Are you ready, willing and available to share the Good News?  .. What is your part?

You will be glad to know that we don’t have to tackle evangelism on our own – we do it in partnership with the Holy Spirit. Now that’s what I call guaranteed success! In approaching the task of reporting on the Good News about Jesus, we need to understand what is our responsibility, and what is God’s responsibility …

It is our responsibility to believe that, in Jesus Christ, we have the answer that all men and women should seek. We cannot bear witness to what we ourselves do not believe.

It is God’s responsibility to prepare the hearts of those with whom we would share Jesus Christ. God may only want you to ‘sow seeds’ within the person – seeds that He will later use as part of the total process of preparing that person to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ. It may take the loving concern of twenty Christians for them to realize their need for God, and you may be number twelve on God’s strategic list.

It is our responsibility to take the risk of being vulnerable, to be willing to fail in trying to report on the Good News. We may be ridiculed or even rejected for our faith in Christ. We are not guaranteed immunity from that. In fact, we are promised quite the opposite. As followers of Jesus Christ, we can expect ridicule and rejection!

It is God’s responsibility to redeem our honest mistakes. He asks not for our ability, but for our availability, and He uses our willingness to proclaim Christ, no matter how inadequate or imperfect that proclamation may seem to us.

It is our responsibility to share God’s love with the different types of people we meet. Jesus said the Holy Spirit will guide us in what to say as we proclaim Him, but that does not mean we simply open our mouths and God speaks. Evangelism is a co-operative venture; God certainly plays His part, but He rightfully expects us to do ours. Note what 1 Peter 3:15 instructs us to do: “… you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.” So, we need to be ready and remain ‘at the ready’ throughout the length of our earthly lives!

It is God’s responsibility to lead the person to Jesus. Although we may be the instrument through which the person desires to surrender their lives to Jesus as Lord and Savior, God has prepared their heart and He will, by His Holy Spirit, bring about the acceptance of Christ on the part of the individual.

Finally, it is our responsibility to be guided by the Holy Spirit as we share God’s love and His Good News with others. We should not programme ourselves to say and do certain things in certain situations. Rather, we should invite the Holy Spirit to control the situation and to speak through us. The Holy Spirit knows the condition of the other person’s heart – He knows what needs to be said, and when. So, relax… evangelism is a shared responsibility. Let the Holy Spirit do whatever needs to be done… don’t get in His way!   

A free downloadable copy of “Relational Evangelism” is available in the ‘Discipleship’ category of our website.

William Joukhadar
October 2, 2024