Evangelism or Excuses?

The message given in the Sunday night worship service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on January 9, 2022.  The Bible verses used are 2 Timothy 1:1-14.

            Do you consider yourself an evangelist?

            I suppose to answer the question, we first need to talk about what an evangelist is.  We tend to think of somebody like Billy Graham, you know, someone who stands on a big stage and preaches God’s word and does altar calls and things like that.  And of course, that’s one way to be an evangelist, but it’s not the only way.  An evangelist, really, is someone who tries to spread the word of God.  An evangelist is someone who tells people about the salvation and everlasting life that’s available through faith in Jesus Christ.

            So, let me ask you again.  Are you an evangelist?

            I hope that at least some of us answered yes.  If you did, the rest of this message really is not aimed at you.  You’re welcome to listen to it, but the rest of this message is really aimed at those of us who said no, that we are not evangelists.

            Now, if you said no, I want you to know I’m not mad at you.  I understand.  I don’t necessarily consider myself an evangelist, either.  I mean, yes, I can stand up here and talk about God’s word and salvation and eternal life through faith in Jesus.  But do I do it in other places?  Not so much.  Do I do it with people I don’t know?  Not really.  Do I do it with people I do know, but who may not believe in Jesus?  Not really there, either.

            So I understand if you say no, you’re not an evangelist.  But here’s the question:  why not?  Why are you not an evangelist?  Why am I not an evangelist?  Why is so hard, both for you and for me, to share God’s word with people?  Why is it so hard for us to tell people that they can be saved through faith in Jesus Christ?

            Now understand, I’m not suggesting we should open every conversation by telling people they need to be saved.  But as we go through our day, and we see the people we see and talk to the people we talk to, there are often chances to bring God into the conversation.  There are often chances to talk about our faith in Jesus, just as a natural part of talking about the things we talk about.  Not always, but more frequently than we probably realize.  And we let them go by.  We let them go by, sometimes, because we’re not looking for them and so we miss them.  But a lot of times, the reason we’re not looking for them is that this is something we simply do not want to do.  We don’t feel comfortable doing it.  In fact, if we’re really honest with ourselves, a lot of times the thought of having a conversation like that really kind of scares us.

            Of course, we’d never say it that way.  We make excuses for ourselves.  We say things like, well, that’s just not something I’m very good at.  I don’t know how to do that.  That’s not one of the talents God gave me.  Besides, I don’t need to talk about my faith.  I show my faith by the way I live my life.

            Any of those sound familiar to you?  They do to me, because I’ve said them, many times.  I’ve made all the excuses for not talking about faith.  But the bottom line is that that’s what they are, excuses.  Because Jesus told us to go and spread the gospel.  He told us to go and make disciples.  He did not make it optional.  He did not tell us to do those things if we think we’re good at them.  He did not tell us to do those things if we feel comfortable doing them.  He did not tell us to do those things if we thought God had given us a special gift or talent for them.  He did not tell us to do those things as long as were not scared of doing them.  He told us to do them.  Period.

            In our Bible reading for today, the Apostle Paul is writing to his friend Timothy.  And it sounds to me like Timothy had the same problem you and I have.  And it sounds to me like Timothy was probably making some of those same excuses you and I make.  And it also sounds like Paul saw through all those excuses.  He knew that the real reason Timothy did not want to go and spread the gospel was because he was scared of doing it, just like you and I are sometimes.

            And so, Paul tells Timothy some things to give him courage.  Listen to what he says:  

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and s            self-discipline.  So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me...He has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.

Paul is telling Timothy, you need to be afraid to do this.  You have power.  Not because of who you are.  This is not about you.  It’s not about how good you are or how talented you are or how great a speaker you are or any of that.  None of that matters.  The power you have does not come from you.  The power you have comes from God’s Holy Spirit.  All you need to do is trust that.  All you need to do is trust God’s Holy Spirit and step out in faith.  You’ll be doing what the Lord wants you to do, and if the Lord wants you to do something, the Lord will give you everything you need to do it.  There’s nothing to be afraid of.  Just do it.

There’s one other thing Paul says there.  It’s something we really don’t want to face.  At least I don’t.  But if we’re honest--if I’m honest--I have to admit that it’s a factor here.  It’s when Paul says, “Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord.”

We don’t want to think about that.  We don’t want to admit to it.  We say, hey, wait a minute.  I’m not ashamed of the testimony about Jesus.  I’m proud of God’s word.  I’m proud of what Jesus did for me.  I’m not ashamed of any of that.

And Paul says, oh, yeah?  Then why don’t I hear you talking about it?  Why do I hear all these excuses instead?  Paul says to us--Paul says to me--if you’re so proud of God’s word and you’re so proud of what the Lord did for you, why do you only talk about it when you’re in church?  Why do I hear excuses instead of evangelism?  What’s stopping you?

When we strip everything else away, what’s really stopping us is fear.  Fear and a lack of trust in God.  When we strip away all the excuses, when we do away with all of our so-called reasons for why we cannot talk to people about the salvation and eternal life that’s available to them through Jesus Christ, that’s what we’re left with.  Fear and a lack of trust in God.  We’re afraid we’ll do it wrong.  We’re afraid we’ll turn people off.  We’re afraid people might not like us.  We’re afraid our reputation might suffer.  We’re afraid we won’t be able to think of the right words to say.  We don’t have the courage to trust that, when the time comes, God’s Holy Spirit will give us the right words to say.  And so we don’t try.

And again, I feel this every bit as much as anyone else does.  And so, I don’t have an easy answer.  I’m not saying God’s going to send us to hell if we don’t do this.  But I do think God is disappointed.  Because, again, this is something Jesus told us to do.  Jesus did not make it optional.  Jesus just said do it.  With no exceptions granted and no excuses accepted.

So what can we do?  How can we start trusting God enough to spread the word about salvation and eternal life?  How can we start taking advantage of those openings in conversations as they come up?

Well, here’s what I think it comes down to.  Do we believe that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life?  Do we believe that faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior is the way to heaven?  Because if we do--if we really believe that--then we have to admit that there are people we know who are not going to go to heaven.  Because I suspect each one of us knows people who have not accepted Jesus as the Savior.  At the very least, there are people whom we’re not sure have accepted Jesus as the Savior.  

So, if we truly believe that faith in Jesus is the way to heaven, and if we want those people to be in heaven, then we need to do whatever we can to bring them to faith in Jesus.  That means we need to stop making excuses.  That means we need to have the courage to talk to people about faith in Jesus Christ.  We need to look for those openings in conversations to tell people about Christ, and we need to take advantage of them when we get them.

And remember, we don’t do this alone.  We could not do this alone.  By ourselves, you and I cannot bring people to faith in Jesus.  But we don’t do it by ourselves.  We have the power of God’s Holy Spirit.  We have God’s Holy Spirit to lead us.  We have God’s Holy Spirit to guide us.  We have God’s Holy Spirit to inspire us.  We have God’s Holy Spirit to tell us what to say and what to do.  All we need to do is take that step out in faith.  All we need to do is let our faith in God be bigger than our fears.  All we really need to do is trust God.

Some of us are already evangelists.  But all of us are called to be.  So let’s stop making excuses, and let’s stop being ashamed of our faith.  Let’s let people know about the salvation and eternal life that’s available to them through faith in Jesus Christ.  Let’s not let people we know miss out on that.  God’s Holy Spirit will be with us.  And we know that with God, all things are possible.