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Relational Evangelism Road Trip: Prayer Needed for Evangelism
By chris | May 13, 2008
“What is the nature of your business in Canada?” That was the question the customs agent asked me when I arrived here in Canada this AM. I didn’t fully explain it all to her. She didn’t exactly look thrilled to know I work with churches. From the look on her face, I got the feeling she’d rather I import the Ebola virus to Canada than my faith.
But the customs agent unwittingly asked a question with implications to evangelism. What is the nature of the evangelism “business?” Evangelism by nature is spiritual. You can’t have evangelism without the work of the Holy Spirit. You can’t have effective evangelism without prayer. Prayer changes the nature of everything you attempt in ministry.
You don’t have to be in Canada long (I have been here before) before you know this is not the Bible belt. I used to live in Western Europe and spent most of my ministry working with people from other countries and other faith backgrounds that are among the most hostile to Evangelicals and the gospel. So I am familiar with the drill when it comes to evangelism in tough places.
I talked earlier about the present concerns people have because the unchurched “love Jesus, but hate the church.” If there ever was a place like that it would be Canada. No doubt this is a tough placed to serve. But it is no tougher than any other place that is closed to the gospel. There are places that are more open than Canada, like Oklahoma, and places that are very much more closed, like Myanmar. It’s all relative. Picking up the harvest analogy, it’s all part of the cultivation of the gospel. Some places are more cultivated than others.
Evangelism is a Cultivating and Harvesting Task
Missionaries don’t ask themselves where the gospel would be a good match for wide public acceptance. Missionaries ask where are the places with the least access to the gospel, then they go there and serve, pouring their lives into the people there looking for ways to get them to appreciate the gospel. Cultivation again.
Evangelism is a spiritual affair. I imagine if you could take a survey that included Saul (before he became Paul the Apostle) he would have said he “loved God, but hated the church” too. I don’t think anyone hated the church more than him. Yet something spiritual happened and he became the greatest proponent of the gospel ever.
Some places are harvest fields and some places are places where missionaries must break new ground. All are part of the same process. As Paul himself said, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow” (1 Cor. 3:6 NIV).
The reason some places are harvest fields is because at some point in history someone went there and laid the ground work planted the seeds, others came behind and cultivated, etc. Harvest field used to be hard fields. Canada could easily become another one of the great harvest fields. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)
We need to pray for each other no matter where we are in the harvest process. But remember especially to pray for the evangelists, church planters, pastors, and missionaries who serve in tough places. “And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should” (Colossians 4: 3-4)
It’s Not Always about Person X
I love missions and missionaries for their boldness to break into new networks of people. But I also love people who are relational evangelists in their own network. We hold the people up as examples who run out and find that “person X” out there who hasn’t heard the gospel.
Many times people think of evangelism as when you meet a total stranger and begin to tell them about Jesus, the person listens intently to a presentation of a gospel outline, and then makes a personal decision.
While people do become Christians this way, it is not the way a majority of people become Christians. Most people become Christians as the result of a witness that comes through a relationship they have with another Christian. Your greatest opportunity to share your faith with other people will likely come through your day-to-day contact with people you already know right now.
But, sometimes it seems so hard to break the ice and talk about spiritual things with family, friends and people at work. How can you do it? Pray about it!
If you are willing to become more intentional with making sure the people around you know about Jesus, make a commitment to pray for “open doors” for talking to the people you know about Jesus. Think about the people you see regularly, make a prayer list with their names and pray for them regularly. Ask God to make opportunities for them to hear the gospel. Guess what will happen next…
We need more people talking up faith wherever they are!
Topics: Evangelism |
May 14th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Thanks for the great perspective on prayer and personal evangelism. Personal evangelism begins and is sustained by personal prayer. Hope to talk to you soon.