When do you think is the appropriate time to have a gospel conversation with someone who hasn’t heard the gospel yet? It’s a common assumption that its Christmas or Easter or Pentecost celebrations are the best time. But we are blissfully unaware that its all-time, everywhere. Another grave assumption we make is that it’s the duty of missionaries and evangelists. Mostly these people operate living in a small town or remote village more than a thousand miles away. The fact that every believer is a witness and a missionary according to the Bible is an unknown fact.
Jesus was a full-time evangelist who was constantly sharing the good news to all forms of groups, with no exceptions. It is Churches and Christians who have compartmentalized sacred and secular. It is funny that those who emphasize and encourage people to consider sharing the gospel and be a witness in the workspace have successfully compartmentalized even that too to an exclusive zone. Being a witness and sharing the gospel to one group of people and in a particular space is not a great example of being witness. I like the way R Stanley puts it by saying, “every person without Christ is a mission field”. It can be your neighbor, your colleagues, your relatives, your friends for that matter.
Jesus stated this, “You will be brought before governors and kings because of me, to bear witness to them and to the gentiles. But when they hand you over, don’t worry about or what you are to speak. For you will be given what to say to that hour.” (Matthew 10:18-19).Every situation, even in the toughest time, while being persecuted, need to be a witness and present Christ (Matthew 10:23). We notice this happened in Acts 8 when Paul was posing threat to Christians by causing havoc and putting them to prison. People fled and were scattered everywhere. Verse 4 says, “Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.”. This is a phenomenon hard to find these days.
Jesus knew that the time for Him is short and used every opportunity to go from town to town, villages and cities to share the good news. The gospel of John records that Jesus had a midnight conversation with Nicodemus (John 3:2). No time, people or places were exempted for Him. I had a similar encounter with an Uber cab driver while returning home after admitting my daughter in the hospital, at midnight. It is always a habit of mine to strike a conversation with cab drivers and make sure by the time I alight the cab, they have heard about Jesus. This is one of those moments, but this was my first gospel sharing at the midnight hour. The conversation slowly picked momentum, and the spirit of the Lord was at work. Well into the conversation the cab driver stopped the cab by the side of the road and was receptive to the gospel which went around for one hour. He was willing to pray with me and expressed his interest to know more about Jesus. Although it was a trying and tiring moment for me with my daughter being in the hospital, it was a joy to know that God used that midnight hour to bring glory by touching one lost soul to hear the gospel. This is what I mean by sharing the gospel anywhere, anytime.
When there is true transformation of life you will be compelled to share the gospel with anyone and everyone. It is just irrepressible. When someone is hesitant, unsure of how to share, or too timid, ashamed and aware of different gospel sharing tools yet not bold enough, then the person needs to analyze his/her relationship with Christ. You cannot stop expressing the love for others if you love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. The more you start sharing the gospel, the more you will want to keep sharing. True courage is when you start sharing with non-Christians than with Christians. Pastors and Church leaders, I urge you to make it a habit of sharing the gospel and be a model your Church to follow.
You may read the last blog HERE