Excuses, Excuses…
Why Don’t We Evangelize?
(Scroll down for a list of practical evangelism ideas)
Click HERE for the sermon.
It’s easy to get discouraged in the Christian life. Whether it’s struggling with sin, Bible reading, evangelism, or even struggling to be more obedient, Paul wrote Romans 7 out of his struggles in the Christian life so that we would know that struggling is a normal aspect of the Christian life. We’ll never achieve perfection this side of heaven. It’s certainly not ok to intentionally pursue sin, but don’t be discouraged when you fail, because you’re not the only one. In our struggles, it’s helpful to remember that in Him we live, and move, and have our being. All of God’s promises are “yes” in Christ. And we have an awesome inheritance waiting for us at the end.
Of all the various aspects and pursuits of the Christian life, all of them, save one, will be better in heaven. When we get to heaven one thing that won’t be better is evangelism because there won’t be evangelism in heaven. Sharing the life-changing message of Jesus is one of the reasons we’re still here. God has chosen to use US to share His gospel with others, so what excuses do you use when you don’t evangelize?
John 4:27-42 provides us with both a great summary of typical excuses, and also great encouragement to be intentionally evangelistic in the regular rhythm of our lives. In this passage we see:
An Unlikely Evangelist - we would not have chosen this woman as a missionary/evangelist.
A Misunderstood Meal - Jesus explains to us His deep, abiding passion to obey His Father and finish His task.
A Forthcoming Harvest - We all have various roles to play in evangelism. Planting, watering, and harvesting. We’re all in this together, playing different roles in different situations.
Why Don’t We Evangelize?
What excuses do we tend to use?
• They don’t want to hear
• I’m too busy
• I’ll Get To it Later (soon)
This Passage encourages us to abandon those (and any other) excuses we might make for our lack of evangelism.
The men of Sychar certainly had no interest in anythign the Samaritan Woman had to say, yet she went directly them to tell them about Jesus and who He was.
Hey - Jesus! Lunch! Time to eat
“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.” How could a little hunger get in the way? We get complacent and comfortable in our situation very quickly and lose urgency…
Wouldn’t it have been better for her to make things right surrounding the situation with the man she was living with, maybe take an evangelism course, and THEN share the gospel?
None of those excuses work. Ever. For anyone.
Jesus said, “The Harvest is NOW!”
It’s time to turn intentions into Actions
Now - this is more than just evangelism.
Evangelism is certainly in view.
We can never be apathetic or casual about evangelism
But don’t make the mistake of thinking there are certain categories of obedience that you can be lax on there aren’t.
Again - verse 34 – two things:
• Do God’s will (comprehensive obedience)
• Finish His work (evangelism)
Our role is simple:
Get the gospel in their ears.
God takes it from there
Colossians 4:3-4 – praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been bound, that I may make it manifest in the way I ought to speak.
As we look at what Scripture teaches about
evangelism, three things come up:
1. Opportunity
2. Boldness
3. Clarity
Can you think of someone specific right now that you should share the gospel with? What’s preventing that conversation?
Set that excuse aside.
Are there any other areas of disobedience in your life?
It’s time to turn intention into action.
Commit yourself right now to prayer toward this end.
Pray for opportunities
Pray for boldness
Pray for clarity
We simply need to get up from the comfort of our lives and get to work, both in evangelism, and in our pursuit of sanctification (obedience).
PRACTICAL IDEAS
As you pursue evangelism, here are some ideas - what others might there be?
• Carry tracts with you ($1,000,000 bills, “Fooled” cards, etc.)
• Read through the list of Conversation starters below.
• What other creative things can you do to:
Start an evangelistic conversation?
Get the gospel in their ears?
• Plan to participate in evangelistic events & activities.
• Simply invite them to come to church with you.
• Ask “Hey! Have you heard the good news?”
• Ask if you can share the gospel with them?
• Say, “I’m learning to share the gospel with others, would you mind if I practiced by sharing it with you?”
Get the gospel in your head, so that you can get it in their ears. Go to https://gospelears.com/in-your-head for help learning the “script.”
At the end of the day - prayer and action are the keys. You really do just have to do it (scary though it sometimes can be).
~ Sign up for our Third Thursday Outreach on April 17.
~ Invite someone to come to church with you.
~ Invite neighbors and co-worker to the Signs & Wonders Show (May 15).
~ Or just say to someone “Hey, can I ask you a question? In your opinion, what does it take for someone to go to heaven?” Then, if you don’t get a good answer, reply, “cool, would you mind if I took a couple minutes to explain how the Bible answers that question?” Then share!
You can always text them a gospel link:
https://www.coramdeobiblechurch.org/gospel
Bottom line: You can do it!! The Lord will give you the words! I’m praying for you!
Grace & Peace
Pastor Rob
Conversation Questions
GOAL: Get the gospel in their ears.
With each of these questions - after genuinely listening to their answer, it’s only natural to follow up with how you’d answer the question. Think through how to transition into the gospel as quickly as possible. Additionally, check out “The One Minute Gospel” at the very bottom of this blog.
• Where are you in your spiritual pilgrimage? (Follow with your answer)
• In your opinion, how does someone become a Christian? (Can I share with you how the Bible answers that question?)
• What single thing would you like to make absolutely certain you do, if at all possible, during your lifetime?
• Do you know anyone who is a workaholic? Is that OK? Why/Why not?
• If you could be anyone at any point of history, who would you be & why?
• What are you reading that is not an assignment or required by your work?
• Do you think you’ll go to heaven when you die? Why/Why not?
• What are you doing to grow/improve yourself personally?
• How would you define who/what God is?
• How would you describe your father and his impact on your life?
• Do you have a mentor? Tell me about his/her impact on your life.
• What would you say is the most unusual/strange thing about you?
• What is your greatest strength?
• How do you deal with it when truly difficult things happen to you or your friends and family?
• What things in have happened in your life to convince you God does or doesn’t exist?
• What do you consider to be two major turning points in your life?
• Do you have a fundamental truth in your life that serves as the foundation for everything?
• Who that you know personally has made the biggest impact on your life?
• How would you describe your mother and the impact she has had on your life?
• In your opinion, who was/is Jesus Christ?
• If you could know God personally, would you want to? Why/Why not?
• If you could ask God one question and He would answer audibly, what would you ask Him?
• If you were to inherit a million dollars today, and couldn’t spend it on yourself, what would you do with it and why?
• How would you describe your perception of who Jesus is?
• What is your spiritual background?
• Have you ever read the Bible?
• Have your views on religion changed since high school? How?
• Do you think there’s a difference between generic Christianity and Biblical Christianity? What is it?
• What is your philosophy of life based on?
• Do you think Christianity is relevant to your life? Why/Why not?
• If Jesus was who He claimed to be, how would that affect your life?
• What’s your ultimate goal in life?
• What is it that prevents you from trusting in Jesus? If that could be resolved, would you follow Him?
The key here is to begin conversations really listen, then strive to guide them to a right understanding of the gospel.
Remember - the goal is get the gospel in their ears.
Check out GospelEars.com