Why don’t we attempt to “hit home runs” in gift giving?

According to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, ten percent of the Christian community has accomplished over ninety percent of all the evangelism in the United States. Ninety percent of the Christian community is missing out on one of the greatest joys of the Christian life. However, you’re here on this website, reading this information because you desire to share the good news with an unsaved friend or family member. We can’t restrain our desire to congratulate you and to tell you how thrilled we are that you are considering reaching out with the gospel of Jesus Christ through the ministry of gift giving.

Tommy Lasorta the celebrated coach of the Los Angeles Dodgers made a habit of going back to the basics with his baseball players. Winning baseball games, he contended, was the product of knowing and executing the fundamentals. His record would indicate that he was right.

And so it is with the enterprise we call evangelism. There are certain evangelism “fundamentals” that every believer must understand. If we fail to understand these fundamentals we may try to “hit a home run” in our own strength and fail to trust the Spirit’s work. These “fundamentals” can be summed up in two Biblical principles.

Principle Number One: Evangelism is a Process…

Jesus said, “…One sows and another reaps…I sent you [disciples] to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

When Jesus wanted to teach His disciples about evangelism, in John 4:35-38, He used the analogy of farming. He didn’t talk about reaping alone. He didn’t talk about sowing alone. He didn’t talk about cultivating the soil alone, either. No, He taught His disciples that evangelism can be directly compared to farming. Farming is a process that goes on over a period of time in order to produce a harvest. Farming comprises many facets, including cultivation, sowing, watering, fertilizing, weeding, and reaping. To be a successful farmer we must be patient with the process.

We believe that this same patience is needed in the evangelization of a soul. God is in the process of cultivating the soil of men’s hearts. He may use us to prepare them for the seed, or to plant a seed of truth or water the seed of truth that they already have. But it’s important that we recognize that evangelism is a process that will usually take time. Very few important decisions in life are made quickly. Most major decisions are the results of many mini-decisions. One clear example of this is marriage. The ultimate decision to marry a person typically is preceded by many mini-decisions involving attraction, courtship, compatibility, engagement, and finally, marriage. The same is true of one’s spiritual journey. When a person makes the final decision to trust in Jesus Christ, this has usually been preceded many mini-decisions along the way. Farming, to use Jesus’ analogy, is also a series of mini-decisions to cultivate the soil, sow the seed, water, weed, and ultimately reap the harvest. It is all evangelism, and it’s a process that takes time and demands patience on the part of the laborers. The following graphic illustrates this principle that evangelism is usually a process in the hearts of our lost friends and family members.

Go to Evangelism Continiuum Diagram

Principle Number Two: God is Responsible for the Results…

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God make it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”
1 Corinthians 3: 6-7

In John chapter 3, a Pharisee named Nicodemus asked Jesus, “How can a man be born when he is old?” Jesus, of course, was referring to being born again by the Spirit of God. He told Nicodemus that spiritual birth is a work of God in the heart of a man, not the result of the good works of men.

Therefore, when it comes to leading our friends and family to salvation we are ultimately powerless to change their hearts. We can’t get them into heaven and we can’t keep them out, either. Salvation is the work of the Holy Spirit and all we can do is pray and attempt to assist our friends in their spiritual journey.

If we take time to reflect on this second principle of evangelism we will see how much freedom it gives us. You and I are free to “farm for souls” and leave the results to God. All we need to do is make ourselves available to His use and pray that He produces an abundant harvest. The pressure is off, so we don’t need to “hit a home run.” Therefore, we would encourage you to pick a book or movie that your loved one would truly enjoy and that God could use to move them a little closer to Him. Don’t feel the need to give a gift that might overwhelm them spiritually. Entrust your friends and family members into the hands of the God who demonstrated His love for them and is patiently drawing them into His family.