A man, while walking his dog past a two-story house, noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A small column of black smoke pouring out a ground-level window. His heart raced immediately and he began looking around. There was no one else. Only he knew it. He screamed “fire, fire” until he could no longer yell. No lights, no dogs barking…nothing, but deadly silence. Finally, he ran up to the front door and started pounding on it. No response and the smoke was getting worse. He saw open flames now coming out of the window. As a result, he picked up a potted plant and hurled it through a window and jumped in. He looked around and saw no one, then instinctively ran upstairs where he kicked all the bedroom doors open and rescued the family. He was a hero but he had risked his own life in the process. He had some minor cuts and bruises but would survive, along with every living person in that house.
There is a great fire coming alright. And many in our own neighborhoods may have never even believed it, just like those living upstairs felt comfortably numb to their world. Paul said that they can not know it if they have not heard it. And by whom can they hear it if not from us?? We know that God doesn’t want anyone to perish so we must be bold at times (II Pet. 3:9, I King 8:60 KJV).
God doesn’t want any more Christians. And certainly no more religious people. God desires disciples after Jesus’ own heart; in sharing His testimony about inheriting eternal life through Jesus Christ. All true evangelism, says John McArthur, “…must take the imperfect sinner and place him up against the Perfect Law of God…so they can see their see their deficiency against a Holy God (P. 162).
A shocking stat for me revealed that only 1 in 20 Christians will share the Gospel with at least one other person. When the number is two or more, it drops to about 1 in 30. [1] That amounts to about 1 and a half witnessing per Protestant Christian church member. The only other stat so heartbreaking was that Christians donate only about 2.7% of their income to their local church. This is lost revenue to expand the Kingdom! It is directly related to the churches witnessing, visitation and community outreach in sharing Jesus with the lost. I hear Chip Ingram once say that “Where a person’s heart is, will usually be found on their check book register“.
How much joy we miss out on in the opportunity to share Jesus Christ with others. I trained last summer with an evangelist, going door to door and discovered some wonderful ways in which to do this. Initially, I was fearful. But I discovered the way to conquer fear was to go out and get scared many times. Over time the fear turns into an indescribable joy. Jeremiah 20:9 [NIV] now makes a lot more sense to me and has become my swan song: But if I say, "I will not mention him or speak any more in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.” I must have been ashamed of the Gospel before, but not anymore.
Personal Testimony
The greatest witnessing tool by far is that of personal testimony. To witness, in the Greek means “to provide evidence for”. Ender this umbrella of evidence are testimonies, experiencing the actual events and direct, personal knowledge of someone else. We are to shine so they see Him, but it says let it shine, not make it shine. Too much light hurts the eyes but don’t hid it. I have never seen a dove attack (Col. 4:5). There is comfort in your own personal testimony to others. Especially if we are honest and tell them what God has called us out from (I was like an anti-saint believe me…you can not imagine).
Our good behavior doesn’t save. “Many people think they‘re going to heaven and say that ‘I’m a nice person’” (p. 161). Sadly, hell will be full of a lot of “nice people“. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Jesus saves (Acts 4:12) and it is complete (John 5:24-30). Even I can not mess it up (John 10:28-29). But unless someone is broken over their sin, and repentant, God can not fix what is not broken. But the good news is God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. Holiness is not the way to Jesus, Jesus is the way to holiness. But it is not all your responsibility, it is your response to His ability. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink: But you can feed him salty peanuts.
God’s Word
This is better than any money-back guarantee. God’s word will never return void or without results (Is. 55:11), but my words sometimes do. Jesus describes it as sowing seed (Mark 4:14-20). And His word is the most fertile of all seeds. There is hope, justification, eternal life in these seeds for they hold the very words of eternal life. Memorizing scripture is very effective (used during testimony) for each particular situation. The person may feel that they are not worthy or that they could never be good enough but you can tell them when you accept Christ, it doesn‘t matter how you feel or what you did, it‘s what He did (John 3:16-17, 10:28-29)! Some of the ones I have shared at studies with other churches and Sunday School classes to memorize are Acts, 4:12, 16:30-31, Romans 3:32, 6:23, and John 3:16-17.
Jesus said that all authority had been given to us by Him, to ensure that this Gospel will be preached (Mt. 28:18, Acts 1:8, 22:15). He gave us a direct order; an imperative command! Would we not obey a direct command from Jesus? Forbid it happen to me. Besides, He will give us the courage and the boldness if we ask Him (John. 17:14, Mt. 10:19-20,22). And why would He not answer a prayer like that!? What keeps us from asking someone, right there on the spot, if they want to accept Jesus as their Savior. And remember to follow up if they do! This is especially important to them. The Holy Spirit will prompt us, in prayer, to say just what is needed. You may even surprise yourself I have heard some say.
So tell someone today, even right now, that today can be there day of salvation (II Co. 6:1-2). What if we offend them? If we are not ashamed of Jesus’ name being spoken in public, will not He be ashamed to say ours before the Father? And it is absolutely worth everything (reputation, rejection, public humiliation) saving someone’s life isn’t it? If we’re ridiculed, so what, we are sharing in His persecutions, which ought to be reason to shout for joy, since we are divine company and the early Apostles considering that a blessing from God! My friends, we must at least try. Being shy might mean missing a witnessing opportunity [2]. It should grieve our souls knowing that family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and strangers may miss out on eternal life from not hear the warning…”fire, fire!”. It’s imperative that we do since Jesus said “Go!” (Math. 28:19).
1. John McArthur, Truth Endures: Commemorating Forty Years of Unleashing God’s Truth, One Verse a a Time, 1969-2009. (P. 162, 161) Panorama, CA Copyright . 2009 by Grace To You.
2. People Sharing Jesus: A Natural, Sensitive Approach to Helping Others Know Christ (Paperback). Darrel W. Robinson. Thomas Nelson Publishers. Atlanta, GA. Copyright, 1995. ISBN 0-7852-7929-6. Paperback
I have learned that if you update your profile information on Authors' Den, your picture will appear on the "Authors" page, the one you see on the blue toolbar at the top of this page, above the Featured Authors' listings. I think, if you do that occasionally, it should call more people's attention to your Den.
btw,in your last paragraph here, the word "there" should be "their."
God bless you, my brother!
Connie