Apologeet.nl
Evangelising … How Then?You’ve probably heard the following two comments: “I’m not much of an evangelist …” and “Evangelism isn’t really my thing.” Maybe you are that person who has also said this at times. And, it still gnaws at you! After all, we have received the command plain and clear in Matthew 28:19-20a
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you
I think it would be good to have a look at it together because it is often a lot less difficult than people think.
Realise Who you are Serving!
First and foremost, you must realise that the God we serve is a loving God. It is He who has given us the task, and so we may assume that He wants to equip us for the task. Jesus said in Matthew 11:29-30
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
He is not a tyrant who delights when He sees you fail. On the contrary, He says: “Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.”
In His goodness, He wants to help you. In John 14:26-27a He says
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you
Jesus kept His word and on the first day of Pentecost we see it happen.
Acts 4:31
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
Pray!
And look! There we have an important key right away: Prayer! The disciples were together and together they were praying. Then the Spirit came! And the rest is history.
It is a good habit to ask the Lord for help. When I go to the supermarket I briefly ask the Lord to help me: “Lord, I’m going to the supermarket for a moment. Lord, You know who is walking around and what they need. Will You help me to see that too?” That is so powerful! The Lord has given so many beautiful moments in that way.
But also ask the Lord for courage, creativity and love. Once, my mate and I went to a kebab shop. We had to be patient for a while as it was busy. I prayed softly “Lord, can I bring something here? Would You please help me?” The young man working there had a big tattoo on his arm. It read, “MORES,” which means something like ‘good morals’ or ‘rules of conduct.’ The Dutch use it in a saying which translates as followed: ‘teaching someone mores.’ That is mostly used in a more aggressive way, we mean that we are going to teach someone a lesson. Anyway, I looked at the man, and before I knew it, I asked him “Who determines your mores anyway?” He was a bit startled and asked why I wanted to know. I told him that I had seen his tattoo and knew what mores meant. He wouldn’t answer until I asked him whether he himself knew what mores meant. Duh! Of course he knew. He was himself was his own mores, he told me. My follow-up question was whether that was somewhat successful. Sometimes yes, often no, he replied. Boom! Just like that, the Lord gave an opening to tell someone about my beloved Mores, the Lord Jesus.
A little later, my friend and I walked out with a kebab sandwich. My mate was silent and after a while he looked at me and asked what had just happened. He wondered if he had really witnessed a conversation about the Gospel after standing in a queue and noticing a tattoo. It was God’s Spirit seizing the moment to proclaim Jesus through a creative twist of events.
Keep it to Yourself
Do you realise who you are serving? And you have been praying for opportunities? Good, then you may trust that the Lord will open doors. But then what next? On the internet, you can see videos of Ray Comfort. He confronts people with their sins. Nothing wrong with that! But not everyone responds equally well to that. Especially when I have a bit more time, I try to tell something about my own experiences, how I came to know Jesus, and why I am so massively impressed by who He is.
I was visiting a man who told me that he was finished with the church. He didn’t like it much any more. I told him that I too sometimes dislike things within the church. What I was still doing there then, he asked me. I explained to him that I often make the same mistakes as every other Christian; that I was convinced that I had also disappointed people at times. But I was also allowed to tell him that my love for Jesus drove me, along with those other christians, to worship Him. I said the church is a great example of why we need Jesus so much. The church is full of saved sinners, and I am one of them. “Yes,” I then say, “I wasn’t even brought up with the faith and did a lot of strange and bad things. Well, and I can tell you that I am grateful that God wanted to save me through His Son!”
Nine times out of 10, this raises curiosity and I can quietly tell how I came to a living faith in Jesus.
Love
Just a heads-up: do it with love for the other person!
How many times have we heard it? Yet, how many Christians try to share the gospel just because they feel they need to? After all, everyone needs to hear the Gospel, right? We try to drag everyone along to our church service without really considering what someone really needs. Then there is also that special church service. And we quickly lure Pete or Clare in under the guise of nice music, drama, and coffee afterwards. The sermon in that service sounds more like an evangelisation message, explaining what exactly is wrong with people and that without Jesus they are lost. In the afternoon Pete or Clare are glad to be home again, and resolve never to set foot in church again. That’s a shame, but oh well “at least they’ve been under the word!”
And I really did not pulled that out of my hat. The tricky thing is that none of this is wrong in itself. A creative church service is fine. It is good to invite Pete or Clare, and yes, they also need to hear why they need Jesus. But what was our motive? Did we really care about the personal situation of Pete or Clare? Were we interested in their lives? Did we feel moved with compassion when they told us that they were struggling so tremendously with their sexual orientation, their past, their employer, or their spouse? Did we actually know that they loved nothing more than walking on the beach during sunset? Did we actually know what their job was and if they went on holiday yet?
Jesus sees us. Jesus knows who we are and what concerns us.
John 1:45-51
Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 46And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. 47Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 48Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. 49Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. 50Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.
Of course, we cannot always live up to knowing our neighbour so well. But when we pray to the Lord for opportunities, it can’t hurt to also ask right away if we may be genuinely moved by the person He brings on our path. Don’t let the encounter be a compulsory task or job. Ask the Lord to love the person in front of us. He or she too is a precious creation of God.
You’ve Received Ears, Use Them!
But how do you find out what is going on with someone? Right, by asking the right questions and, above all, by listening. It is very tempting is to utter a Christian message to every word the person speaks.
The other day, a man I hadn’t seen for a long time told me that he always attended church as a proper Christian. Now he no longer did. I asked what had happened. He told me that he knew all the Christian dogmas but that, when he started thinking about them, he could never really explain them in depth. Jesus had died for our sins, but he found it difficult to explain why God had specifically chosen that a blood sacrifice should be made for those sins. Why had God made the rules in that way. Surely it could have been done it differently?
Well, you can understand that I was on the edge of my seat! How easy it would have been, after these words, to take over the conversation and give a good account of why God did it like that. Yes, just let me do it! Let me quickly explain!
Still, I didn’t. I asked further. In between asking about his work, his wife’s work. We talked about his hobby, his children, and we talked about some good memories. I shared about my situation and what my children are doing at the moment. Sideways, I shared how I explain the gospel to people in rural Madagascar. It was a good conversation and I now know what I can pray for.
This man knows the gospel quite well. What he needs is someone who knows what is going on in his life. A Christian who can bring his things before the throne of the Lord. He just needed a good experience. My prayer: “Lord, bring a Christian on his path who has more time to spend with him. Lord, let it be so that he may remember our conversation positively.”
Don’t try to Make Yourself Look Better or Different
On the 5th of May 2024, we visited the Corrie ten Boom house in Harlem as a family. Very impressive to hear and see how Corrie ten Boom’s family served the Lord. Later, after the war, Corrie ten Boom travelled all over the world sharing the Gospel. We were heavily impressed by the way this Dutch woman form Harlem allowed herself to be used for the Lord’s work.
In early 2000, my wife and I travelled to China with Open Doors. We smuggled Bibles and all kinds of study material into the country. There we met Samual Lam. Brother Lam had had to spend most of his lifetime in prison. His crime? He led people to Jesus. Every time he was imprisoned, his church grew in membership. This little man said to us that if his imprisonment was the price for church growth, he would love to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Incredible experience!
Back in the Netherlands, we got to meet Anne van de Bijl, or as most people outside the Nethelands know him, brother Andrew. He, the simple boy who grew up in a small village near my birthtown, Sint Pancras, travelled to all kinds of closed countries to encourage persecuted Christians. What a beautiful conversation we had and how impressed I was by his faith and trust in the Lord.
But you know what? I am not Corrie, Samual or Anne! I am Jurgen. God has made me unique as He saw fit. You too are unique. Maybe you are not as brave as Anne van de Bijl. Maybe you can’t speak as beautifully as Corrie ten Boom. That doesn’t matter as long as you are honest about it. Do not try to pretend you are different because you will undoubtedly fall through.
God is totally unimpressed with my CV. God laughs at any attempt by us to prove our worth and our ability. God is not impressed by our number of sunscibers, readers, likes, retweets, friends, connections or admirers. Nor is He impressed by our Billy Graham impersonation.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29that no flesh should glory in his presence. 30But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
Like Paul, we may resign ourselves to the fact that we have received grace and that the Lord can use us, but in His time and in His way.
2 Corinthians 12:9
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
In conclusion
There is of course much more to say about evangelism, but I’ll leave it here for now. Just let me know what you think in the comments below. Remember! If you want to leave a comment on one of my other platform, I am mostly active on my Odysee channel. You will find a link to that channel, as well as to all my other channels, in the header of this website.
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I wish you God’s blessing!
