We're in the middle of Vacation Bible Camp at our church this week, and it's been going so well so far! We've had a decent, if a little small, number of kids coming out, doing crafts, playing games, marching around the church auditorium, and learning about Daniel and his friends. One of the goals we want to accomplish with this endeavour is not only reaching out to the kids, but to the parents as well and hopefully get the opportunity to share the gospel with them.
I was talking afterwards with my pastor's wife, a very godly and insightful woman, who is also a blogger way more widely read than myself, so I suspect that she'll have a post sometime in the near future along the same lines. Anyways, we were talking about the conversations she had gotten to have with a couple of the moms who were there this morning, and she talked about how one of the conversations had been a good conversation, but the mom was a believer, and so she had sort of discounted it.
This brought to my mind some experiences that I've had in evangelism. It's happened on a number of occasions, always very unexpectedly, that I've struck up a conversation with a random person on the street or wherever it is that I'm evangelizing, and I've had every intention of sharing the gospel with them, only to find out throughout the course of the conversation that they are, in fact, already a believer, or at least they claim to follow Christ. Coming from a background of claiming to follow Christ but not actually being a genuine believer until my early teens, I'm acutely aware of the fact that just because a person claims the monicker of "Christian" that does not make it true. So, I start asking pointed questions to see if they actually believe the true gospel, and by the end of the conversation, as far as I can tell, their faith is quite genuine.
So at the end of these conversations, which are typically very encouraging both to myself and to the brother or sister I was just speaking with, and also typically fairly lengthy, I walk away feeling a pang of discouragement as well. I mean, I just used up a large chunk of my time which was meant for evangelism, and rather than reaching out to a lost soul with the gospel, I wasted it talking with someone who already knew Christ. I've failed in my duties as an evangelist! Right?
There are numerous occasions in Scripture, such as 1 Thessalonians 5:10, where we, as Christians, are commanded to encourage one another, or to build one another up, to pray for one another. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul addresses the Corinthian church, which was apparently quite zealous in seeking out "manifestations of the Spirit," citing speaking in tongues as an example. What Paul does in this chapter is urge them to shift their focus away from the manifestations, but instead, as he says in verse 12: "strive to excel in building up the church." Charismatic manifestations of the Spirit's power were certainly a sight to behold, and a remarkable experience, but they are as nothing if they do not carry with them something of edifying value. He says earlier in the chapter: "Now brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?" (vv. 6).
The conclusion that both I and my pastor's wife came to is this: while it is certainly a clear command in Scripture to evangelize, and even while that may be the utmost duty of the church, it is also very clearly commanded in the Scriptures that we be encouraging and building up one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. It is no waste of our time to encourage a brother or sister. My pastor's wife this morning said that the conversation she was having with this mom who was there was not evangelistic, but it was deep, it was real, it brought tears to both of their eyes at points. It was a conversation built around the love of Christ. How can that ever be a waste of time? So don't be discouraged when an evangelistic encounter instead ends up being a conversation with a brother or sister in the Lord. I personally find sharing the gospel with a random non-believer a much easier thing to do than encouraging a fellow believer. So if God has brought a brother or sister into your path and you were able to share with them, and encourage them, then take heart. You are still being faithful to the Lord, and doing that which, in one very real sense, is a more difficult for some than just sharing the gospel with someone.
Don't be discouraged about encouragement.
No comments:
Post a Comment