My Thoughts on Evangelization

Evangelization. As Jesus’ followers, we are called to share the Gospel message with others.

“Go and make disciples of all nations” Matthew 28:19

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Mark 16:15

“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

I will be real with you all. The idea of evangelization terrifies me. There are so many friends in my life who aren’t Christians, and I truly do want them to experience the peace and joy that comes with having a relationship with God. However, I’m weary of bringing up the subject of faith because I don’t want to come off as preachy and make it appear as if I know all things about religion. I don’t. I have so many questions that I need to work out myself, but I believe there is a God who created this world and that he sent Jesus as a living sacrifice for our sins. For a long time, I have been praying for God to help me be brave in sharing the Gospel with others, but I have still been uncomfortable with the idea.

However, I was talking to some of my friends the other day, and they gave me some encouragement that I would love to share with you. They opened my eyes to a few key ideas. One, evangelization is not solely a verbal recitation of the Gospel to someone. In fact, when you look at Jesus in the Gospel, sure he preached, but he also spent so much time in community–building relationships, serving, and loving every member in society. Jesus spread the Gospel through both his words and actions. For such a long time, I had never considered my actions as a way to evangelize, but now I realize that for me, the best way to spread the Gospel is to live the Gospel.

If I go around preaching Gospel messages to love one another, to treat others with dignity and respect, or to put others above oneself, but my actions don’t correlate with my words, people won’t be receptive of Christianity. They will just see that I’m a hypocrite. However, if I live my life with love, peace, patience (all those good fruits of the spirit), maybe my friends or coworkers will notice that I try to live my life differently. That could lead to questions about why I live my life the way I do, which could open up a conversation about faith.

I’ve come to terms with the fact that evangelization varies from person to person. It may involve words or actions, but is not the door-to-door preaching image that I once had in my mind. The final thing I realized by talking with my friends is that my job as a disciple is spread the Gospel message. The process of conversion, however, is up to God. I don’t have the power to convert anyone; that is God’s power.

I hope that this is a little bit of encouragement for any of you who also have people in your life who are either not religious or Christian that you want to share the Gospel message with. I’m just trying to evangelize like Jesus did. Be friends with them. Build trust with them. Love them. That is the gospel, folks.

Lots of love,

Hannah

Daily Devotional: The Woman at the Well

On most days, I delve into the Scriptures in some form. Sometimes, I follow a devotional from shereadstruth.com; other times I just pick passages from the Bible to read. On certain days, the passages really speak to me, or I find them pertinent to my life right now. When those passages come up, I usually journal and reflect about it, but then I thought, why don’t I share my thoughts with you all? Perhaps you would like to read these verses and reflect on them as well.

Currently, I am gearing up to go to Royal Family Kids Camp, a camp for abused and neglected foster children. In order to prepare my heart for the week, I am praying through the Bible verses that will with shared with the kids at camp. The passage that spoke to me recently was the Woman at the Well/ The Samaritan Woman. If you aren’t familiar with that story, it can be found in John 4: 4-42. After reading these verses, I had three main takeaways that can help me grow closer to God, as well as help my campers get to know God.

Jesus Breaks Stereotypes

Jesus amazes me because he spread the Gospel to anyone–from lepers, to adulterers, to women. He knew the people who needed his love the most, and he didn’t let anyone stop him from doing that, even if it was outside the cultural norms of the time. In this case, Jesus talks to a Samaritan woman. One, most Jews wanted nothing to do with Samaritans (why, I’m not quite sure). Two, during this era, most men didn’t speak to women, especially not in public. The fact that Jesus took time to have a genuine conversation with this woman demonstrates how his love has no boundaries. He wants everyone to believe that he is the Messiah and that God is their Heavenly Father. For my kids at camp, they might not think that Jesus could ever love a foster child, but I want to show them that their thoughts are wrong. Jesus is unconventional. He wants everyone to drink his “living water”.

You Don’t Have to be Perfect for God to Use You

Many of the campers that we encounter have no hope and no self esteem. At such young ages, they are brainwashed into thinking that there is no bright future for them, that they aren’t important, and that they aren’t valued. These lies constantly bombard these children’s minds, but Jesus eradicates all of this false information. You do not need to be perfect in order to have a bright future and for God to use you for a greater good. The woman in this passage has had five husbands. She clearly did not have the ideal life, but she believed that Jesus was the Messiah. She was able to use her encounter to testify to other members of the community, making them believers as well. I want my campers to know (and anyone who reads this to know) that if they are willing to obey God, He will use them for something great no matter how broken or unqualified they feel.

Jesus is the Only Thing that Satisfies

I think it’s ingrained in our human nature to constantly be searching for something– searching for more money, more happiness, a better job, a bigger house, a better relationship, etc. I fall into this trap too. I make idols of what I believe will truly satisfy me. I work insanely hard at school so that I can get a good career and become financially stable. Others may make idols of relationships or material goods. The campers at Royal Family come from unstable backgrounds. As a result, they might turn to gangs, drugs, alcohol, or abusive relationships in order to feel “happy”. The moral of this passage is clear, though. Jesus is the only thing that will ever quench our thirst. If we fix our eyes on the things of this world, we will always be thirsty. Jesus is the only thing that will truly satisfy.

I’m sure there is so much more to say about this passage, but these were the main points that I felt God was telling me from this passage. What are your thoughts on the passage? I would love to know in the comments!

Lots of love,

Hannah