Procrastinating Evangelism?
I spent a couple of hours tonight on a Facebook party supporting debut author Nadine Brandes with the launch of her new release, A Time to Die, first in a series of three published by the newly-branded Enclave Publishing. It was incredibly cool, and a great time. She had video interviews, giveaways, great discussion, and it was interesting to connect with other writers and fans.
One of the activities we did centered on the premise of the book–what if you knew exactly how much time you had to live? How might you live differently? I would evangelize more. Although, I fear that knowing a date and time would just lead me to do as I sometimes do in other facets of my life–wait until the last minute and make a good run at it.
I’ve heard people, both in the church and out, throw around the “life is a vapor” and “no one knows when He’s coming” verses like candy, but they live their lives as if they don’t believe them. And they don’t share their faith as if they don’t believe anyone else is lost. So I’ve been thinking a lot tonight about evangelism and procrastination.
The Bible makes it really simple.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep His commandments. For this is man’s all.
Matthew 28:19-20 Go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
We whine all the time about how our churches are losing members and people are losing their faith in God’s existence. But I think it’s time we face a bitter truth–we aren’t doing our jobs!
Think about it. How many employers would be content giving us a task that we ignore day-by-day? God has given us a charge–to go into the world and make disciples. And if we aren’t actively working on talking to people about God each day, we’re ignoring that task. The message is simple. God exists. He loves you. He sent his Son to die for you. Obey him and receive eternal salvation. Why is that so hard to share?
And we ignore this task for what? Sports? Work? Entertainment? Fear?
Have we made these things our all, when the Bible clearly tells us that keeping God’s commandments should be our all?
One reason I want to write Christian fiction is because it gives me a tool to share my faith. Even if someone never reads my work, I can tell them about my books and it opens the door to a conversation about God. But I should do so much more.
How do you fit evangelism into your daily lives?
Posted on September 24, 2014, in Uncategorized and tagged christian fiction, conclusion of the whole matter, ecclesiastes 12:33, evangelism, faith, great commission, matthew 28:19-20, procrastinate, salvation, write, writer, writing, YA. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
Monica Mynk 
Where I live, they know–or think they know–about the gift of Jesus and His Church. They say things like, “Oh, I tried that. It wasn’t for me.” or “I was brought up a Christian, but I realized how narrow-minded I was being.” Stephen, Paul, and Apollos (once he was shown the Truth more completely) spent much time defending the faith. It takes study of the Word and a willingness to confront false beliefs. I think we ignore the task of evangelism because we are ignorant of what the Bible says. We have not had to study and have depended on a Christian society for too many years. A belief passed down to me is useless if it’s not mine. I think we need to examine the thoughts of Who we serve, with emphasis on how to serve and why we serve Him. That knowledge would give each of us courage to speak truth.
Thanks for the thought-provoking post!
You’re welcome 🙂 Thanks for reading and thanks for commenting! And you’re so right. So many people don’t actively study anymore. It’s scary to think about how loose a faith they have.
Great points! I think we have too much of a “what can God do for me” spirit in “the church” these days instead of “what can I do for God and His church?” He has already done so much for us in salvation that the least we can do is spread that message to others. And thank you for the follow that led me to your blog. 🙂
You’re welcome, Crystal 🙂 Your blog is really interesting. Thanks for following back! And I know what you mean. It’s like we’re underwhelmed about His gift. Apathy is destroying us all. We were talking in Bible class the other day about Santa Claus prayers and how we are such a “gimme” society, even the elderly these days. It’s sad, but hopefully if we keep working at evangelism, maybe true Christianity can be the next epidemic.