Why don’t more people evangelize? Well, there are many reasons, but people will usually say thing like:.
- I’m shy.
- I don’t know the person I’m talking to.
- I’m not knowledgeable enough about the Bible.
- I don’t like to talk to strangers.
Let me give you one example that I personally experienced that overcomes all of these.
A friend of mine took me out to dinner at a restaurant in a town I’ll call Oakville. While at dinner, my friend Tim asked me about my ministry. How to pray with people, when to pray, what to pray, etcetera. I explained it’s very situational and really depends upon the circumstances and what the person needs in their life.
Just then, the waitress came with the check. I asked her what her name was, and she said “Susan”. I said “Susan, my name is John and I’m a Christian and I try to make it a habit to pray for my wait staff is there anything I can pray for you for?” She began to get misty and said, “Oh my gosh nobody’s ever asked me that before.” I said “well, I’m asking you now. She said slowly “well, my house burned down in the spring. It was a total loss, everybody was safe, but I had no house. The good news is, the insurance company swooped in and cut a check within days. And we found a builder who had a gap in the schedule who could build our house. Well, he swooped in and the house is complete, at least I think so.” I said, “you think so?” She said “well I think the work is all done but I need sign off on the permits. I have all the permits in place, and I’ve called the permit office but nobody calls me back. It looks like all the work is complete, but I need these permits signed so I can move in. It’s getting cold now and my family’s been out of a house for a few months in the new house is just sitting there but I can’t move in because of the permits. I just need help with the permits.”
At this point, my friend Tim asked her what city she lived in. “Pineville” she responded. “My name is Tim Wilson and I’m the deputy building inspector for city of Pineville, how can I help you?” At this point Susan fell apart in tears. Tim wrote down his number and name and handed it to her and said “here’s my number call me and if it’s just sign off on the permits we’ll have you in by this weekend. If there’s more work to be done that’s different but if it’s just sign off on the permits I can help.” Susan went away in a mess of tears. Tim took the bill and hovering over the tip amount, wrote in $100. I laughed, and I said “Tim you’re gonna kill her.” He said “awwww she deserves it more than I do.”
So do you see folks how easy that was? It overcame all of the initial objections at the beginning of this talk,
- I’m shy: you already engaged in talking with the person.
- I don’t know the person I’m talking to: you just met, introduce yourself.
- I’m not knowledgeable enough about the Bible: the Bible didn’t even come up in the conversation.
- I don’t like to talk to strangers: a waiter or waitress isn’t a stranger.
This was a super easy evangelization experience. For me, all I had to do was basically say Tim, meet Susan. Susan, meet Tim. And God did the rest. True story.