Leaving the Results of Evangelism to God
No matter what the results will be, we're called to tell others about Jesus.
Several weeks ago, I presented a workshop on evangelism (sharing the gospel) to a group of students. I shared plenty of stories about my attempts to share Jesus with people who work at a local coffee shop I go to. One of the students asked an astute question: how many of those people actually accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior? The answer: very few. In fact, I only know one person who came to Christ among the workers at the coffee shop. And I didn't even play a direct role in leading that particular person to Jesus.
It could be discouraging to know that very few people receive Jesus into their lives from our evangelism efforts. But we shouldn't be discouraged by this at all. In fact, we should expect it. Many people are simply not going to choose to follow Christ. Jesus said that "the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Matt. 7:13-14 ESV). We should expect that many of the people we share the gospel to will not follow Christ in the end.
Jesus, Himself, experienced rejection. Jesus called people to follow Him and they rejected the invitation. The rich young man found in Matthew 19 comes to mind. The allure of wealth and the desire to avoid persecution is strong in our world and this makes people resistant to following Christ.
Although many people may not come to Christ in the end, we still share about Jesus to them. It's a mandate that's been given to us by Christ: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19 ESV). No matter what the results will be, we're called to tell others about Jesus. In fact, we should avoid looking too much at the results. We should focus on what we're ultimately responsible for: being with people and sharing with them the good news. Also, we may have a very specific role to play in the life of any person. Maybe we're not the ones to reap a harvest. Perhaps we're just here to plant a seed or water the soil. Somebody else might reap and enjoy the harvest. That's OK. We're on the same team. We just have to be faithful with our particular role at the moment.
Let us do the evangelism work and leave the results up to God.
Barnabas the Monastic
Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.
