Evangelism By The Wayside: Lack Of Preparation Or Passion

A Heart Problem
There is an often-used (and maybe overused?) story of a drowning man stuck on his rooftop after a flood, and he begins to plead with the Lord to save him. Eventually, a rowboat comes by and offers him a ride, and the stranded man says, "No, the Lord will save me." And this happens twice more, first when a motorboat comes by and again when a helicopter swoops in and offers a rope. Each time the man refuses the help, he eventually drowns as the water rises. Upon meeting the Lord, he proclaims, "I had faith that you would save me, but you did not. Why?" And the Lord says, "I sent you a rowboat, a motorboat, and a helicopter."

The story is used to illustrate faith and salvation. I quipped that maybe it was over-used, but the reason the story is so called upon to demonstrate faith and salvation is that it accurately reveals humanity's frequent response to the provisions of God. It’s accurate because it captures some aspects of the human heart; it's a story that reveals who we are. Consider two heart attitudes that are exposed by this story:

1) An Attitude of Expectation: Sometimes, we have expectations, and when things don't look like expected, we reject them. We see this in the gospel of Matthew. Israel's expectations of the kingdom caused them to leave Christ, eventually leading to His crucifixion on the cross.

2) An Attitude of Repudiation: A secondary attitude is one of repudiation, in which we reject (or repudiate) human responsibility. Such an attitude began in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve both passed blame for their sin onto another, rationalizing their responsibility for it.

The consequences of these attitudes vary depending on the circumstance; one of those areas in which they have an effect is in our disposition towards evangelism.

An Evangelism Problem
Like the man in the story who has a problem and knows what his problem is but is unable to recognize the solution, we sometimes act that way toward evangelism (and discipleship). We see a problem: it is lacking. Yet, we are unable to see the solution.

This reality applies to one of the common justifications for lack of personal evangelism: I don't know enough. Sometimes it's phrased as "I am unprepared," "I don't have the tools," or some other rationalization, but it all points back to the same attitude: a lack of preparation. It's an ongoing lament of so many people regarding evangelism. They feel ill-equipped for the profound and powerful task that the Lord has bestowed on His people.

So, they have identified the problem: lack of preparation. What is the solution, then? Take steps to become prepared. It’s actually that simple, and most of us recognize this is the solution. But the reality is that despite having accurately assessed the situation and having identified the solution accurately, the proportion of people who seek to become prepared is nominal. I know of one church that did a survey and found that nearly 90% of the church was not actively engaged in evangelism and discipleship. When asked why, the majority of those people (about 70%) said it was because they did not feel adequately equipped. Yet, when the pastor offered an opportunity to grow in this area, only about 5% of the body participated. Now, I understand that a survey in one obscure church doesn't make a pattern. However, I will say that conversation with fellow pastors reveals something that one survey seems to point to also. It brings about the question, is our lack of evangelism and discipleship a lack of preparation or a lack of passion? I suspect that most of us would probably answer that a lack of evangelism and discipleship is born more out of a lack of preparation of the heart than a lack of preparation of the mind.

An Evangelism Solution
The preparation of the heart deserves to be addressed, but it warrants more attention than I have at this moment [1]. Worth noting, though, is that sometimes further preparation would be helpful and encouraging to others in fulfilling their call to make disciples. Therefore, consider taking the following steps:

1) Pray: First, spend time in prayer with the Lord and ask for His wisdom to clearly share His truth, ask for His work in creating opportunities to share, and ask for His Spirit to help you boldly proclaim His truth (Colossians 1:10; 4:2-6).

2) Read: Read your Bible. As the sufficient Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16), it alone is all the information you need. In school, to build our knowledge, we utilize various textbooks. How valuable it is to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ by going directly to the book He wrote.

3) Go: As you go about your usual way of life, share. The Great Commission is the work of God in which our part is obedience (Matthew 28:19-20) (this is further discussed in a previous article on Matthew 28, which you can read by clicking here).

These steps are unsurprising, I know. Yet, that's partly the point. God has already given us the tools that we need to be well-prepared for engaging in the Great Commission.

Why do we think the Lord would call us to do something for Him but not prepare us for that task? Our Lord is both gracious and good, and so inadequate preparation seems contrary to who He is. The final question is really not, “Am I prepared?” but “Am I willing?” Are we so convinced of who God is that we are willing to declare who He is?

(1) Part of the goal of this Harvesters blog is to address both: the preparation of the heart and the preparation of the mind. We want to help equip fellow believers for evangelism and discipleship by dealing with everyday heart issues while also providing practical, everyday information and tools. If you spend time exploring the IFCA Harvester's blog by clicking here, you should find writings and information that are motivating and helpful to you in these areas. I would urge you to spend some time there.

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