This post was originally posted at The Speak:Truth Project
By Justin Edwards
An integral part of this ministry is to help saints overcome their fears in evangelism. One thing I learned last year and continue to see its application in my own life is that the cliche, “practice makes perfect”, holds true for evangelism. A basketball player will never be good at free throws if he doesn’t practice diligently. A piano player will never reach the level of musician if he does not practice nearly every day. And a student will never be a professional if they do not apply their academic knowledge in the career world. The same holds true for witnessing.
We can continue to learn about evangelism through the plethora of material out there. I, for one, have found ministries such as Living Waters to be invaluable blessings to me in equipping me for evangelism. But what good would this knowledge be if I were not applying it? It would be useless, yes?
There are numerous fears we must overcome in order to be Spirit-empowered evangelists. Some of these fears include: rejection, don’t know how, losing friends or family, not knowing enough, and not being able to answer questions. Now let’s ask ourselves this question -
If we are afraid of these things, are we fearful of men or God? Are we trying to please men or God?
Frankly, these fears are rooted in the flesh, and when we come to the realization that God will never send us forth to do a work for which He has not prepared us, we are ready to take the first step of faith in evangelism. Furthermore, understanding that no witnessing encounter is ever a losing situation, then we can put these fears to rest because even if we are persecuted, our reward is great in heaven (1 Peter 4:14, Luke 6:22-23, Matthew 5:11-12).
Knowing this, are you ready to ask yourself a second question?
Are my fears an excuse to not witness? Are my fears an excuse to be disobedient to the Lord Jesus Christ?
If you can answer “no” to these questions, then you are ready to act on faith. You do not want to sin against God, right? For He says in James 4:17,
Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Now that we have laid a foundation for why our fears are no excuse for disobedience and that we must seek to please God rather than men, let’s get to how we’re going to put our faith into practice by overcoming our flesh.
The Project Challenges will serve to give you small steps to take to get your feet wet, so to speak. By doing little tasks at a time, you will gain confidence that witnessing to strangers is not as scary as you once thought, but in fact, it’s fun and rewarding!
So, this next Project Challenge is simple. If you do not already have a set of Trillion dollar bill Gospel tracts, I’d like you to join me in buying a pack of 100 trillions. At $5 per pack, and $2.73 for shipping, my total was $7.73. You can save a lot of money by purchasing 10 or more tracts, as they are $3 per pack at that point. Here’s the link: Lincoln Trillion Dollar Bill
Within 24 hours of reading this article or receiving the tracts in the mail, I want to challenge you to hand 1 tract out to 1 person. Easy enough right? It really is simple. Here’s a couple of ideas for handing them out:
1) Ask a random person walking passed you in public, “hey, did you get one of these?” Most people are curious as to what you might be giving away and will take one. Sometimes they will ask you, “what is it?” Then you will have the opportunity to tell them it has the trillion dollar question on the back.
2) At your next purchase, ask the store clerk or server at the restaurant if they have change or if they can break a trillion. They will likely laugh or smile and try to give it back to you. But then just say, “no, it’s for you, it’s got the trillion dollar question on the back.”
People love these trillion dollar bills! And the more you do this you will develop your own methods or continue with these suggestions. The goal is to get into a conversation about where they will go when they die, but often you only have time to tell them to read the back when they get a chance. Either way, you are opening a door to share the Law and Gospel with them, or they have it in their hands to read later.
This is so easy! Yes, even for you!
Are you ready to step out of your comfort zone? I did about a year ago and I can’t tell you enough about the work God has done in me. Every day I look for opportunities to share my faith, and these trillions make it so easy to do. And just for your information, I was once diagnosed with GAD – general anxiety disorder – so talking to strangers was a major no-no because of anxiety and/or panic! But look at what God has done!
So will you join me? Are you ready to make a change and trust that God will give you the courage, wisdom, and knowledge to boldly proclaim His name?
Will you accept this challenge? Are you ready to obey the Great Commission with boldness? Just one tract? You can do it!
Let’s hear about it!
In case you missed it, please see Project Challenge #1 – Tsunami
