How many of you have eye or vision problems? I know I do. I have worn eyeglasses since my younger teenage years. Fortunately, my vision can be corrected to 20/20 which I am thankful for. Vision problems though go beyond physical sight. Many people have problems with their spiritual vision, also. Our corrected vision will help us to do the work of an evangelist effectively.
Here is an interesting passage in the Bible which serves as an eye-opening illustration. Even though it is talking about physical eye sight, it serves as an illustration of the spiritual as well.
Mark 8:22–25 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
Do You Have Blurred Vision?
It seems that many of us could also have blurred vision as this man did. Only ours is with our spiritual sight. We have met Jesus and he has opened our eyes. But we still don’t see people clearly.
We all have our own lens through which we look. They are assumptions, reactions, and judgments that influence how we see the world and its people.
We must get our personal lens focused and in line with how God sees people. Then we will have a better idea of how to reach lost people for the kingdom of God.
How The Lord Sees Differently Than We Do
Here is an interesting passage that shows how Jesus saw a person differently than a Pharisee did. In Luke 7 a woman came into the room and washed Jesus’ feet. She was viewed by the Pharisee as being a wretched sinner.
Jesus responded to him with a story. “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”
Jesus and the Pharisee Saw Things Differently
Jesus and the Pharisee looked at the same person but saw her differently. The Pharisee looked through the lens of judgment.
Job in the Old Testament saw his life differently than his friends saw him. To read about Job’s response, you might be interested in reading the post called I’m Sinless.
Jesus looked through the lens of compassion. Everyone has a different lens within themselves that influences how they relate to others. We have to take the blinders off and see people of the world the way our Lord sees them.
In our judgment, we often want to predetermine why a person could never make it to heaven. I wrote a post a few years ago that talks about how all things are possible with God.
In 1 Samuel 16:7 it is recorded that The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
Removing Blinders Will Help In doing Work of an Evangelist
When we take our blinders off, our lens will change. We will begin to see things the way the Lord sees them. The mission of Jesus was people. His lens was compassion which guided his actions, reactions, and interactions with everyone he met.
Scripture tells us that Jesus felt compassion when He encountered the sick (Mt. 14:14), the blind (Mt. 20:34), the demon-possessed (Mk. 9:22), those who lost loved ones (Lk. 7:13), the hungry (Mt. 15:32), the lonely (Mk. 1:41) and the bewildered (Mt. 9:36).
His compassion expanded to everyone when He gave His life on the cross. On the third day He rose from the grave making salvation available to all who would receive it. Through this compassionate act of the Lord we no longer have to suffer the eternal consequences of sin.
When looking at the world around you, what do you see? A world in need? A people worth saving? A generation worth serving? Once you see those things, then that is a start to know how to reach lost people by doing work of an evangelist
You may find it interesting to read a related post called Everyone from the Least to the Greatest Will Know the Lord!
Refocus on Reaching People By Doing the Work of an Evangelist
Do you remember when you first met the Lord and accepted Him as your Savior? It was then you realized that you could have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That He truly loved you for who you were!
Someone loved you enough to share with you how God has a purpose for your life. He sent His Son to die on the cross for your sins. Then Jesus rose from the dead and went back to heaven. He is preparing a place for you to spend eternity with Him.
Check out these related posts.
As we enjoy life in the Lord, we must focus attention on those who don’t know Jesus yet. Are you seeing people through the eyes of the Lord? To help us do that let’s give honest answers to three important questions.
Are you aware of how bad the condition will be for those left behind?
When the church is taken out of this world, called the rapture, life will be difficult on the earth. Not only by the physical aspects of the events of the time, but with the spiritual climate as well.
The prophet Amos shared these words of God in chapter 8 of his book.“The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine on the land. Not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the Lord.”
What people need more than food or water is to hear from the Lord. God has called us, more specifically you, to reach your circle of influence with the gospel of Jesus.
We are not responsible for how they receive the message, our responsibility is for delivering it. This is how we reach lost people by doing the work of an evangelist. Share it and then pray that the Holy Spirit makes it real to them.
We don’t want anyone to have to go into the tribulation. For that matter, into eternity without Christ, saying that they didn’t know. You can read a related post about eternity without the Lord called The Fire.
Do You Truly Care about Those Left Behind?
Have you ever battled with your kids to do their homework. The only thing they have to say to you is “I don’t care”. As a parent I’d heard those words and my response was, “I do care and that is why you have to do it”.
That’s how our heavenly Father is as well. He cares! And He is not willing that anyone be left behind.
In 2 Peter 3:9 it says this. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Sadly some will perish. We must care enough for people and take our responsibility serious to share Jesus.
How Has Your Life Changed?
Remember how your life has changed with Jesus as your personal Savior. You experience His grace and forgiveness daily. The Lord is the bread of life so you will never have spiritual hunger. He is the living water. He told the woman at the well, “I’ll give you water and you will never thirst again”.
Those we share our testimony with may take the attitude, I don’t care. One day they will. Hopefully, it won’t be too late. Check out a related post that I wrote called “Enraged!”
We must show them that we are reaching out to them with the Kingdom of God because we care for them. And let them know that God cares also.
Will You Share with Those Being Left Behind?
In Jeremiah 23 the Lord says these words. Let these false prophets tell their dreams, but let my true messengers faithfully proclaim my every word. In the Old Testament only a few chosen people were called to be messengers.
In the New Testament, all who are in the family of God are called to be messengers of the gospel. Time is running out, Jesus is coming. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6, Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.
I know there will be those who reject God’s message of salvation. You can’t take that personal though, because they are not rejecting you. Please read the post called How to Respond When Rejected for Sharing the Gospel.
Doing the Work of an Evangelist will Bring a Harvest
In Acts Chapter 17, Paul ministered in the synagogue for three weeks in a row. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women.
What I want us to see in that portion of scripture is a harvest doesn’t often come right away. Consider when you plant a garden. You dig, rake, make rows, and drop the seeds in them. There is bending and stooping and your back starts complaining.
You’re sore and weary, but the seeds are in the ground. If you are a spiritual person maybe your mind goes to the verse in Psalms that talks about sowing in tears.
“Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.” Psalm 126:5-6
A Measure of Joy
There is a measure of joy when the first plants start popping up out of the ground. But you still have to water, weed, wait, and fertilize in order to enjoy the final crop. It takes time, patience, and work.
In Galatians 6 we are told. Let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
Start somewhere!
Ask the Lord what you can do to help spread the good news about Jesus. Ask Him how can you reach lost people for the kingdom of God. By by doing the work of an evangelist. There are many ways to get involved in sharing the good news.
Prayer is always the starting point. Pray for friends, family, and neighbors who do not know Jesus yet.
Support others involved in the harvest. People like your pastor, missionaries and other acquaints. Live your testimony! Talk about your relationship with the Lord! If you never plant the seeds, you will never have a garden!
Unashamedly live the tough truths of the gospel. This is a post you can read that is related to this subject. We must be willing to live a consistent Christian life.
What Motivates you to do the Work of an Evangelist?
What are some of the motivators that would make us want to share the good news about Jesus? I can think of two major ones. The first is your love for God. We show our love for God by caring about what He cares about. He cares about people!
Not only should our love for God motivate us, but our love for people should also motivate us. If we really love our family, friends, and neighbors, we won’t want them to miss God’s forgiveness.
We certainly won’t want them left behind when Jesus returns. All the spiritually lost, we want reached for the kingdom of God.
We can’t tell them, however, a particular time to be ready, if they want to be with the Lord. Everybody who is going with the Lord must be ready because He determines it’s time. To read more about that check out this post called They Just Don’t Know.
Conclusion
Sometimes we make sharing the gospel complicated. Other times we become too intimidated to tell people about it.
God has made it pretty simple for us though. He told us that there is only one way we can spend eternity with Him. Acts 4:12 tells us this. There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. That name is Jesus!
He has already prearranged a place for us to meet Him as well. Paul wrote it in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
On that subject, you might enjoy reading a related post called The Rendezvous.
Related Reading to assist in doing the Work of and Evangelist
You can read about when the Lord will come back for the church in these two chapters. 1 Thessalonians 4 starting at verse 16and 1 Corinthians 15, starting at verse 51
A song I loved to listen to as a young Christian contained these words in the chorus. “Don’t go to heaven alone. Take someone that you know.”
That’s the attitude we need to have as we do the work of an evangelist. God Bless you as you share your faith with others.
Are you ready to reach out. Another post worth reading is, How Can We Reach A New Generation For God?
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