Personal
Evangelism
By
Stephen Terry
Commentary
for May 12, 2012 Sabbath School Lesson
“How beautiful on the mountains are the
feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’”
Isaiah
52:7, NIV
Personal evangelism is the essence of Christian witness.
It is the sharing of Jesus and what He means to us with others on an intimate
level. These may be family members, friends of long standing, casual
acquaintances, or those we have momentary, incidental contact with. It can be
as simple as sharing a personal experience or as complex as an in-depth Bible
study of a doctrinal position. No matter the level of engagement, personal
evangelism is the most Apostolic style of Biblical ministry. The growth of the
church rises or falls based on this person-to-person sharing of personal faith.
Sometimes we hear those who claim that they have no
ability to share their faith in such an intimate manner. Yet, we find some of
those who cannot bridge that chasm actively proselytizing for a political
faction or even a favorite sports team with all the vehemence they can muster.
So why is this? Does this mean that their chosen political faction or sports
team has a greater impact on their day-to-day life than Jesus Christ? Perhaps
one might come to that conclusion, but such a perspective is based more on
prohibited judgment than upon holy discernment. The question might well be
asked of us, “What are we doing to mentor others into personal evangelism? If
we are sharing with others and experiencing the joy of bringing them to Jesus,
what are we doing to help others experience that same joy? Could one-on-one
mentoring be a key to producing one-on-one evangelists?
Some churches offer classes on personal evangelism, but
these can be part of the problem. I once attended a twelve week series of
classes based on a popular book on personal evangelism. When the course was
over, not one soul had been witnessed to and no plans were made to actually evangelize,
but those who had attended were very satisfied with themselves that unlike the
other church members, they had at least attended some classes on the subject.
The fact that no one had been saved they felt was beside the point.
However, that is the point of personal evangelism.
Peter, the Apostle, summed it up well on the day of Pentecost. He first
introduced the people to Jesus, and then he invited them to choose the Savior.
As he 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, NIV Personal evangelism is all about the invitation.
It is the most caring, loving thing we can do for another person. If we doubt
that, we have only to see the wonder and grace that fills a person’s eyes when
they come to Jesus. The joy of leading someone to Jesus is second only to the
joy of our own salvation. We should not be timid about sharing Jesus with
others. If we do, we will fill our lives with lifelong friends who will ever be
grateful that we shared Jesus with them. On the other hand if we let timidity
prevent us from sharing Jesus, we may one day be confronted by those who were
our friends. We might have to answer their questions as to how we could have
considered ourselves to be their friends yet withheld such a wonderful blessing
from them by our silence. This will be a very hard question, especially if we
have shared many things with them but not Jesus.
There is only one way to perform personal evangelism,
and that is by the power of the Holy Spirit. The church that tries to initiate
programs to promote personal evangelism does not understand that simple
principle. Catchy slogans like “Each One Win One” are not so much solutions as
they are testimonials that each one is not winning one. No amount of pressure to witness from a
well-meaning church administration will change that. Guilt is a reason to
repent, not a reason to share one’s faith. Unfortunately, when men receive
power they tend to use that power to push their understanding of God’s agenda
rather than relying on the Holy Spirit’s power. They forget how the Lord wants
things done. ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD
Almighty. Zechariah 4:6, NIV Perhaps if more clergy and administrators were to
demonstrate this spirit, more people would find comfort in trusting in God’s
strength instead of allowing their fears to thwart their testimony.
Sadly, not only are the poor saints pressured into
personal evangelism, they are often the recipients of formulae that are
supposed to make their evangelism successful. These are often in the form of
acronyms. An example is the acronym FORT, which stands for Family, Occupation,
Religion, and Testimony. The personal evangelist is supposed to first ask about
the other person’s family, then about their occupation, and whether they attend
church or profess any religion, finally this is to be followed by the personal
evangelist’s testimony about their own faith experience. While this acronym is
meant to give the evangelist something to talk about if they have a fear of
being tongue-tied, it overlooks a very important part of the evangelistic
enterprise – the invitation. Without an invitation there is no evangelism.
Every Christian is an evangelist and whether they are a doctor of theology
expounding from the pulpit or an auto mechanic spending the day fishing at the
lake with his neighbor, all must understand that nothing happens without an
invitation. Even in the secular realm this is true. That mechanic would have
not been on a fishing trip with his neighbor if one of them had not presented
the invitation, “Let’s go fishing.” It is hard to fathom how the need to invite
someone to go fishing could be so much clearer than the need to invite others
to Jesus.
Should we fret if our invitation is not accepted? No.
Instead we must step back and let the Holy Spirit work. Remember, it is His
program and not ours. We have the wonderful privilege of taking part, but that
does not put us in charge of the other person’s salvation. Should we give up on
the person and not waste time on them when we could be working with someone
else? Some might want to shake the dust from their feet, sever the relationship
and move on. However, the only basis for this might be in the face of open
hostility. Otherwise, just like our fisherman friend, we should not be offended
if the invitation is not accepted. We can still be good neighbors and friends.
Just as there will be other opportunities to go fishing together, if we remain
friends there will surely be other invitations that can be extended as the Holy
Spirit prepares the heart. That is the key.
Our friend will probably not be favorably impressed if
we see him as the opportunity to present every church program handed down by
church administrators. This may be especially true if those programs are
designed to pressure him into church membership. If that pressure is in the
form of an argument to convince him that church membership is a good idea, then
rather than a heart response to a loving invitation, he may become a member
simply because he does not have enough information to refute a carefully
structured argument. This can be problematic, for even if he becomes a church
member, this does not mean he has accepted Christ. It only means that he has
failed to withstand the argument. Once he finds tools to deal with the
argument, he will be gone.
This is not a problem with the invitation. Those who
accept the invitation, as opposed to those who accept the argument, should not
feel that they have been pressured into the church. As Joshua said, “But if
serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day
whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the
Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as
for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15, NIV Like Peter on
Pentecost, this is a simple invitation. There is no coercion. While the choice
may have life or death at stake, all are still free to choose.
Our job is not to force people into the lifeboat who do
not want to be there. Instead we are to go out into the chaos and confusion
that is normal when a ship is sinking, and we are to find as many people as we
can who are willing to accept our invitation to step into the lifeboat. In
order to find them, we must invite all we meet. While we will find those who do
not respond to our invitation, we will also find many who are willing to come,
and we will even find those who were unwilling when we first invited them but
who have changed their minds and have decided to come after all. This is the
Holy Spirit’s work. He will work on the hearts of those who have not accepted
the first invitation, just as he prepared the hearts beforehand of those who
responded right away. If we will accept that He is in charge of the convincing,
while we are in charge of the inviting, we will find our yoke and burden are
much lighter than we might have believed. For this is the way of grace and
love.
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Waters Ministry
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