The "E" Word

evangelism |iˈvanjəˌlizəm|nounthe spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness.• zealous advocacy of a cause.

You may or may not have heard this word often. You may have heard it from a pulpit or from across a table. You may have heard it on the street. I first heard this word on the college campus in a ministry meeting and for me this is a word that came with so much PRESSURE.

I've always been pumped about Jesus. Since the day I came to know Him, and especially since the day I was filled with the Holy Spirit, I've been advocating Him everywhere that I go. People must know that Jesus is the answer. After trying any and everything, I finally turned away from my sins and to the face of Jesus who was relentlessly pursuing me. And when my friends would come to me with their life issues, sometimes only when I was out of answers, but I would always lead them to Jesus. More boldly in recent years, but I always knew He was The Way. In the depths of me I knew and I needed to share.

However, I NEVER considered myself an "evangelist". I quickly learned that "evangelists" were those who were particularly zealous about telling everyone they meet about Jesus no matter where they are, what they are doing, or whose time they are on. I soon learned among the Christian circle that there are even TYPES of evangelists! I KNOW! News to me, too! There's street evangelists, campus evangelists, revival evangelists and I'm sure I'm missing several of them.

Most "evangelists" I knew were very LOUD, VERY long-winded, pretty arrogant, SUPER INTENSE people-people, kind of bossy, not very gentle, very good manipulators and not very detailed or empathetic. Therefore, when I felt like the Lord was drawing on my heart at a conference to rise up as an evangelist, you can imagine my hesitation, confusion and withdrawal.

I knew that if this is something that is the core of me God would have to do some serious renewing of my mind on the heavy weight that the title carried.

Not to mention, I always felt horrible because when we would go on these evangelism trips or have appointed times to go out two by two to preach on campus, I failed horribly at it. I crumbled under the pressure. It was so unnatural to me to be sort of forced to go out and preach to gospel to at least seven people. It STRESSED ME OUT.

But God has taught me some things over the past year.

Firstly, everyone would always say to me, "We're all evangelists!!! We are all called to share Jesus!" Now, it is true that we are all called to share Jesus. But it's a bit of a stretch to say we are all evangelists. The Bible speaks specifically of the five offices in a healthy church. (And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds ad the teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ," Ephesians 4:11, 12) So we see here that though God has called us all to share Jesus, He has appointed some to hold the office, responsibility and high honor of equipping us to do so.

While I believe among us all there are plenty who carry a desire and a gift in any of these five areas, God has appointed some of us with a special grace to not only be these things, but to equip and train those who have strengths in these areas.

God broke this down to me, that we are all to share Jesus, but it comes more naturally to some of us and to those of us it is easier for, we should be evangelizing in conjunction with helping those who struggle with the pressure.

So, if it's hard for you to go out to your local Walmart and preach the gospel to strangers on the chip aisle, by all means realize that this is not the only way to share Jesus. Also realize that if God speaks to you to do something of that nature, trust Him, and take an evangelist with you! That's what the BODY is for! Lean and depend on one another. But do not feel condemned that brother so and so thrives in daring situations like leading someone to Christ on a roller coaster at your local theme park and you stumble over your words talking to an unbelieving coworker. Be you and share the love of Christ the way that God has called you to.

Secondly, God just broke the chains that were associated with the word evangelize. First He said to me, "Darling, it doesn't have to be so formal." Meaning, I don't have to gear up, put on a tool belt with my evangelism tools in it, go out and lay down Romans road to every person I meet. God has moved on my heart to live life with people and to understand that He fits in! Jesus made the whole world and all the people who are in it, so we don't have to feel awkward for bringing Him into the conversation. HE IS THE CONVERSATION! Be you. There will be challenges. But don't stray from being exactly who God made you to be and sharing His love and His truth according to the guidance of His Holy Spirit within you. Reach your Judea, the place and the people who are in your realm of influence.

Then he showed me that evangelism is no more than sharing  Him with the people in my life. That's why you read me saying "share Jesus" more often than saying "evangelize" because that word has a negative connotation now a days. Spread the good news, man. Make disciples. It's not something to stress about. Be free of the pressure to record numbers and conversations and file reports. Just be you, let your light shine, and like a moth to a flame Jesus will draw them. It's in His word. Lift me up and I will draw all men!

And though some people thrive doing evangelism on the streets to the homeless, and some people have a heart to share Jesus on college campuses, the Lord did not deem these in the scripture as different types of evangelists. We are called to make disciples of all nations, no matter who, what, when, where or how. I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone some and see what the good Lord does.

Lastly, HAVE COURAGE.
We are not of those who shrink back. The righteous are as bold as lions. We often don't shrink back from loving people, as long as it's mushy love and not real biblical love, but it is important not to shrink back from sharing the truth as well. Not only in word but in deed. Don't shrink back from having integrity and have courage when faced when temptation. It goes a long, long way.

courage |ˈkərij; ˈkə-rij|nounthe ability to do something that frightens one : she called on all her courage to face the ordeal.• strength in the face of pain or grief : he fought his illness with great courage.