Things sometimes happen quickly in life and other times they seem to take forever. Truth is, there are the same number of hours in each day for each person so everything, in reality, moves at the same speed for all of us we just use it differently. People who have a sense of never having enough time are invariably people who are ambitious and have many things they want to do: things they deem as important. People who view life as passing by at a languid, unhurried pace, are generally people who have little to accomplish or people with little that requires their attention in life.
Unfortunately, in matters of evangelism, we more often fall into the latter group rather than the former. It surely must pain the heart of God to see His people acting with such ambivalence toward the loss of so many thousands of souls everywhere we look, all around us, in our community. I have, at times, pondered this attitude that the saved seem to exhibit toward the lost - almost an attitude of apathy. Turning this dilemma over in my mind leads me to a singular, infallible conclusion: we don't feel the urgency of saving the lost, perhaps because Satan has persistently impressed upon us that saving the lost is a futile exercise because, in our minds, it is too large a task; people will not respond, and we will alienate ourselves from people due to what we view as fanaticism by spreading the Gospel.
This tidy, effective bundle of lies and misdirections that Satan has prepared and introduced into our thinking is working: evangelism has largely come to a standstill in our society.
But, and this is a huge "but," if we truly could see through Satan's deliberate misdirection, we could see that our task, though important, is not one which can't be done. Examination of the role of the Christian with regard to proselytizing is actually shown to be simple and straightforward. Our responsibility begins and ends with sowing the seed of Christ in the heart of the lost. From that point forward there is nothing we can do to facilitate the lost one's salvation. How do we sow this seed? Simply follow the instruction laid out in Col. 3:17 to let Christ be seen in all that we say and do.
Throughout my life I have heard individuals referred to in phrases like this "he's a good man." How does one come to be known as a good man? People have witnessed his life and have seen the goodness on display there. The "good" person did not get up every day and decide "today I will be good." No, he or she simply followed their most closely held convictions and beliefs which were themselves good. Christians are the same way. No one gets up in the morning and says "today I will be Christ-like." Our lives and our actions stem from a set of convictions and beliefs that run deeply through us, directing all that we do. Those same Christian convictions and beliefs manifest themselves in Christ-like behavior and to the recipient of our grace, the seed has been sown. The decision to act upon that implantation is totally out of our hands: it is here that God steps in and as promised in scripture, gives increase.
We often see ourselves as having to go from door to door, stand on the street corner or in some way induce the lost to listen to our testimony. Really, all we have to do is sow seed: a smile; a kind word; a card; a favor; an unsolicited gesture of appreciation - these are all the ways we sow seed. There will come a time, as we go about sowing our seed, that an opportunity to deepen our conversation with regard to our conviction and relationship with Jesus will arise. It doesn't happen in every case, but it happens far more often among those who are sowing seed than among those who aren't. When that opportunity manifests, God is preparing to give increase: my seed that perhaps was sown years ago is nigh to being harvested as fruit. Had I listened to Satan and his lies I would never have dropped the seed to begin with, but now, because I did, a soul is on the cusp of being saved. I have sown and God is returning to me an increase. What a beautiful, simple and elegant process.
Deny Satan access to your heart, sow seed, be ready to bring in the harvest and above all trust in God to do His part as I do mine!
