Persevere When Evangelism Isn’t Working

I arrived at college eager to make my time on campus count for the spread of the gospel. During orientation, I met a student named Will on my hall. He grew up around the church but wasn’t walking with the Lord when he came to college. 

Initially, I was eager to use this opportunity to share the gospel with him and remind him of truths he heard growing up. Over and over, I tried to share the gospel with him but didn’t see any success.

Evangelism and Frustration

Throughout our first few years of college, we had classes together, but my zeal to see him reached by the gospel waned. There he was, sitting next to me in class. As semesters passed, I felt incredibly awkward. He was entirely uninterested in the gospel. 

There were moments when we would meet to read the Bible together, or he would come to church with me, but it never seemed to stick. I was frustrated by the lack of progress that I seemed to be making.

You can probably tell, I had a warped perspective. I was trying to measure my progress based on his response, instead of trusting that the Lord would work in his heart. Of course, God has called us to proclaim the gospel. Otherwise, how would people hear? (Romans 10:9–11) 

But, he’s also told us that we can plant and water a seed, but it is God who gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:5–9). Apart from the work of the Spirit of God in a sinner’s heart, nothing will change.

After over three years of knowing him, God transformed his life. The Lord took a man that was dead inside and brought him to new life.

Persevere through the Awkwardness

I wish that I could say that I was always faithful and consistent in sharing the gospel with him––and there were seasons where I was!––but there were also seasons where I avoided talking to him because it was awkward. And yet the Lord worked.

I wish that I could say that I was always faithful and consistent.

I could share dozens of stories of God’s faithfulness to seek out and save the lost, even when I gave up on them. This article isn’t from someone who is a master at persevering through the awkward stages of evangelism and has found the silver bullet to converting people. 

I’ve seen friends walk away from the faith in dramatic proportions, only to come back later because the Lord didn’t give up on them. I’ve been encouraged by church members who have pursued those wayward friends because James tells us that they have kept sinners from perishing (James 5).

Embrace the Slow Process

I want to plead with you to consider persevering in evangelism. There’s a time to let people go and trust that the Lord will bring new Christians into their life, but I’m convinced that in our culture, we’re far too quick to let these relationships go. 

Many of us are far too impatient. We want to share the gospel, wait a few months, and then see someone come to faith. If we’ve been reaching out to someone for more than a year, we often just let them go.

Immediate results are not determined by what we do, but by what God does. 

But the Bible uses all sorts of gardening imagery to what this process should look like. As mentioned earlier, Paul tells us that we may plant and water, but God is the one who gives the growth. The main point of this passage is that God is the one who causes people to change. This should be a great encouragement to us because it means that immediate results are not determined by what we do, but by what God does. 

This frees us up to love well, show hospitality, share the gospel with non-Christians, and trust God to do the work. Whether it takes a few months or a few decades, the results aren’t determined by our performance. I’ve seen people come to faith through the most awkward gospel presentations and I’ve seen beautiful presentations of the gospel lead to no results. We may plant and we may water, but God gives the growth.

Cole Shiflet and his wife Courtney are members of Redeemer Community Church, where Cole serves as Director of Global Missions. He is also an M.Div. student at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama.

LESS THAN 1% OF ALL MONEY GIVEN TO MISSIONS GOES TOWARDS REACHING THE UNREACHED.

That means that the people with the most urgent spiritual and physical needs are receiving the least support. You can help change that!

 

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