October 1 I Friday

Isaiah 11-13

Ephesians 4

“For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”    —Luke 6:45

What is personal evangelism? Coming alongside people and talking to them about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. For most of us, personal evangelism is one of our biggest struggles. As a pastor, I could understand why it is a huge struggle. In honesty, I find it easier to stand on a platform talking about Jesus week in and week out than to initiate a one-on-one conversation about Jesus. 

       A couple decades ago, when I was on staff with Capernwray Hall in England, we used to host youth weeks throughout the summer. It was a lot of fun and games sandwiched between times of teaching every morning and evening. In one particular week, I was teaching about personal evangelism. A young teenage guy came to me and said, “You know, I find it so difficult to talk to my friends about Jesus. I get tongue-tied and embarrassed; I just don’t know what to say.”

       Later that day, I was sitting in a cafe when a group of young people came in and sat down at a table near me. They started to talk about football, where in Canada, we know that sport as soccer. In the course of the conversation among the young people, one guy said that he was a supporter of Liverpool Football Club. Then someone else in the group said, “Liverpool is rubbish!” Afterward, somebody else jumped in with a similar comment and they started trashing Liverpool. The first guy rose to defend Liverpool and told them why it is the best team on the planet. For 20 minutes, he persuaded his friends about Liverpool. I sat there eavesdropping and was quite impressed. Why? Because the guy defending Liverpool was the same guy who told me he could not talk about Jesus. 

       As the young people were getting ready to leave, I waved at that guy and told him to come over for a minute. He sat down and I said, “I’m quite impressed! You were very persuasive! You told me this morning that you have difficulty talking about Jesus. Now, let me ask you a question: what’s the difference between Jesus Christ and Liverpool Football Club?” The guy looked me in the eye and said, “I think I know what you’re getting at....” I responded, “What do you think I am getting at?” He answered, “Well, I am a real fan of Liverpool. I go to all their games. I read all about them.” I said, “Yeah, I thought you probably did. But what about Jesus Christ?” He replied, “I guess I don’t know Him well enough.”

       Our personal evangelism stems from our relationship with Jesus Christ. Could our personal evangelism be hindered because we need to strengthen our relationship with Him?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, deepen my relationship with You. Help me not to be ashamed of sharing Your gospel with others. Give me the boldness to proclaim to everyone Your greatness in my life. Thank You, Lord.