Passion for Evangelism

All the saints greet you, but especially those from Caesar's household.-Philippians 4:22

Paul had a passion for evangelism. Wherever Paul went and whoever Paul met he would open his mouth and share the story of Jesus with them. Even when he was in jail Paul would share the Gospel with his jailers and anyone in Caesar's household. Paul models for us lifestyle evangelism which should be evident in every Christian.

During my undergrad I attended Liberty University. Every student regardless of their major has to take a few basic Bible classes. One of the classes which I had to take was Evangelism and the Christian Life. This class taught the basics of living out your Christian faith. The class focused on Bible study, prayer, scripture memory, and other spiritual disciplines. One of the spiritual disciplines the class focused on was evangelism. Every student in the class had to share their faith with at least one person before the class was finished. I was terrified of this assignment. I had never shared my faith with anyone and did not know what to do or say. I did not want to do the assignment and kept putting it off. One day a friend who was in the class said he was going to the mall to do his evangelism project and asked if I wanted to come. I decided to bite the bullet. On the way to the mall I was terrified; I might not have been visibly shaking in my seat but inside I was petrified.

Once at the mall my friend was a natural at evangelism. He could turn every conversation into a Gospel conversation. "How do you like that Chick fil a sandwich? Would you like to know about the God who created the chicken." His natural ability at evangelism made me more nervous. I broke away from him and began to walk around the mall. I kept seeing people I knew I should talk with but I couldn't gather enough courage to go up and talk. I walked around the mall paralyzed with fear for about an hour. I eventually found myself inside "Hat World" where I was the only one in the store. I began talking with the man behind the counter about sports. Our casual conversation helped to get rid of my fears. I figured this guy would not kill me if I talked about the Gospel. Inside my pocket was a Gospel track and while I did not have the courage to have a Gospel conversation I thought I could at least give a track. I casually pulled the track out of my pocket and asked, "Hhhhhaaaavvveee you evvveerrr seeeeennnn a million dollars" and shoved the track into his hand. He said, "no." I turned to leave and shouted over my shoulder, "It has a Gospel message on the back." Out of the store I breathed a huge sigh of relief. After walking away I turned around and could see the young man reading the track. To this day, while typing this, I can picture the man with his backwards Yankees cap reading my Gospel track. I had succeeded in sharing my faith and lived to tell about it.

God used that encounter to light a fire underneath me. That day God lit the pilot light on my passion for evangelism. I began reading anything and everything on evangelism. I was introduced to Ray Comfort by a few friends on my dorm and God continued to fan the flame of evangelism. I eventually began to go out witnessing every Friday night. My favorite place to share the Gospel was Lynchburg College. LC is located in Lynchburg, Virginia about thirty minutes from Liberty University. I would go to LC on a Friday night and talk with students while they sat outside and smoked cigarettes. At first I would share my testimony but as I had more practice I began to be able to share the Gospel. They would attempt to stump me with questions, "why is there evil? what is truth? was Jesus a real person?" at first I would not know the answers and they would be surprised when I would say, "I don't know; let me go home and look up the answer." I would go home, look up the answers, and the next week I would find the guy and answer his questions. I grew in my walk with Christ through evangelism. The young men outside the dorms who were attempting to discredit Christianity were actually making it stronger in my life. 

God reminded me that my two best friends from high school went to LC and God began to burden me to share the Gospel with them. I called them one Friday night and went into their dorm room to share the Gospel. When I arrived to their dorm, knowing I was going to share my faith, they pulled out an old cell phone and had me listen to a drunk call I had made while in high school. I was embarrassed and wanted to crawl under the bed but I swallowed my fear and was able to use it as an opportunity to transition to the Gospel. They politely listened and than asked me to leave. 

I dusted my shoes off and continued to go back to LC. My two best friends from high school would become increasingly antagonistic every time they would see me on campus. They would call LC police and have me escorted off campus. They would come behind me and attempt to pepper me with questions while I was having a conversation with someone else. One night they shoved me up against the side of a dorm and told me that if they ever saw me on campus again they would physically hurt me. Taking the hint and seeing the look in their eyes, I left. Later that night I received a phone call from the Lynchburg police department informing me that they were calling as a courtesy and said they could not tell me what to do but if I went back to LC they were not sure if the LC police or city police could protect me. Needless to say I decided to avoid LC. 

After two month away from LC I received a phone call from one of my friends at LC and he informed me that he was filming a documentary about religious dialogue and wanted me to come to LC and take part in a religious panel. Since we had been best friends I thought nothing bad would happen and I agreed to go. When I arrived at the student center I was led to a group of five guys. The young men appeared polite and cordial while the cameras were off but as soon as the cameras began rolling, the five guys turned on me and began to attack me with questions. Before I could answer one question, another was fired at me and on it went for about twenty minutes. These men were not open for a dialogue but only wanted to attack Christianity. I have never seen the documentary but I can only imagine I look like a complete idiot. I was amazed that my best friend had betrayed me. 

I had been mocked, threatened, and made to look like a fool by my best friends growing up. I learned an important lesson during this situation. I learned that taking a stand for the Gospel will cost you. It will cost you everything; however, in the end it will be worth it. It is hard and scary to step out of your comfort zone and share your faith. It takes courage to share the Gospel with our loved ones; however, we must have the courage to open our mouth and share. We share because we know that every second two people die, and every day 120,000 people pass into eternity and we do not want them to go into eternity unwarned and unprayed for. We share our faith because we know that Christ is the only one who will protect our friends, neighbors, co-workers and family members from the wrath to come. 

May we have courage to go and share our faith while there is still time.