Shortly after Scottish preacher G. Campbell Morgan’s wedding, his father visited the home the newlyweds had just furnished and decorated. After they had shown him the place with pride and satisfaction, he remarked, “Yes, it’s very nice, but no one walking through here would know whether you belong to God or the devil!”
Morgan was shocked by his father’s gruff but well-meaning comment. But he got the point. From that day forward, he made certain that in every room of his home there was some evidence of their faith in Christ.
What about your home? Is there any evidence that you are a believer? Referring to the promises He had just made to Israel, God said, “These words…shall be in your heart….You shall write them on the doorposts of your house” (Deuteronomy 6:6 & 9).
Look around you in the room you are in. What evidence is there of your faith?
British scientist Thomas Huxley (1825-1895) vigorously supported the theory of evolution, which earned him the nickname “Darwin’s bulldog”. As an agnostic, he believed religion was a harmful superstition.
On day Huxley asked a deeply committed Christian, “What does your faith mean to you?” Knowing Huxley’s skepticism, the man paused and then replied, “You are very educated, and you can dispute anything I say.”
Huxley urged him to explain why he was a Christian. So from his heart the man told what Jesus meant to him. Huxley, deeply moved, didn’t argue. Wistfully he said, “I’d give my right hand for your faith in Jesus.”
People are waiting for someone to give them something real to believe in. They’ll believe in ghosts and they’ll believe in extraterrestrials, why should we think they won’t believe in God. We ought to stop talking to people about church and begin telling them what He has done for us. Your heartfelt testimony ought to convict people.
When Paul gave his testimony before King Agrippa, the king replied, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian” (Acts 26:28 (KJV)).
While Chicago evangelist D. L. Moody was attending a convention in Indianapolis on mass evangelism, he did more than just talk about it. He asked a friend, who was a gifted musician, to meet him on a street corner at 6:00 one evening. The man stood on a box and sang a song. When a crowd gathered, Moody spoke briefly and then invited the people to follow him to the nearby convention hall.
Soon the auditorium was filled with spiritually hungry people, and he preached to them. When the convention attendees began to arrive, Moody stopped preaching and said, “Now we must close, as the brethren of the convention want to discuss the topic, ‘How to Reach the Masses.’”
Jesus sent his disciples out to preach the good news, not just talk about it among themselves. The Great Commission begins with the word, “Go!”
Select a person in your life who needs to hear about Jesus and go to them. Jesus is counting on you.
In December 1903, after many attempts, the Wright brothers were successful in getting their “flying machine” off the ground. Thrilled, they telegraphed this message to their sister Katherine: “We have actually flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas.”
Katherine hurried to the editor of the local newspaper and showed him the message. He glanced at it and said, “How nice. The boys will be home for Christmas.” He totally missed the big news – man had flown!
Perhaps we need a continual reminder of the good news of Jesus Christ. Its not that He’s coming back again, or that He provides wonderfully for His people, or that we’ll one day spend eternity with Him in heaven, but that the price for our sin has been paid for. We are no longer separated from the God of the Universe. That’s the big good news. Go tell someone.
This week I thought it would be good to blog about evangelism. We are all called to do the work of an evangelist (2 Timothy 4:5), even though those with the gift of evangelism are few.
The word ‘evangelism’ is scary. Consider a new definition offered by Steven C. Bonsey in his article ‘A Shy Person’s Guide to the Practice of Evangelism’:
“Let’s pretend that you are someone who might be willing, in theory, at some point, possibly, to consider maybe doing something, that, while not ‘evangelism-type’ evangelism, still could be in some way construed as a sort of sharing of hope. Kind of.”
A little bit of double-talk perhaps, but it gets the point across that people are afraid of the word. The root word is ‘angel’= messenger. It simply means the act of telling someone the good news of Jesus Christ. How do you define ‘evangelism’?