him without a
gospel tract on his person. Once an inspiring opportunist grabbed Ray after he
got out of a swimming pool- hoping to be an instant winner. Ray smiled as he
pulled a plastic - wrapped tract out of his swim trunks (Beautiful
Feet, Danny Lehman, p. 15)
Ray Comfort is always ready to give a reason for the hope he has,
and likewise we too should be ready as well. We don't need to pray for
opportunities to witness, for they are all around us. We need to pray for
boldness to seize and speak a word for Jesus. And yes, don't be caught without
a witnessing tool. So, get out that plastic bag, insert a “4 Spiritual
Laws” or whatever witnessing tool you use, and get on with the task of
gossiping the gospel.
And remember, you are either a missionary or you are in need of
one.
Yours in faith and friendship,
Tom
No comments:
Post a Comment