Evangelism as Faithfulness
This is a story about evangelism. But it just might be different than any you’ve read about the intentional act of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with an unbeliever.
Picture a kind-hearted woman in her 70s. We’ll call her Mary. She’s a woman who did not grow up in an active, vibrant, Bible-preaching faith community. Her experience was staid and stale, so lifeless she would rarely if ever talk about faith with her friends—and assuredly never with a total stranger. Who would invite a friend into a faith experience when you’re not even convinced that your own spiritual heartbeat has a healthy pulse? The faith in Christ that Mary knew and experienced was understated, dare I say bland, and therefore unequivocally private.
Yet the words of Jesus found in Matthew 28, commonly referred to as the Great Commission, are as true for Mary as they are for missionaries living and serving around the globe right now. “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.’”
God commissions all his people to tell others about the love and grace they have found through faith in Jesus Christ, so that they too might become his disciples—people who confess Jesus as Lord, walk faithfully in his ways, and become lifelong learners of God’s truth, all because they experienced a heart transformation that causes them to walk in submission to the teachings of Christ.
Who Will Tell Them?
Today, Mary is now at a much different place on her faith journey. God called her to leave the staid and stale behind. In its place is a church that loves God passionately, preaches the gospel consistently, and encourages believers to read their Bible regularly and walk in the ways of Scripture. The vibrancy of her newfound faith community has quickened her heart. The growth that she is experiencing on the journey, alongside other faithful believers, is something that she deeply longs for others to experience. I know this because she’s shared this with me with moist eyes. Her spiritual heartbeat is healthy.
Recently, as she was spending time with a group of long-standing friends, Mary was presented with an unexpected opportunity to fulfill her call to the great commission. In the middle of their lunch, she sensed the leading of the Holy Spirit to do something that she’d never done before—tell others about Jesus.
She admitted that in the moment she became incredibly nervous. (Which, in my experience, is completely normal.) Yet, despite her heightened nerves, Mary did what the Spirit of God encouraged her to do. She told her friends about the good news of Jesus Christ!
Her boldness was rooted in one foundational truth: that salvation is found only through faith in Jesus. Mary believes this and is inspired by what the apostle Paul wrote to a group of ethnically diverse believers in Rome. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (Rom. 1:16–17).
What about the Results?
The women who heard the gospel from Mary’s friendly words did not bow their knees in repentance, turn from their sinful ways, and place their faith in Jesus. While that would make for a powerful story, this desired outcome didn’t happen. The ladies showed appreciation for Mary’s words, and then went on with their daily tasks. There was no heavy-handed pressure or judgment from either direction. Just friends enjoying their time together in a common setting when a godly woman practiced faithfulness to the call that God had laid upon her heart.
And this is where evangelism can become awkward for so many. The courage and boldness required to present the gospel to a family member or friend stirs something deep within the heart of the believer. Everything within us yearns for the person we love to respond to Jesus in repentance and belief. To surrender their life to the only One who provides the deepest longings of the human soul. And when there is no response, the path often leads us to a fork in the road; one path is disappointment, the other aggressiveness. Disappointment because the hearer didn’t wholly grasp the offer of grace in Christ. Aggressiveness because the passion that led a believer to verbalize the gospel still burns deep within the soul. If we had just pushed a harder, or push harder in the future, maybe they’ll turn to Christ?
Some might believe that Mary should have pushed further, seeking a response to the good news that she shared with her friends. Perhaps she should have put into practice the salesperson’s axiom made popular in the classic film Glengarry Glen Ross—always be closing! Yet, that’s not the approach the apostle Paul himself teaches in his first letter to the believers in Corinth. Paul writes, “I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow” (1 Cor. 3:6–7 NLT).
It’s all about God. Because God alone convicts of sin. God alone draws our hearts to Him. And God alone grows the seed of faith in the human heart. This means that God alone is sovereign in the response to our humble presentation of the gospel. No pushing, cajoling, arm-twisting, pressuring, or hard sell is needed. None! This truth should bring great peace and freedom to every believer who has ever invested in another by sharing the gospel of Christ.
What God desires of his followers is faithfulness, just plant and water. Faithfulness includes listening to the still small voice of the Spirit when he nudges you to speak. To humbly tell someone about Jesus and how he has changed your life (Acts 4:12). To speak of the peace you now experience in Christ (Phil. 4:7). And to share of the hope that you have for your eternal future (1 Pet. 3:15).
Mary’s simple act of loving faithfulness reminded me that I often think too much about myself when sharing the gospel: Did I say the right thing? Should I have done something else? Was I too pushy? Yet the power of evangelism is that it isn’t about me, and it doesn’t depend upon me. What God asks of his people is humble faithfulness.
So, take a moment this week to tell someone about Jesus the Christ. Your witness doesn’t need to be pushy or dramatic. Humble evangelism rarely is. What the unbelieving world needs is your faithfulness.