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Sharing with people that they are sinners and need to repent takes boldness. Instead of obeying the Lord and faithfully sharing His gospel, we often make excuses and decide we will not say anything or simply say a silent prayer for them and hope perhaps God will send someone else to be His witness. Fear of failure and fear of rejection have kept many would-be witnesses quiet.
Let’s talk about fear for a minute. God has not given the Christian a spirit of fear, but just the opposite. As 2 Timothy 1:7 states, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” When we are fearful, we are not powerful, loving, or thinking correctly. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:57, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
One of the seminars I attended at the Empower Conference in February was led by Pastor Levi Skipper. Levi is the senior pastor at Sagemont Church in Houston, and God is pouring out His favor and blessings upon the church and Levi’s ministry. He encouraged our group and motivated us to be ambassadors for God, inviting others to be reconciled to Him (2 Corinthians 5:20).
The title of his message was “No Sweat Evangelism.” When Levi was only 5 years old, his best buddy, his older brother, died from brain cancer at age 7. As you can imagine, it was a very hard time for Levi. He said he can remember having questions about life and death from an early age. Levi accepted the Lord Jesus as his Savior as a child, and he started immediately telling his classmates in school about Jesus.
“Fear of failure and fear of rejection have kept many would-be witnesses quiet.”
He said evangelism is simple but not easy. I agree. The devil will attack and seek to discourage us in any way he can to stop us from obeying Jesus and witnessing to others. But praise God, Jesus is greater than the devil!
Levi’s four points were:
1. Own your role as a missionary.
2. Choose to be super intentional.
3. Develop evangelistic curiosity.
4. Show them what you are telling them.
What if we obeyed the Lord and did what Levi has taught us to do? What if we realized the person who is meant to share Jesus with my neighbor is me? What if we woke up each day asking God to help us be intentional and share His good news? What if we developed a genuine curiosity about the people God puts in our paths and we actually ask them what the cross they are wearing or the tattoo on their body means? And what if we clearly presented the gospel to the lost using simple visuals or illustrations like the bridge analogy? What would happen would be a lot of people coming into the kingdom of God.
My favorite Christian contemporary song currently is John Reddick’s, “No Fear.” Google it, turn up the volume, and be blessed. He reminds the follower of Jesus that the devil has no power over our lives, our families, future, or any other part of us. Jesus reigns, and so we have no fear!
