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
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