Hello,
my name is Tony. I am a sophomore at Bethel University and have been
going out with the Jesus Freaks doing street evangelism since around mid
December. I'm not going to lie, the first time I was invited to do
street evangelism, I was deathly scared. Going up to a complete stranger
and sharing the Gospel is so counterculture, I didn't want to do it. I
began to think of excuses like "it's not my gift" or "most people have
already heard the Gospel" or even "I wouldn't be good at it.".
God
graciously pursued me and wouldn't take no for an answer. I began to
ponder why I wouldn't go evangelizing and all of my reasons were
completely selfish. My main reasoning was it got me out of my comfort
zone. I thought everyone would look at me and think "man, that guy is
some crazy wacky guy". I continued to ponder going out and evangelizing,
and then I just got smacked in the face by the Holy Spirit. Weren't the
disciples of Jesus looked at as just crazy guys? Wasn't Paul looked at
like he was a bit wacky? Those guys had far more reasons than I did not
to share the Gospel, yet they risked their life sharing the Gospel, and
ultimately died for sharing it.
I have the greatest news to give people
ever. I can tell people about Jesus, about his love, about the eternal
life he offers. There is nothing on this earth that is more valuable
than a faith in Jesus. Why was I so ashamed of sharing the news of Jesus
if I truly believed it was priceless? "For I am not ashamed of the
gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone
who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile." - Romans
1:16.
I realized I was not ashamed, just simply scared, but with enough
prayer, God brought me the strength I needed to share the Gospel. I
eventually went out evangelizing one time in December and I will never
be the same. God provided me the strength and the power to share the
life altering message of the Gospel. I now have so much pride, not in
myself, but in the Gospel message. There's no pressure on me to make the Gospel message appealing.
When I share, it's the Holy Spirit working within me. 1 Corinthians 3:7
says that "So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth." It is not me going out and sharing the Gospel. It is God graciously
working through me in order to bring more people to Him.
If you haven't
ever gone out and evangelized, I would encourage you to think about
what is stopping you. Pray about it and listen to what God has to say. I
would encourage you to just get out and give it a shot and let the Holy
Spirit work through you. Put all your faith in Jesus and let him work
through you in order to bring more people to Him. I will leave you all
with this "But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” - Luke 18:27
God Bless
-Tony
Well said Tony.
ReplyDeleteTony,
ReplyDeleteThank God for your boldness! It is but pure joy to be able to go into very dark places and share the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ! I'm thankful you took the first steps or you'd still be sitting on the sideline having talked yourself out of it for whatever reason you can hide behind. At our church we have a mens group that meets once a month called Men Who Move and we were at a shelter in St. Paul handing out food and clothing and one of our men claimed that he just could not make contact with these men and it was not his calling to do so. I quickly corrected him in that it was purely his inability to get out of his COMFORT ZONE, and that is is ALL of our Calling to share the gospel!
One study indicates that of all Christians 2%-5% actively share salvation with 1-2 others on a weekly basis. Congratulations for being in that 2%. If you are still out and about with the Jesus Freaks, I look forward to meeting you very soon as we also have a team that goes out every Friday in Minneapolis.
Take Care
Rick