Evangelism Without Stress…

Leestijd / Lesezeit / Reading time: 6 min

If you have good news, you naturally want to tell others. So, if you want to tell people who Christ is and why He’s so important to them, it’s also important to you that you do it well, frequently, and reach the right target groups. Right?

But as a human, you can only do so much… and there are only 24 hours in a day… So somewhere… sooner or later, you feel the pressure. The pressure between what you can do as a human, but also the pressure of what you’d still like to do better/more efficiently for God. There’s nothing wrong with that positive pressure in itself, but there’s a limit… where that positive pressure can turn into stress…

Toontje Lager (a Dutch music group) even had a song about it:

Shall we translate that to the life of an active Christian / missionary?

• I still need to make the plan for the upcoming evangelistic outreach.
• I still need to call “John” for follow-up; I spoke with him last week during an outreach, and that requires more attention.
• Tomorrow I have to lead the Bible study for the youth, but I still need to find images for it.
• Christ could return tomorrow; I still have the chance to reach “John.” So if I don’t call now, and Christ comes back tomorrow… what then happens to “John”?
• That project on the other side of town still needed practical help… I’d love to help them, but when?
• That conversation with X wasn’t actually finished; how can I continue it next time?

Do you feel the pressure? So much to do, I still have so much to do. You wouldn’t be the first Christian/missionary to be broken by that pressure… or maybe you won’t be directly broken by it, but your family will…

If that stress sounds familiar, you’re not alone. We know it too in our daily practice. And when that stress strikes again, remember this Bible verse. This is what Jesus Himself said, pay attention:

John 6:44 (NASB): “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Read it again and see what it says. That’s quite something! There’s an order to it: The Father sends people to Christ; only when that is done can someone come to Christ; and when that is done, Christ will raise them up. Think about this: Christ Himself doesn’t call people to Himself, despite being God. Wow! The first move is up to God Himself… not even to Christ… let alone to you. Wow! Have you ever considered that?

In other words, you can run, hop, skip, and jump on the moon, do whatever you want… but God has to do it. And only if He does that… if He wills it in all His grace, then something can happen. And you can’t change, add, or do anything to that, nothing. That’s up to God. If you want to do anything about it at all, it’s to pray to God that He does it. That is more important than all your “work.” So no matter how much you work, do, or hop-skip-jump on the moon… it doesn’t matter that much (in relation to God’s gracious work). That’s how small we are as humans… Something to perhaps be very humble about, but also something that gives peace. God has the power, the grace, the strength. And not you, so don’t expect that from yourself either. If Christ Himself says that verse above… let us not think we are more powerful than Him. That gives peace.

Still struggling with evangelism stress? Think about these verses:

Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NASB): “Moreover, I (God) will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I (God) will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I (God) will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My ordinances and do them.”

God is the one who changes the heart, not man himself. So you can’t open anyone’s heart either… take away the stones, etc., etc…. only God can do that. No matter how hard you work, it’s up to Him.

Acts 16:14 (NASB): “A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.”

Even Paul, THE Paul, could do NOTHING if God didn’t open Lydia’s heart… “the Lord opened her heart.”

In other words, here too, hop, skip, and jump all you want… It’s up to God. He sends people to Christ, and He alone can open hearts. If you understand this, it brings so much peace!

And if the Father has brought someone to Christ, and Christ has brought them back to the Father, then for you too, it’s “the end of the story.” Because God NEVER lets go… so whether or not you had a follow-up conversation with someone, this promise stands:

John 10:28-29 (NASB): “and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

In other words, who comes to Christ isn’t up to you, or your work, or the quantity of your work, or the quality of your work. Who comes to Him and how someone comes to Him is up to God Himself:

Ephesians 1:4-5 (NASB): “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,”

So, when you understand… that powerlessness you feel as a human actually gives a lot of peace. Because God has the power, even if you don’t have time, can’t do any more, your family really needs the attention it deserves, etc., etc., etc… It’s up to Him. What wonderful peace! And you? What should you do?

Matthew 28:19-20 (NASB): “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Amen”

And that… that’s everything. The rest was, is, and always will be God’s “business.” That brings peace. No stress, because at the end of that verse is something we (especially in times of “hop, skip, and jump on the moon”) so quickly forget:

I am with you always, to the end of the age. Amen.

You’re not alone; the “problem” was never yours, will never be yours, and is God’s. And if you’re working for Him, you are never, ever alone. So, failure? Impossible, if you do it that way.

And suppose… you still think you’ve failed in your evangelistic efforts: then think carefully about the following: If God sends someone to Christ… do you really think your “failure” could prevent that? So if you “fail,” that person won’t come to God? Come on, God is MUCH more powerful than all your actions. If God wants to call someone to Himself, it happens. Regardless of your actions…

If you understand that… there’s no more stress for you as a missionary, but thanksgiving for God’s power and His grace.