Whenever I hear the word “evangelism” I think of my pastor during my university years. He was one of those natural-born soul winners, if there is such a thing. He practically filled an entire church building with people he led to the Lord within just a few months of his coming to Christ. And he never ceased to talk about it, Sunday after Sunday: how we ought to be “evangelizing;” how easy it was to do it; how we would have to give an account to God one day; ad infinitum.
His preaching, however, didn’t motivate most of us. It made us feel bad, guilty, and like incomplete Christians. It wasn’t until much later that I discovered how one-sided that pastor was. What he called “evangelism” had little to do with the biblical teaching on the subject.
What I find in the Bible is that everyone who says s/he is a Christ follower must be involved in some aspect of sharing the good news of the gospel, but the styles and approaches vary as much as the individual personalities of those followers.
First off, if you are a believer in Christ, you ought to be sowing seeds of hope everywhere. Jesus said as much in John 4:37-38: “Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” Notice that he even calls sowing “the hard work,” a correct translation of the Greek here. I understand this passage to mean that not everyone will reap but everyone must sow.
But the process of sowing takes different approaches. Some are more direct like Peter, others more indirect, like Matthew who threw a party for his friends or the woman at the well who gave an attractive invitation to the people in her town: “Come and meet this man who told me everything about my life. He couldn’t possibly be the awaited Messiah, could he?” Paul used the more intellectual approach and Dorcas became a community activist for the destitute.
The beauty of the Body of Christ is that people come in all color and shapes. God wants us to use our unique make-up and experience to leverage our lives into the lives of Christ’s other friends, so instead of worrying to paralysis that we may not do it right, how about this? Let the Spirit guide you into an approach that most naturally fits you and leave the results up to God. He is the one who makes all things grow.
If you want to hear more, come Sunday morning. I guarantee you: what I have to say will change the way you think of evangelism once and for all.
Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade
pastor ivanildo 