Mark 16:15 - Go

Do you have an urge to evangelize but find yourself weak at the knees when it comes to speaking up for Christ? As Christians we should all know the joy of the Lord and seek to spread that joy with others, but it is easy to become frustrated or even complacent because on most occasions that desire, no matter how strong, will be thwarted by our fears. 

“I do want to speak our but what do I say?” “I do want to speak out, but what difference could I possibly make?” “I do want to speak out, but I am scared those I speak with will react badly.” “I do want to speak out, but what if they ask me a question that I don’t know the answer to?” 

All of these questions can usually be generalized into two thoughts. The first; “I am scared.” The second; “I don’t know what to say”.

“I am scared”

Too right you are and so you should be. We have a responsibility on this earth to spread the Gospel of Christ. This is a serious responsibility and certainly not one that should be taken lightly. 

1 Corinthians 2:3 “I was with you in weakness, in fear and in much trembling.”

Paul the ultimate evangelist was scared, but not only scared; trembling in weakness! This is Paul, the man who wrote half of the New Testament and saved thousands of souls. Would you ever of thought that you could relate to this man so much? That you would be so similar to him? It is natural to be scared. 

How to overcome that fear? When you are on a roller coaster are you scared when you get off the ride at the other end? Sometimes you just have to take that step of faith and open your mouth for the gospel of Christ and speak boldly as you ought to (Ephesians 6:19) to come out the other side. 

Things to remember in times of biblical fear:

2 Corinthians 12:10 “When we are weak then we are strong [in the Lord]”

Fear is good as it helps us to speak the truth and not become complacent in our words.

Pray for boldness (as Paul requested many times (Ephesians 6:11-20))

Who are we scared of? Fear the Lord. Yes. But do not fear man. 

Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

“I don’t know what to say”

1 Corinthians 2:2 “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

Read the book of Acts and note what the Apostles preach to the crowds when they are evangelizing. You will notice a common theme: Christ. When we evangelize we should preach Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 2:2 Paul is saying, “I don’t know anything apart from Christ”. He stuck to what he knew, Christ. Many of us are intimidated when talking about faith because those we are talking with can sometimes bring in lots of different issues like evolution, atheism, different religions, science, strange Greek mythology, reasons why the Bible is not inspired by God (the list goes on). Christians forget all they need is to preach Christ.

If you are a Christian you don’t need to prepare yourself for evangelism. Your knowledge of Christ alone is sufficient to spread the gospel.

If somebody asks you about evolution; preach Christ. If somebody tells you they are an atheist; preach Christ. If somebody asks you about Isaac Newton’s string theory (whatever that is!); preach Christ!

Remember, as Christians we have a great advantage in that our faith in the Lord Jesus is based upon that in the Bible. All the materials we need are within this one bound book. For an atheist to formulate his arguments he must research texts from all over the world. A Non-Christian is bases his argument on a tone of information, which is usually misinformed anyway. When you speak up for Christ there’s no need to get bogged down in conversations about different ancient texts or scientific theories; Paul didn’t. Just focus on the Bible. Choose your battlefield. Do not try and argue with people based on things of this world, bring them back to the Bible and what the Lord Jesus says.

When you speak up about Christ, you should do exactly that. Speak about Christ. If somebody asks you a question that you don’t know the answer to, don’t worry. There is no harm in saying I do not know. You do not have to be a theologian to win souls for Christ. Just pray that God will convict them of their sin and reveal Himself to them through your words   and speak with confidence knowing that the Lord God is with you.

Of course if you know a thing or two then it is great to be able to debunk peoples thinking and show them how the Lord Jesus is the way the truth and the life (John 14:6), but do not let the fact that you cannot recite Pi to 14 decimal points stop you from speaking boldly for the Lord Jesus.

Romans 13:11 tells us that our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. Indeed this is true. Life is a fragile thing. 150,000 people die every day. How many of those do you suppose are going to heaven and how many are going to hell? The Bible says that the path to Heaven is narrow.

Pray for boldness to preach the Gospel of Christ and seek to save those who are lost with great fear for their souls!

-BACChristian