The Merits of evangelism to Random Strangers

No one will debate that it is our responsibility to share the 'gospel' with our unbelieving friends, family, neighbor's and colleagues. But most of us find this difficult, if not seemingly impossible.

Some will say that we don't need to actually say anything, our actions will speak for themselves. And yes, our actions and presence in those places can make a change, but there is a whole other post in that.

If all we say is "I go to church on Sundays", then the message that is being reinforced through our good actions will be "I am a good person because I go to church on Sunday". But what they don't know is that we have the key to eternal life, and that our actions and attitudes are a reflection of the hope that we find in Jesus.

And what they desperately need to know is that they are in need of a Savior. No matter how 'good' they are, they are still stained with sin, and that means that they can't live forever in heaven. They only way that they can become clean is by deciding to accept what Jesus did on the cross, turn from their own way, and make God the most important thing in their lives. Do they get this message through our actions? Not with out the words.

The truth is, I don't know how to get to the point where I can share the gospel with people at work. We all know the theory's of building a report, then inviting them along to a Christian event where they will hopefully hear and understand the gospel, and stick their hand up. But this certainly doesn't work for every one.

I heard a story recently about a man who handed out gospel tracts on George St in Sydney for years. He never had the chance to lead anyone to Christ, but the stories started coming together, and not long before he died he was given a picture of the number of people who had been saved as a result of reading one of his tracts (thousands).

The thing that hit me from this story, is that most of the people who became a Christian through his ministry had Christian friends that they went to when they knew they had to make the decision. Those friends, I bet, would have been praying, and waiting patiently for that moment.

The reality is that I can't sit down and go through black book with people at work. We can't put tracts in peoples pigeon holes (so we discovered at Christmas!). But I can go out and share with a random stranger. My bet is that this random stranger has a friend of parent or grandparent praying for them, and I am a part of the answer to that prayer.

I hope that someone out there will be a part of the answer to my prayers for my friends. They might pass them a tract at the entrance to the supermarket, they might sit down with them in a park and explain the gospel message. Maybe then, they will come to work and say "you're a Christian aye? Hey I've been wondering, what's the deal with...?"

Yesterday I shared with a girl who grew up in the Catholic Church. She responded well, although not quite at the point where she was ready to make the decision. But she knows now. Now it is up to the Holy Spirit to convict her, and make her aware of the truth.
At the end, she asked "don't you find it hard to go around and do what you're doing". I replied "yea, I still get the shakes, even when I've done it heaps of times. But it's so worth it you know. People don't know this stuff, and they need to know, it would suck if the never heard". She smiled and nodded. I could see in her eyes that she could understand why we were out there, she got how important it is.

Anyway, the Evangelism thing isn't meant to be two camps with a fence in the middle. "Friendship Evangelism" on one side, and sharing with random strangers on the other The fence needs to come down. You might be more one way inclined, but that doesn't change our responsibility to be ready for opportunities of either kind. It's a team thing.