If You Really Believe This
If you really believe something, you will take action based on that belief.
For example, if a wildfire was racing towards your house in the middle of the night as you were fast asleep, and the house next door to yours was already engulfed in flames, if your neighbor saw this, he would knock on the door, kick it down if you didn’t answer, run into your bedroom and wake you up, warn you of the danger, and even if you didn’t want to get out of bed, he would drag you out of the house to safety.
That’s what a good neighbor would do.
A bad neighbor, might just get out their phone, call the fire department, and then livestream your house being burned up and as you woke up to the smoke engulfing your home, to the glee of thousands of online viewers, show you jumping out of your second story window, breaking both your legs, as the firefighters arrive too late and save just the garage attached to your house.
That’s what a bad neighbor would do.
The good neighbor took action to help you. The bad neighbor took minimal action to get more views on their social media.
Penn Jillette, an atheist and one half of the magic duo Penn and Teller, has stated that he doesn’t respect Christians who choose not to evangelize. Penn shares a powerful monologue about a “polite and kind” businessman who handed him a Gideon’s Bible. Touched by the man’s gesture, Penn testifies: “If you believe there is a heaven and hell, and you think it’s not worth telling someone about it, how much do you have to HATE him to not proselytize? To believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell people? This man cared enough about me to proselytize.” (Source: LINK)
He reasons that if someone genuinely believes in heaven and hell, they should feel a deep urgency to share their faith—regardless of any social discomfort it might cause. According to Jillette, staying silent about such beliefs suggests a lack of conviction or even a kind of apathy, implying that one doesn’t care enough about others to warn them about what they believe to be an eternal destiny.
To read more: LINK
Jesus calls us to evangelize. The gift of evangelism is not given only to famous evangelists like Billy Graham or Greg Laurie. No, it is a COMMAND for all Christians to obey:
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
If we truly love others, if we truly believe there is a heaven and a hell, if we truly believe that this life is the only life where you can decide to receive Jesus as savior, then we should be crazy fanatical Christians telling everyone we meet about Jesus.
I fail miserably at this. I spend at most 2 to 3 hours a week dedicated to sharing the Gospel in my town of Waxhaw and at a local college. But I am awake for 112 hours per week — that’s less than 3% of my awake hours. Even if I give myself a pass for the 40 hours I spend at work, after all, my employer isn’t paying me to share the Gospel at work, then that still leaves 72 hours a week where my singular focus should be – “How do I share the Gospel with more people?”.
What can I do to increase the number of hours that I share the Gospel every week?
Here’s a few ideas I’ve come up with:
- Pray every day for the Lord to give me opportunities.
- Carry Gospel tracts with me everywhere I go and BE READY TO SHARE THEM.
- With every interaction I have with someone (waitress, cashier, customer, etc.), ask the Lord to open the door to share the Gospel. “always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;” (1 Peter 3:15)
- Offer to pray for people.
- Do good deeds. Offer to help a neighbor. Invite people to church.
- Always wear a Jesus shirt, Jesus hat, Jesus bracelet, Jesus shoes, have a Jesus bumper sticker on my car, etc. — whatever it takes to get the name of Jesus in people’s minds as they look at me (or my car).
- Encourage other Christians to share the Gospel. Example: every Friday I meet with a Christian brother and our sole purpose is to “Get Jacked on Jesus”. Just like before a football game, the players go through rituals to raise their intensity before the game. So, we “Get Jacked on Jesus” while we eat breakfast and we offer to pray for our waitress, the owner, others we meet in the restaurant, and then we go out and hold Jesus Signs.
- Find others who want to share the Gospel and go share the Gospel with them.
- Set a goal to increase my 3% weekly time commitment to 10% weekly time commitment. Be intentional about setting aside another 7 hours per week just to share the Gospel. Do it this month!
- “Get Jacked on Jesus” with even more friends so that we can encourage each other to share the Gospel more. Share ideas on how to creatively share the Gospel.
My prayer – “Lord, forgive me for neglecting my responsibility to share the Gospel. Give me more opportunities to share. Help me to love people the way you love them! Let people come up and ask me about Jesus. Help me to offer to pray for people and their needs. Answer my prayer to help me share the Gospel at least 10 hours per week, In Jesus name, amen.”
I know the Lord will answer this prayer. The Bible says:
“This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” (1 John 5:14-15)
If you have never trusted Jesus for your salvation from sin and death, here’s a simple way to understand God’s free gift for you: LINK
