Evangelist

    Being an evangelist is not a one-time thing, a thing you do with a church group, or a thing only for missionaries. It is a lifestyle decision needed in every aspect of where you work, go to school, and the communities you are a part of. 

The Call

    Before I really knew the call to evangelize, I did it. Although I had not a complete understanding of the Gospel in high school, I shared my faith with my teachers and my peers. I loved the Lord and naturally would just share him with people. I did not even realize the technical term, but I can look back on times of living it out. 

    Ever since learning about the call to share our faith, I have been challenged. I have taken the challenge into my daily life. I have developed my own thoughts of what evangelism is supposed to look like, but I also know that ultimately it is the Lord who works in moments of sharing our faith in big ways. I think sometimes we as humans may try to put a number on how many people have been led to Christ. However, in humility, we should recognize that it is not us that leads someone to Christ, but the Holy Spirit within us. We can think “I lead someone to Christ”, but in reality the Lord has brought people to pray over that person, to speak into that person, and to show the love of God to that person. God convicted the heart when we simply just share our faith. We sow the seeds, share God’s truth, and will be there to pray with them when they are ready to accept Jesus. We are all specially made and specially saved. 

    When I think of discipling in general, I think of Jesus doing life with the disciples. That is how I try to evangelize. I recognize that going up to strangers is one way to share the gospel, and it can work. I have not had much experience holding signs in all honesty. However, I have also realized the importance of building relationships with people. The people I have built friendships with outside the faith have asked me the questions and there have been moments where I have been surprised at the movement of the Holy Spirit. There are times I have said something and think afterwards woah I really said that!?!? There have been times where people talk to me and I simply just share what I believe and they have said things like "Woah, I never thought of it like that before". Evangelizing can be done daily in just living out your life. We are told to go out into all the world, and I deeply believe that includes our own local communities.  

Heart of Prayer

    Fear of man can definitely be a struggle when evangelizing with somebody. I struggle with this sometimes. I believe that praying through fear of man is something that can occur while evangelizing. One day, I went to Barnes and Noble. I was looking at the psychology books (definitely a psych major thing) which happens to be right next to the witchcraft section. I heard these two girls talking, one sounding like she had experience with the church but was looking into witchcraft. My heart started beating as I knew I really wanted to talk with them, but I was nervous because I knew that one was recommending books to her friend and the other had experience with feeling forced to be a Christian. I spent more time in that section where I just prayed to God of how he wanted me to approach them. I was able to talk to them showing kindness. I continue to pray for them that God will move in their lives. Having a heart of prayer when the Gospel is rejected or even in a time where it may just need to be about planting a seed is important to evangelizing. 

    Prayer needs to be done in evangelizing to people. When I was at Circuit Riders, we did group prayer during our outreach time constantly going to God in prayer throughout the whole experience. Prayer also needs to be a part of our lives when we aren't out actively evangelizing. Sharing our faith can happen anywhere at any time. Remember the people you talk with and remember to pray for them all the time. I know this is something I need to do better in, but it is God that can move in their hearts. 

The Heart Posture

    There was one day when I went to the store to go out and evangelize, I had so much anxiety. I believe that the way we have been living often influences the time of sharing our faith. I was living and operating in a lot of anxiety and burnout during that time. I did not realize how stressed I was until I was standing in the middle of Meijer with what felt like a burning feeling of anxiety while feeling dizziness throughout my whole body. I kept trying to push myself to go up to people, but I continued to get very nervous. As soon as I got home that night, I went to bed as the anxiety wore me out. 

    That one time, I was able to reflect and realize that I was trying to pour into people when feeling incredibly burnt out and anxious. This was the worst anxiety I have ever had going out to evangelize. I pushed myself, but I probably should have stopped for a little bit and sat in silence or took a break. It is not that I wasn't called to evangelize in that moment nor that I couldn't sow seeds in that moment, but I just was not feeling like myself and I needed time with God. There is a time to push past fear we might feel, but that time was probably not the time to do that. The anxiety even went into the next day. Simply sharing my faith is not the hard thing, but I think when the expectation I have to share my faith is there, that is when the anxiety may come in sometimes. I think much of the time, sharing my faith comes naturally when I develop a friendship with a person where they are comfortable also sharing their thoughts, and being open to hearing what they have to say. 

    We need to realize where our heart posture is when evangelizing. A heart posture of anxiety won't do the same as a heart posture of peace. I believe that time of evangelizing really taught me to spend time with the Lord and make sure that I am in a good head and heart space before going out again. The heart posture focused on talking to as many people as possible during a set time is not the same as the heart posture of really talking with one person and valuing the time they have to share with you their experiences. Each person has value and evangelizing that may take 5 minutes with some may take hours with someone else. Discipling is more than just getting a Bible in someone's hands, but being there with them as they grow in a life of following a Jesus once they come to the place of accepting Jesus into their hearts. 

The Barrier

    When I feel the need to go up to someone, I immediately get nervous. I think that a barrier to evangelizing for me is wanting to be someone who represents Jesus well to others. I know people have different experiences with the church and that oftentimes that affects how they view Jesus. I want them to know that Jesus loves them and not just seem like I am trying to force my faith onto them. I will tell people "I am not here to push my faith onto you, I am just telling you what I believe and what I have seen from God in my own life". People have been very receptive and even are comfortable to share with me what they think about what I have shared truthfully. I always tell people that they can come to me with any questions. Some of these people after a while have even come to me asking for prayer! I will never say I have led anyone to Jesus, that is all the Holy Spirit who does that. I just share what I know and what I have seen. 

Everyday Evangelist

   Sometimes when I wake up, I don't think of who I might evangelize to or talk with about faith. I have had moments that have caught me off guard when people have asked me to pray over them. God has had grace in the days I have not prayed for someone to talk to about Jesus or haven't been actively looking. I may be called to be an everyday evangelist, but I am in no way perfect at it. Growing in being an everyday evangelist comes through prayer and obedience to the call. The harvest is plenty and the workers are few in that Starbucks you go to a lot, when you go to work out at the gym, when you go about your work day, in the Christian church or school even, in public school, and just everywhere else. Have a heart to share the Gospel everywhere. It is not just a missionary thing, it is a you and me thing.