The Hard Work of Evangelism

“Fear of Evangelism”
 Message @ Jericho Ridge Community Church –Sunday, March 11, 2018
Text: // Series: Fear Not

Good morning, friends.  So glad to be here with you worshiping and learning and listening to God together.  My name is Brad, I’m part of the teaching and leadership team here at Jericho Ridge.  We are nearing the end of our winter series here at Jericho entitled “fear not” and today, we are going to tackle what is perhaps one of the biggest fears many Christians today face: EVANGELISM.  Just the mention of it can stir up feelings of guilt, inadequacy, “ought to do”.  Some may have a bad hangover from pervious strategies that were heavy handed or close  the deal focused. 

My own journey with the topic of evangelism began with my parents. They were first generation Christians and when they came to faith as adults, it was a radically life-changing event for them.  It was so transformational, that they felt a compelling and refreshing desire to tell everyone they met about their new relationship with Jesus.  They handed out a tract to every server at every restaurant.  My mom, in particular, was amazingly winsome in her practice of personal evangelism.  She would talk to anyone.  I can remember being in the Woodward’s line up with her and she would strike up a conversation with the check out lady and before you know it, my mom would be leading her in a prayer to surrender her life to Jesus!  She would talk to people on airplanes about their faith journey and there would be weeping as people confessed their sins and said yes to Jesus.  To this day, she has an incredible capacity to talk to people in the park or delivery people who come to the door.  While we were in Africa, she had an extensive conversation with the lady who called from Toronto to try to sell us a subscription to the Globe and Mail!  I heard all about it when the telemarketer called back last week.  My mom does an incredible, incredible job of evangelism.  There will literally be hundreds upon hundreds of people in heaven because of the faithful and bold and natural witness that my mother has maintained over the course of her Christians life. 

But here’s the problem with that picture that I just painted…  I learned quite quickly and early in my life that I didn’t think I could replicate that!  Which might surprise some of you.  I’m a raving extrovert but I developed a sense that whatever made my mom so great at evangelism, I didn’t have “it”.  For me, and maybe for you, evangelism didn’t come so naturally or easily.  And so some of us learn not only to have dis-ease with the notion of having a meaningful conversation about faith with another person, we actually come to FEAR it.  I get that.  I’ve lived that.  But recently, I’ve been challenging myself to think more carefully about the subject of evangelism.  To figure our how to do it in a way that is congruent with my personality and in a way that reflects God’s heart for people

This past week in our project 345 Bible Reading in the Jericho App, we just finished reading through the book of Acts.  One of things that struck me in a fresh way was the wide variety of ways in which Paul did evangelism.  And he not only did it, but he gave some helpful and healthy instructions for his protégé, Timothy to follow as well.  Turn with to me 2 Timothy 4:1-5 and we’re going to see 3 things you need to know about Evangelism.  Let’s pray as we approach God’s Word together this morning. 

2 Timothy 4:1-5. 

In this passage, we see 3 things You Need to Know about evangelism. 

• Evangelism is HARD WORK!

For some reason, this truth is profoundly comforting to me.  I think that because my mom made evangelism look so darn easy that when I tried it and it didn’t go so hot, I became dazed and confused.  “But, but they always say yes to Jesus when my mom asks them to pray the prayer!?  What’s wrong with me!?!”  But I love how the ESV translation puts a sharp point on this… 

“Endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:5 ESV)

In other words, when you engage in the process of telling others about Jesus, you should expect that you will experience everything listed in this passage.  People who won’t listen. People who will reject the truth and chase after myths.  You should expect that evangelization will result in some form of suffering and above all, you should expect that evangelism will be HARD WORK! 

Even Paul, author of so many of the books of the New Testament and an amazing and gifted evangelist himself says later in this chapter:

“The Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all…to hear (2 Timothy 4:17 NLT)

He wouldn’t need God to give him strength if it wasn’t hard work!  Bu for whatever reason, we have often told ourselves that evangelism isn’t that difficult.  We have books and whole systems promising “3 simple steps to make evangelism super-easy”.  And to be fair, a generation ago, I think evangelism was easier.  Most people in Canadian culture generally shared some of the same presuppositions and biblical understandings as faithful church-going Christians.  And so often, all they needed was a nudge in the right direction or an invitation to a key event and they were there.  But things have changed rapidly in our culture and so I think we’ve lost our way a bit on the whole topic of evangelism because it just doesn’t work like it used to.

But here’s the intriguing thing that this passage puts out there for us to consider.  Evangelism really isn’t easy work.  When you think about it, you are walking into enemy territory spiritually speaking. And your desire is to take ground for the kingdom of God.  To see a soul that is lost and spiritually blind have an eye opening encounter with the living God and to be transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light.  There’s a power encounter that is happening. And the devil doesn’t like to give up easily! Often, in the lives of people you are in conversation with, he has held ground for decades or even generations and you think you’re going to walk in there and it’s going to be easy? 

And here’s the real thing: when we expect something to be easy and we try it and it turns out to be hard, we get disappointed and melancholy and pretty soon we stop doing it because it wasn’t what we expected.  When it comes to evangelism, however, it might be helpful for us to remember that Our Expectation Determines Our Preparation.  If we think that its going to be easy, then often we don’t prepare with any level of intensity.  But if we think we’re going into a spiritual battle, then we train up and we get prayed up.  More on this later…   

Let’s move on and look at the second of three things that you and I need to know about evangelism.  Firstly, evangelism is hard work.  Secondly,

Evangelism is everybody’s work. 

This verse isn’t directed only at Timothy.  It’s also applicable to you and me.  You and I are also to heed the command “Don’t be afraid… Work at telling others the Good News,” (2 Timothy 4:4-5 NLT)  Evangelism is everybody’s work. 

But you might say “but Pastor Brad... But I don’t have the spiritual gift of evangelism!!!  I mean remember Paul’s words in Ephesians 4

• “Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers…” (Ephesians 4:11 NLT)

When Jesus was handing out spiritual gifts, I didn’t get that of apostle, prophet, pastor-teacher OR evangelist.  I mean, Billy Graham sure did, but not me!  So I’m off the hook, right?  Wrong!  Keep reading in verse 12 of that same chapter…

• An evangelist’s “responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ… As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” (Ephesians 4:12 & 16)

Did you catch that?  If not, go back and listen to the teaching series we have done over the years at Jericho on spiritual Gifts.  Here we see that evangelists are given to the church NOT to do all of the evangelism but rather to equip or to train or to catalyze or strengthen all of us as the people of God to do the work of God and bear witness to the saving power of God to the whole world. 

But you see what we’ve done in the North American church, is that we’ve been influenced by our culture.  We live in a culture that reveres specialists.  For example, when my car needs fixing, I don’t take it to an arborist, I take it to a specialist that deals with cars.  A mechanic.  And I might take it to only the dealer or someone trained or certified as a specialists by my manufacturer.  When I need a medical procedure, I want a specialist.  And the same kind of thinking has infiltrated our actions in the church.  When we think about evangelism, we think “hummm… we should really find or get a specialist on that.  Or we should find a specialty program that could do that for us”  As opposed to the teaching of Ephesians 4 where Paul says clearly that if someone has skills, gifts or abilities in evangelism given to them by God, they are to be an equipper, a teacher, a coach for the rest of us so that we can grow in love, in health and in our capacity to do the work that each and every one of us has been gifted and called to do.  Friends 

• Evangelisation is not the job of a specialist… It’s the holy privilege of every follower of Jesus

You don’t have to be a fancy talker, or one who knows all the answers to all the questions people might have…  In fact, I love the words of the famous British preacher Charles Spurgeon when he was by a person who was worried that the might not get the words exactly right when they were talking to another.  He said       

“Let eloquence be flung to the dogs rather than souls be      lost. What we want is to win souls. They are not won by flowery speeches.”  ― Charles Haddon Spurgeon

I was reading yesterday in the biography of Dwight Moody, one of the most passionate evangelists of the 19^th century.  He was writing about how he came to faith.  His Sunday School teacher came to the shoe shop where he worked, put his hand on his shoulder and fumbled out (if time)

Let’s think about this another way, perhaps using Jericho Ridge’s Core Purpose statement… 

When you embody God’s love everywhere you go… 

          people should ask questions.  As Parker Palmer says your life will speak 

                   When people have questions, speak up!

When you speak up, trust the Holy Spirit for words (Acts

          When it’s the Spirit’s words coming out, 

                   Then the results are up to Him!

Photo: Slow Cooker Evangelism –

Three Things You Need TO Know about Evangelism…

3) Evangelism is ETERNALLY IMPORTANT WORK

• The message is HOPE…

          “And if someone asks about your hope as a       believer, always be ready to explain it. 16 But do    this in a gentle & respectful way” (I Peter 3:15-16)

• The motivation is LOVE…

Photo: Billy Graham once said “It is the Holy Spirit’s bob to convict, God’s job to judge, and my job to love”

Evangelism is eternally important spiritual work then we need to be using spiritual means. 

• The means is PRAYER…

Scottish preacher Sinclair Fergusons once said      “We best defend the Lord's glory by speaking first   TO Him about unbelieving men rather than         speaking first ABOUT Him to unbelieving men.”                                                - Sinclair B. Ferguson

If hearts are going to be softened to the gospel over the long haul here in Willoughby, in your family where people are staunchly opposed to Christ, in our nation, then it will be because God’s people got down on their knees before going out into the streets.  It will be because the names of our friends and neighbours and teachers and fellow students were on our lips lifted up to the throne room of Almighty God before we ever open our mouths to speak to them about the saving hope of Jesus Christ.  When was the last time you prayed

For Reflection:

• Do we need to repent of tepid evangelism?
  • Fear that we don’t know all the answers to possible ?s
  • Fear of being socially ostracized or marginalized?
  • Have we lost a culture of expectation that Jesus saves?

Every Sunday that I preach, my commitment is to extend an invitation to come to saving faith because I believe that there will be someone who needs to hear that.  It don’t want to be in a place where you have worked years to soften the heart of an unbelieving friend or family member and they come through the doors here at Jericho and we don’t do our part to clearly hold forth an invitation to respond. 

For Action:

• MAKE A MAP
  • Think about four neighbours who don’t know Jesus
• Make a LIST
  • Begin to pray and ask God for insights & opportunities
• Make an INVITATION
  • Pray about who you might invite to Easter at Jericho

   We’re Here to Provide Tools:

Registration opens TODAY for our April 7 seminar

Open up your Jericho Ridge app or go online now

Let me pray for you.  If you want prayer that God would stir up your evangelistic intentionality, if you want to receive an impartation of the gift of evangelism, come forward for prayer today.  If you have a friend or loved one whom you’ve been praying for and you have grown discouraged thinking nothing could ever happen, come forward and we will join you in that battle.  This is hard work, friends!  But it is not impossible work.  It is the work that every one of us has been called to.  No matter our age, how long you’ve been a Christian…  Our team heading to Guatemala, we expect that they will come back with a report of lives transformed.  Let’s have that same expectation of

.  Ron and the team will lead us in 3 songs of worship response and myself, James Carpenter, Gary Stevenson and _________ will be available at the sides to pray with you.  Let’s stand and respond to God together.