Six Common Hesitations to Personal Evangelism

EVANGELISM ARTICLE
Chad Brewer | Williamsburg, Virginia

When the topic of personal evangelism comes up, people are invariably excited, but often they are excited for others’ work or zeal.

We are often rather hesitant to get out there, put in the effort, put ourselves on the line, and possibly get rejected. The hesitations and complaints that you often hear are often very similar, and not at all new to our generation. If you were to go back to Exodus 3 and 4, you will see that they are very similar to the hesitations and complaints that Moses had, when God told him to “go.” Oddly enough, those objections raised by Moses were not sufficient for him to skive off work, and they are not good enough for us either.

1. Lack of knowledge. This is a common objection from people and it is a legitimate concern, but it should not prevent one from engaging in the Lord’s work indefinitely. Here are a few things to consider. First, if you are lacking in knowledge, then work diligently on your knowledge so that you can share with others. Second, teaching is a great way to learn. Talk to almost any preacher, teacher, or educator and they will tell you that the teacher almost always gets more out of the study than the student. Teaching is a way of learning. Third, what you lack, someone else might have. When Jesus sent out the disciples to teach, he sent them two by two. When you consider the teachers of the New Testament, you often think of the pairs: Aquila and Priscilla, Paul and Barnabas, Barnabas and John Mark, Paul and Timothy, etc. Solomon extols the virtue of having two people in an endeavor in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12. While we might feel that we don’t have enough knowledge on our own, with a companion, our knowledge base is exponentially increased. Last, we might be surprised by just how much we know. When we spend our time with our local congregation, sitting in Bible classes, and listening to sermons, it can be easy to feel that we don’t know very much, especially compared to older Christians, the preacher, or the elders, but a Christian, even a relatively new Christian, might be surprised by just how much they know, compared to those in the world. Even our little bit of knowledge is a treasure trove of life-giving water to those who are perishing. Don’t believe that you have too little to share. Even the little that you believe you have, is enough to save someone’s soul.

2. Lack of experience. Lack of experience can be a real deterrent. Stepping into the unknown can be daunting and terrifying. Yet, if you allow a lack of experience to stop you from working, then you will never get going. Everyone begins somewhere. As was mentioned above, exercise the option to go with someone more experienced. I can virtually guarantee you that the local preacher, your elders, or more experienced Christians would love someone to join them in their work and get more people active, zealous, and knowledgeable about the work of the Lord.

3. Lack of confidence. “I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!” (2 Corinthians 10:1). Here Paul seems to be addressing some criticisms that he has received for his seeming lack of confidence when face to face with the Corinthians. His bodily appearance or demeanor is insufficient in some people’s estimations, yet we cannot deny that Paul was extremely effective in his work with the Corinthians. Confidence is usually either an inflated sense of ability resulting from a lack of knowledge, or it is hard won by experience and success. When we focus on our lack of confidence, we are focusing on ourselves, and not the one for whom we work.

4. Lack of time. A lack of time is a real concern for many people. Reaching the community does take a commitment of time. Once you find someone to study with, it will take more time. One of the harder things can be that there is not definitive time commitment. Sometime you can spend weeks and months finding someone to study with. Once you have started studying with them, some people are convinced easily while others take years to convince. The lack of a definite sacrifice of time often scares people away from committing any time at all. Here are a few things to consider. You do not have to commit an indefinite amount of time. You have to weigh your options and decide what is the best use of your time and decide if sacrifices in other areas are worth making time for evangelism. If you find that you have an hour or two a week to devote to reaching out with the gospel, then use it, and put restrictions on yourself. If you do not have the time to take the lead on a Bible study, find someone else that does have the time, and then aid them as best that you can. There are many people, especially preachers, elders, and deacons, who would love having someone generate a Bible study for them and sit in with them. You could also find methods of evangelism that are less time demanding. If your congregation sends out correspondent courses, perhaps you could volunteer to be the one that grades and send out the new ones. Perhaps you could take the time each week to hand out cards for the church to everyone you interact with. There are a number of ways to contribute to evangelism, and we are called to be wise and make the best use of the time. (Ephesians 5:15-16)

5. Ineloquent. In Exodus 4:10-17, this was Moses’s excuse to why he could not be the one to go and do God’s command. God said that He would allow someone else to speak but it would still be Moses who would do the work that God assigned. It wasn’t long before Moses was speaking without Aaron as his tongue. Moses’s effectiveness did not lie in his eloquence, it rested in God who sent him. When Paul speaks of his eloquence in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, he says, “I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom….-so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” Paul’s effectiveness was not in his delivery of the message but in the message being delivered. It is the word of God that is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. (Hebrews 4:12) It is God’s implanted word that is able to save souls. (James 1:21) God’s power does not rest in my eloquence, it rests in His eternal nature.

6. I am not the right person. “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14) Esther did not perceive herself to be the person for the task ahead of her. It’s easy to think that we might not be the right or the best person for a task, but we might be the only person or the person that God has prepared for such a time as this. The march of history has been pushed forward by God using unlikely people to accomplish tasks far too great for them, in order to show His greatness and majesty. Perhaps that’s exactly why you are the right person because God has chosen you. The majority of time, God chose people who either seemed to be or felt like they were the wrong people for the task. God did not use Moses when Moses felt ready to rescue God’s people (Acts 7:23-25). He waited for 40 years until Moses felt like the least likely person for the task. Gideon was racked with doubt because he felt like the least likely person for God to choose. Paul was chosen when he was on his way to persecute Christians. How do you know that you are not the person that God will use for His tasks?

All of these hesitations and complaints have something in common; they focus on ourselves. They seemingly forget God. The hesitations focus on our perception of our abilities. Remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” The ability of the gospel to be spread does not rest upon our abilities, it resides in the gospel. God’s ability to work through us is not hampered by abilities, it is exemplified by it! Stop looking inside yourself and doubting. Start looking at God and having faith.

18.07.03 | GROW magazine