Friday, August 9, 2024

Everyday Evangelism

Recently I was talking with someone who had just returned from a mission trip to Texas. They had had many opportunities to lead people to Christ. But only when they sensed it was the right time. They could have seen more "conversions," but only if they had forced the issue. I have to admire that.

Research shows that only about 10 percent of believers are gifted to share Christ using the methods presented in almost 100 percent of the classes on personal evangelism. A major people-flow of new believers into our churches is not likely until the majority function as fully redemptive people who reveal the universals of God's character through the particulars of everyday living. To each of us God has given specific, tangible, concrete abilities of evangelistic ministry -- repairing cars, cooking, cleaning, mowing lawns, listening, as well as the old traditional list of things like exhortation, edification, and preaching. Any ability that brings glory to God and furthers his kingdom is a spiritual gift. We are co-laborers with him. If we will do our part, he will do his. He may use a cherry pie to open someone's heart. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to know that if you have sports ability God can use that to prepare webs of relationships so that Jesus may come to people (and they may come to him). When I was a student at Biola, we had "Christian service assignments" every semester. We fit into God's purposes through basketball evangelism every Saturday in South Central Los Angeles (Watts). We did this by living and serving others until they asked us why.

That's how the majority of us labor together with the Billy Grahams of this world to reach the lost. He would have been the first to admit that his ministry would have been severely limited were it not for the troops in the trenches. 

Can you bake a cherry pie? Or mow someone's lawn? Or shoot hoops? Somebody found Christ through just such a gesture.