Why don\u2019t we want to evangelize, and how do we change? Let\u2019s look at four of the most common excuses. These are…<\/p>\n
- \n
- I don\u2019t have time<\/li>\n
- I don\u2019t know what to say<\/li>\n
- I don\u2019t have anyone to tell<\/li>\n
- I\u2019m afraid of people\u2019s responses<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The first excuse is “I don\u2019t have time.” Let\u2019s think about it this way. If the President of the United States came and gave you a task, would you really say, “I can\u2019t do it, I don\u2019t have time!” It\u2019s ridiculous, but we say that to God and His command to share the gospel, even though it is so much more important.<\/p>\n
We make time for our priorities, the things we really want to do, and those aren\u2019t necessarily bad. But if you consistently say you don\u2019t have time for something God tells you to do, it might be wise to review what you\u2019re really spending your time on.<\/p>\n
The second excuse is “I don\u2019t know what to say.” Now, imagine you\u2019re walking near a river and you see someone drowning, struggling to keep their head above water! Are you going to tell them “I\u2019m sorry, I\u2019m not an expert on saving drowning people,” and keep walking? If you\u2019re not heartless, you\u2019re going to offer a hand. When someone is drowning, it\u2019s not about being perfectly qualified, it\u2019s about taking action. People are drowning in sin and hopelessness, and God never calls us to be perfectly qualified. He knows that’s a standard we can’t reach! But He does call us to act.<\/p>\n
Whether you grew up in a Christian home or you came to the Lord later in life, you\u2019ve most likely heard the basic gospel. You don\u2019t need a Ph.D. in Christianity to share the good news. The gospel isn\u2019t very complicated.<\/p>\n
To put it simply, God created us perfectly, in a perfect world. We sinned and that perfect world became broken. Romans 3:23 says “We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” But God didn’t leave us in our sin, instead He sent His son, Jesus, to take the punishment we deserve for our sin. If we put our faith in Jesus’s death on the cross and our salvation through that, we are no longer slaves to sin, so we shouldn\u2019t act like we are.<\/p>\n
You can practice sharing the gospel with your friends and family. Speaking well is a skill, and like all skills, practice is necessary for improvement. Plus, your friends and family can come up with questions you might encounter, and you can answer them. These practice conversations can be incredibly helpful in sharing the gospel.<\/p>\n
The third excuse is “I don\u2019t have anyone to tell.” Until I started working in September, everyone I knew outside of a few of my extended family members were Christians. I thought I had no opportunities to evangelize! But I\u2019ve realized that even for those who think we have no opportunities, every day is a chance for either passive or active evangelism. Passive evangelism means that, in our everyday lives, we must be living for God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 tells us that “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” If we\u2019re truly living for God, it will make a difference, and others will see it. This leads to active evangelism, which is getting into conversations about God, sharing your faith, and answering questions.<\/p>\n
And there are always people to tell. Jill Briscoe, founder of an Evangelistic Radio Program, shared her salvation experience in a video I saw. She was in the hospital and another patient, Jenny, told her the gospel message. Jill was amazed. This was such good news! But she said to the girl “Does anybody else know about this, Jenny? Cause I\u2019ve never heard about this until now. If somebody else knew, and they hadn\u2019t told me, I couldn\u2019t believe that.” Jenny replied “Don\u2019t look down on those people, Jill, just because they didn\u2019t tell you. From now on, everybody who comes into the orbit of your life must hear. There\u2019s the head nurse, tell her.” 2<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n
We all have people who come into the orbit of our lives. Friends, coworkers, neighbors, people at your library, at the grocery store. When my dad was around, he would ask every person he met, “Who do you think Jesus is?” At doctor appointments, when they ended with “do you have any questions?” he would always say “Yes! Who do you think Jesus is?” I thought it was a bit embarrassing, and when we were running late to something I got frustrated if he got into a conversation. But looking back now, I realize what a good example he was. Everyone needs to hear the gospel, and we need to share it, like my dad did.<\/p>\n
But the final excuse is “I\u2019m afraid of people\u2019s responses.” Fear is a big influence, and your fears isn\u2019t fun. I\u2019ve been doing speech and debate for four years now, and while I\u2019ve grown a lot in confidence and ability, I\u2019m still afraid when I get up to speak. But I always get through it, and I\u2019m glad I did it. Often, we over exaggerate our fears and make them out to be far worse than they actually are. Though we fear what might happen, sometimes the best way to face a fear like public speaking is just to get out and do it. Almost every time, fears turn out not to be so bad in the end. Furthermore, we are to recognize fear and offer it to God. Did you know that the Bible tells us a variation of “Fear Not…” 366 times? One of those is Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” This verse tells us not to fear, but it also tells us that, in our fear, we still praise God. God is truly worthy of our praise and our trust. He is able and willing to give us peace and confidence over our fear. And yes, people do have bad reactions to the gospel. Christians have lost their jobs, been kicked out of their homes, and even killed for sharing their faith. But the gospel isn\u2019t about us. We haven\u2019t been saved from eternal punishment just to keep living our lives as we are. We have been saved for a reason, and that reason is to glorify God in everything we do. He is worth it.<\/p>\n
Though my opening quote may have sounded silly, the truth is, we are all going to die. This life is going to end. For Christians, that can be a source of hope. But so much of the world doesn\u2019t have this hope, nor the assurance of anything to look forward to after death. In his book, The Purpose Driven Life, Pastor Rick Warren says “Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope.” 3<\/sup><\/a> It makes sense that people live for themselves and chase meaningless pastimes but find no gratification in it. Without the truth of the gospel, there is no hope in this world.<\/p>\n
What then is our response? We must spread the news we have heard. Jill Briscoe was shocked that none of the many Christians she knew had told her the good news. We have the truth of the most important thing there is, and we need to share it. Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest, if we do not give up.” We must never give up in spreading the gospel, and we must overcome the barriers and excuses we put up. I challenge you to pray continually for opportunities, to become prepared to share your faith, and to get out and do it.<\/p>\n
(This text was originally delivered at a speech competition)<\/p>\n
Tiki Cohen
Grandaughter of Steve Cohen<\/p>\n![\"Image](\"images\/aohe\/pics\/newsletters\/cohen-tiki.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n1<\/a> \u201cIs Evangelism Going Out of Style?\u201d Barna Group, December 17, 2013, <\/a>https:\/\/www.barna.com\/research\/is-evangelism-going-out-of-style\/<\/a>
2<\/a> Briscoe, Jill \u201cJill Briscoe Describes Her Conversion Experience – CLC Banquet Nov 16, 2012.\u201d YouTube, uploaded by CLCWorldVideos, 21 November 2012, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-_tlgJo9PWM<\/a>
3<\/a> Warren, Rick. The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?<\/em> Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan, 2002<\/p>\nSubscribe to Our Newsletter<\/a>
Download the Print Version<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"100% of people who breathe oxygen die. Coincidence? I think not. Death is something we are all certain of. But not all of us know where we\u2019re going after we die. Because of my salvation through Jesus’s death on the cross…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tiki-cohen"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serene-murdock.70-32-91-6.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serene-murdock.70-32-91-6.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serene-murdock.70-32-91-6.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serene-murdock.70-32-91-6.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serene-murdock.70-32-91-6.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/serene-murdock.70-32-91-6.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serene-murdock.70-32-91-6.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serene-murdock.70-32-91-6.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serene-murdock.70-32-91-6.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}