The Heart of Evangelism

(© Chris Smith, September 2005.  The author gives permission to share this document with others.  Feel free to email us with your comments and observations.)

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Introduction

During the last four years I have been in Spain working with university students my view of evangelism has changed.  The Spanish culture challenged me to take a closer look at how I presented the gospel and the effectiveness of my presentation.  I do not think I was entirely wrong in how I presented the gospel in the past, but I have seen the importance of looking toward the end result.  The end result should be that the lost person becomes a genuine disciple of Christ in doctrine and practice.  It seems I have been taught that if someone says the sinner’s prayer, he or she is a new believer.  No one ever told me that directly, but almost all of the evangelism training I received before coming to Spain lead me to conclude that the end result was to personally lead someone to Christ.  God has shown me how the heart of evangelism is loving people into the kingdom through genuine friendships where God’s grace is exemplified through our lives.

Our Neighbors

Shortly after arriving to Spain we met our neighbors Antonio and Concha who were friends of some previous missionaries that were in Badajoz.  While at first they showed little spiritual interest, they were open to our friendship and helped us adapt to the Spanish culture.  We invited them over to our home for dinner, and we ate in their apartment from time to time.  After Antonio suffered from a car accident, he could not work, and he had an increased interest in spiritual things.  Soon we started having Bible studies with the whole family and Antonio individually.  After a couple of months, they made a profession of faith and have been growing in the Lord since then.   

Later Antonio shared with me about the process of making a decision to follow Christ.  He wrote in his journal about wanting to be better person:  “I am consciously living my obligation as a child of God, and today I ask Him to put in me His wisdom making me kind, good, wise, righteous, and that I would not have a hint of evil in my life.  I ask that I would be conscious of the bad parts of my life, for strength to correct those bad areas, and I would be a blessing to all I have contact with, always doing God’s will and not mine.”   

A year later Antonio realized he could not correct the bad areas of his life alone and asked for help:  “A year has gone by and I haven’t written all that I could about the vivid dreams I had last year.  I just read the four pages written in the previous year and the truth is that I was not able to control my bad character.  I pray that God would send me help.”  A short time later we moved in and became friends.  God was already at work in their lives, and they cried out to their Savior in a time of need.  Over meals we were able to share the love of Christ and how he could change their lives.  God’s timing was perfect because after the car wreck Antonio had time to study the Bible, and all of this happened shortly after he asked God to send him help. 

No matter how good of evangelists we are without the work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life they will never make a genuine commitment to follow Christ.  Our role as believers is to be open to hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit in how we can have a part in what God is already doing in a non-believer’s life.  God is already at work in a person’s life long before we show up, and we are but a part of a greater divine plan.

The Process of Evangelism

Through various experiences I have seen how God has brought people through a process of making a decision for Christ and being part of that process is the heart of evangelism.  There seems to be an unspoken assumption about the process of evangelism among believers.  The believer shares with the non-believer using a specific evangelism tool where at the end of the presentation the non believer is lead in a prayer to accept Christ.  This model is many times in connection with meeting a person for the first time on the street, on the bus, in a taxi, or part of an organized evangelistic event.  You meet someone, present the gospel, and lead them in making a decision for Christ.  I’m not denying that this cannot happen or saying that God would not work through this type of gospel presentation.  I believe that God puts people into our lives at certain moments, and He has prepared their hearts to hear his message of salvation.  However, instead of being the norm for the process of becoming a believer, from my experience, it seems to be the exception to the rule.

I realize that a person’s cultural and spiritual past have much to do with the one time encounter type experiences.  There are cultures where these encounters would be more likely to happen and have greater effect on the person’s life, but overall I have seen little to no effect on the person from these experiences.  I have seen volunteer groups come in for a one or two week mission trip and go back to their churches talking about the many professions of faith.  Their mission was to personally lead someone in a prayer to accept Christ.  I have later talked to these same people who supposedly made decisions, and they had little spiritual interest.  The person who was led in a decision told the one week missionary what they wanted to hear.  The reality of evangelism is that it is messy, complicated, and challenging.  Making a profession of faith is about completely changing your life from unselfishness, greed, lust, hate, etc. to a life of servitude to a Holy God.  That takes time!

Sowing Seeds

Changing one’s life takes a lot of spiritual sowing which Jesus talks about in John 4:37-38 “Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true.  I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor." (NIV)  Many times we do not emphasize the importance of sowing.  In farming sowing is the most important and most difficult part of the whole process.  You have to get the ground ready through hours of painful plowing, sowing the seeds, watering the crop, and then you have to wait.  This last step is the hardest sometimes, because we so eagerly want our friend to come to Christ.  The person has heard the gospel, seen the example of Christ in our lives, knows what they need to do, but still will not make the life changing decision.  Before the harvest you have to be sure that the crops are ripened and not rush out and pick that which is not ready.  We can only know if the fields are white for the harvest if we are in continual fellowship with the Father. 

In John 4:27-38 the disciples completely missed what God was doing.  The Samaritan woman had just told her whole town about how she gave her life to Christ, and the town was coming to see Jesus to hear the message of salvation.  How did the disciples respond?  They told Jesus he needed to eat something.  Jesus answers by saying in verse 34 “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish the work”.  While the disciples were worrying about what to eat, Jesus was out in the field bringing in the harvest.  Jesus then says in verse 35: “Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”  The phrase “four months more and then the harvest” was a proverb that meant the harvest cannot be rushed.  The disciples missed the harvest because they were not totally in tune to what God was doing in their midst.  Jesus said to his disciples there is no time to waste.  We have to get in the fields to bring in the harvest.

While bringing in the harvest is the most exciting time of the planting process, it is not the only necessity.  God has also called us to plow, sow, water, and wait.  What does this involve?  One of the key factors of sowing spiritual seeds into people’s lives is through close genuine friendships.  The question becomes how does a believer have these types of relationships.  Many Christians almost exclusively have surrounded themselves with friends that are believers.  This makes sense as we have more in common with other believers and can talk with them on a deeper spiritual level.  The disadvantage is that we become disconnected with the non-believing world.  Some cultures have gone to the extreme where there is little or no contact with lost people at all. 

Making Friendships

The first step in making a friend with a non-believer is finding natural ways to interact in a socially appropriate manner.  For example, here in Spain every week I play basketball and go to Portuguese classes.  Through the many hours spent in these two activities I have had numerous opportunities to share what God was doing in my life in a very natural way.  I would define going up to a stranger in a park and start talking to them about Christ an unnatural way to interact in the Spanish culture.  Passing out tracts or going door to door is not the most culturally acceptable way to reach people.  While these methods seemed to be more effective over twenty years ago in Spain (and may work in other parts of the world), to reach a more present day postmodern society, we have to get involved in people’s lives.  One way we can do that is through finding common ground in our friendship with a non-believer.  We can look toward our talents, interests, and pastimes.  Because we share that common ground with the unbeliever, we can connect in a unique way which bonds us together as friends.

Once we have made the initial step of making a friend, we must develop a deeper relationship.  Friendship involves shared experiences, going through difficult circumstances together, laughing together, unselfish giving, and genuinely caring.  If we can have this type of relationship with a lost person, they will hear the gospel message through our lives and words.  What we breathe is the love of Christ, so anybody in our immediate proximity will see that love in action.  We sow spiritual seeds into people’s lives through unchanging friendships that show who we are, warts and all.  It is difficult for us to have long term friendships in a changing world and even more difficult to totally open ourselves up to a non-believer.  When a non-believer sees our struggles and difficulties, the strength of Christ becomes evident in our weakness.  Sometimes we as believers meet someone, share the gospel, then if they do not immediately accept Christ, we drop them as friends.  We are only interested in being their friend if they will accept Christ into their lives.  Genuine friendships last.

While it is important in that we do not drop the relationship, we do have to be careful in how we spend our time.  There are people who are looking spiritually and are seeking for answers concerning their relationship with God.  God is always working in people’s lives, and we should focus our time and energy on those people who we perceived are searching spiritually.  I believe this continually changes as the same person might be really interested today and not at all interested tomorrow.  We should take advantage of the times when they are truly looking to God for answers and pray they will make that life changing decision in the future.

Genuine Friendships

Many times we can come off as fakes, because it seems from the point of view from our lost friends, we are only trying to push our agenda and are not sensitive to them as people.  Coming across as a fake reminds me of our trip to Turkey.  In Turkey, as well as many other countries in the world, the salespeople are very aggressive.  In addition, they try to find a common point of interest so that you will be more open to buying something.  One of the most frequent things said by Turkish men trying to sell something is to ask where you are from and then say: “my wife is from there”. 

One guy trying to sell me some postcards asked me where I was from almost in mid sentence.  He said I have a cousin in the United States and then continued to try to sell me the postcards.  While we were waiting on one of our friends a guy came up and starting talking to us.  He had a phone with a video camera and video taped our friend’s baby.  He was telling us all about Istanbul, helped us to find where we were going, and then offered to watch our strollers as we went into one of the sites.  After all of that, he said: “when you finish seeing the sites, I will take you to my store to look at carpets to buy”.  We do this same type of thing in our relationships with our lost friends when we treat people like customers with something to sell instead of going the extra mile to love as Christ loved with genuine compassion for lost souls.  Finding a common point of interest is not bad in itself, but it must be genuine. 

Practical Helps and Spiritual Foundations

There are various ways we can open the door to people’s hearts to receive the gospel message.  One of the keys is not to sling the door open so quickly that you give them a bloody nose.  Essentially that is what we do many times when we try to go too fast too soon in our friend’s spiritual journey.  First, we ring the doorbell and wait for an answer.  What would you do if you were sitting on the couch in your living room and a total stranger burst in and sat right beside you?  You would freak out and think he was crazy.  I’m afraid that is what we do many times as believers when we share the gospel with our lost friends.  We burst in uninvited!  After you ring the doorbell, you have to wait for an invitation to come into their home.  In the process of evangelism we have to wait for their invitation to speak to their hearts about God’s salvation.  It is only then they will truly listen to what we have to say.  Here are some ways that help lead a person to desire to open the door to their hurting heart and hear a message of hope.

We should know what we believe and be ready to be challenged continually, but not debate to the point where the relationship is damaged.  We want to stay true to what we believe, but we do not want to spend all of our time arguing.  It is important that we are sensitive to the Holy Spirit to know when to speak up and when to be silent.  Sometimes we are our own worst enemy in that we taint the gospel message with our desire to win an argument.  The friendship with the unbeliever is more important than us showing that we are right.  However, there is a time and place for a good, healthy debate on an issue, which might make the unbeliever question their stance.     

Another thing to consider when sharing the gospel through friendship is using our spiritual gifts and talents.  God has given us spiritual gifts and talents that we can use throughout the process of evangelism.  For example, if my gift is mercy, I can show the love of Christ to others through acts of mercy.  If my gift is teaching, I could show the power and grace of God through sound biblical teaching.  Not only should our spiritual gifts be used to edify God through the body of Christ, but also we can use those same gifts to bring others into the Kingdom.  Using our talents like music, sports, crafts, art, etc. is not only a natural way to enter into lost people’s lives, but it gives us credibility in the lost world.  Unbelievers see that we are not locked in our rooms all the time doing spiritual things, but we are normal people that enjoy life to the fullest.

Something else we can do in our friendship with lost people is share what God is doing in our lives.  There are natural ways to do this without in the end preaching a sermon that our friends don’t particularly want to hear and most of what they hear goes through a filter that prohibits them from really understanding what we are trying to communicate. 

Of course the first and foremost thing we should do and continue to do throughout our friendship is prayer.  Praying specifically for God to act miraculously in someone’s life will bring them closer to making a decision to give their life to the Lord.  It is important that our friends know that we are praying for them, and we share how we’ve seen God answer a specific request for them.  If someone sees that what they thought was coincidence or luck is really the power of God beckoning them to Him, they are one step closer to making a profession of faith.

I have seen the power of prayer throughout the process of evangelism.  We had one student who came to our weekly meeting and was most impacted by the prayer time.  She saw how God was answering prayers and how we cared about each other in a profound way.  Prayer took on a pastoral aspect when she could listen in on our conversations with God.  Prayer is of vital importance in breaking through the hardened hearts of a lost world.

We also should see the world with spiritual eyes in which we look for opportunities to share and take advantage of divine appointments that God sets up in our behalf.  God brings people in our lives at certain moments and gives us a word of peace to speak into their hearts.  If we are not careful, these moments can pass us by as we get caught up in our daily routine of life. 

Another way to help a person desire to open the door to their hurting heart and hear a message of hope is through reaching them where they don’t feel so much like an outsider.  Traditionally believers have invited their lost friends to church to hear the gospel message.  Instead of attempting to bring a non Christian into a totally foreign atmosphere, we should get involved in their lives and connect with them where they are comfortable which might be over a meal, playing sports, going on a picnic, going hiking, etc.  Many times we try to bring our lost friends into our Christian community instead of becoming part of their circle of friends and family.  Our Christian circles have become a safe and comfortable place for us, but our lost friends feel estranged, uncomfortable, and out of place.  We must strive to create an atmosphere where our friendship can grow, and they can see the gospel message in our lives in places where they feel comfortable.    

We also must be wise in the time we spend with non-believers.  If we are not careful, we can fall victim to only having significant relationships with non-believers, which alienates us from the body of Christ. “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another” (Hebrews 10:23-25)  If we are to reach a lost world, we have to be in constant contact with unbelievers which will undoubtedly bring temptation to conform to that which is around us.  Therefore, believers must meet together on a regular basis for worship, prayer, fellowship, and encouragement.

We want to also avoid the other extreme of being caught up in the Christian subculture and having little or no contact with the lost.  Many times we get so busy in church activities that we do not have time for friendships with unbelievers.  We can have a healthy balance of the two worlds exemplified through these two passages: 

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.”  (1 John 2:15-17)

“Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.”  (1 Cor. 9:19-22)

In order to maintain the balance between the two worlds we must act as God’s ambassadors.  2 Cor. 5:20 says “We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us”.  An ambassador maintains a balance between the two cultures he works in.  Some interesting aspects about ambassadors are: 1. They represent and communicate on the behalf of their government.  2. They do not speak solely in their name but speak in the name of their government, with the obligation to faithfully interpret the desires of their country.  3.  They do the will of the government, acting as a bridge between the two cultures.  4. They live in a foreign land, but it is not their home.  We can easily see the spiritual parallels applicable to the process of evangelism.  Ambassadors for Christ know how to function in both worlds and can communicate the gospel message without becoming engulfed in the godlessness around them.

Conclusion

Our contact with the lost many times is like a cookie cutter approach to evangelism.  It might be through using a certain model or we simply say the same thing to our lost contacts.  When we look at the example of Jesus, we see how he shared about the mysteries of the kingdom of God in a dynamic and unique way according to whom he was talking to.  Each person is different and therefore how we present the gospel to that person should be different.  Of course there are common elements to what we will say and we should never compromise the gospel message, but we must strive to be creative and sensitive each time we have an opportunity to share.