When evangelism comes up, heads go down. We’ve discovered the obvious—that gospel preaching involves preaching, an unpleasant and clumsy-sounding word.
Think about the feelings you’ve had in the following scenarios:
- You looked out your front window and saw two people going door to door with an armload of brochures and fliers. They knocked on your door a few minutes later.
- While shopping, you spotted a lady in the middle of the mall with a clipboard, approaching one person after another. She made a beeline for you.
- In the middle of dinner, someone called you who got your name wrong and then wanted to know which cable provider you use. He has also been trained to “overcome the objection.”
These alien invaders had a spiel, a presentation they wanted to “preach.” Part of you felt sympathy for them (since everyone has to earn a living), but another part of you desperately wanted to avoid them.
That’s why we put “No solicitors” signs on our doors and put our phone numbers on “Do not call” lists. The feeling of being trapped in a pitch of some type breeds a special kind of annoyance.
We recall these feelings when the subject of evangelism comes up.
Look, fair’s fair. I don’t like it when people try to sell things to me, so I’m not going to do it to anybody else.
The word “preaching” seems to capture the most officious and unpleasant sense of sales, confrontation, hawking goods, and cramming information down someone’s throat. With associations like these, it’s no wonder evangelism is a dead issue to many of us, especially to a newer generation of believers who are comfortable indeed to never speak of Christ to non-Christians.
Few people, especially introverts, ever warm to the idea of evangelism as presentation. We just can’t fathom finding people, rooting them to the spot, quieting them, and then delivering mini-lectures.
To be honest, right up front, we’re never going to completely banish the sense of awkwardness that comes from losing face for Christ, nor should we try. Service to God is an honor that comes with a price. But in the name of maximizing evangelism, let’s dispel the image of the gospel as polished oration, delivered by well-oiled speakers.
Instead, let’s move it into our daily wheelhouse where ordinary things happen. This is where those of us who wish to preach the gospel, but are presentation-shy, will find encouragement. The words of the gospel shared in normal conversation count as gospel preaching.
Sometimes the Bible shows God greatly blessing large public presentations, as with Peter in Acts chapter 2. The newly minted apostle stood before a multitude of Jews and said, “ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36).
Smitten with this realization, the crowd cried, “What shall we do?” Peter said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). The Bible tells us that three thousand souls were added that day (v. 41).
Obviously, the presentational style of evangelism can be wonderfully effective, but it’s not the only kind of evangelism God uses. Unfortunately, our admiration of it and the high-profile drama that accompanies it often causes us to overlook small-scale gospel encounters in the Bible.
For instance, Acts chapter 8 devotes a chunk of verses to a single conversation between two individuals. An angel instructs Philip to go down a certain desert road. When he gets there, he sees a foreign dignitary returning home from worshiping in Jerusalem.
And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:
“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opens not his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”
And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
As an aspiring gospel preacher, Acts 8 might be your chapter, not Acts 2, with its large crowds and long message.
Consider the similarities between Philip’s situation and one that could potentially be yours.
For instance, you’re headed home from work, turn onto your street, and ten houses down from yours, you see a moving truck. You tell yourself, Hey, a new family in the neighborhood! We should drop by and introduce ourselves sometime (which means never).
You settle into your nightly ritual, and during a commercial break, you randomly think about that family. Then the next morning during devotionals, the thought of the new neighbors comes back again. Meanwhile, without knowing your inward cogitations, your spouse shuffles into the kitchen and says, “Hey, somebody moved in down the street. We should go meet them!” You agree that you should…sometime (again, meaning never).
But later at work, you think about that family again. Now you’re beginning to wonder if “God is tryin’ to tell you something.”
You’re not done resisting, though. Old man procrastination wakes up and says to you from within, We can’t go down there empty-handed. Wait until next week/month when we have time to buy them a gift. However, just as quickly, you remember there’s a store you pass on the way home from work every day. They have little ornamental plants…and things.
And so, the setting is in place, à la Philip and the eunuch, fashioned by the hand of God. Shortly, you find yourself heading down the sidewalk with your family, successfully led at last by the Holy Spirit, with potted plant and coffee cake in hand.
You meet the couple, welcome them to the neighborhood, and get the strong vibe that faith is not on their priority list. Unlike the eunuch, they are not in the middle of studying Isaiah. You wonder if the whole thing was a wash, just another neighborly social gesture.
But somewhere in the middle of the niceties, they mention their kids needing something more. When they describe what they have in mind, it sounds suspiciously like spiritual concerns.
Only then do you realize you’ve been led to “go over and join” a conversation, not something that will resolve in the space of five minutes, but one that will definitely develop. It’s a start, and perhaps with prayer, it will end up in full-blown evangelism.
In the meantime, be normal, be friendly, and above all else, be ready.
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This is an updated edition of a post originally published on John Myer
Featured Image by Unsplash
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