By Aleena Denison
Evangelism.
What came to your mind as you read that word? Did you think of godly men and women who traverse the country, preaching in tent meetings or on street corners, or did you think of specific missionaries laboring in foreign countries to see unreached people groups come to know Christ? These thoughts aren't unreasonable since the definition of evangelism given in the dictionary is "the winning of commitments to Christ." (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) Now look at this word:
Personal Evangelism.
This makes evangelism rather, well, personal, doesn't it? It's a subject that can make some believers uncomfortable if they've been comfortably living their lives without it. I'd like to help answer some questions about this subject of personal evangelism that you might have, or might not have thought about.
• What is personal evangelism? Every day you spend a portion of time talking to friends, family, people in your workplace, or neighbors. Each of these encounters is unique to you, making up part of a day in your life. When you take these encounters and turn conversation to things of God, with the intent of helping others come to know and understand Him, it then becomes personal evangelism. It's not as scary as you might think. In fact, you may be personally evangelizing every day without realizing you're doing so!
• Is personal evangelism very important? To sum up the answer, yes. Jesus commanded His disciples to "Go, and make disciples," meaning that they were to make followers of God. Jesus also told them how they were to do this, by "teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19,20) So like Jesus' disciples, each of us is to go and tell others about God, His relationship to man, and what sin, eternity, and salvation are according to the Bible. It is then important to teach the new believers their own responsibility in personal evangelism.
• Should you be personally evangelizing? The Bible says that Jesus came to "seek and save those who are lost" (Luke 19:10), and Galatians 2:20 declares that Christ is living in me and I am no longer alive (to myself). If that is the case, then our priority ought to be in bringing the lost to Jesus, because our lives are now His and not our own. With Christ living in us, it's important to understand how much He loves people and how much He wants them to come to know Him. "And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it." (Luke 19:41) "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." (Matthew 9:36)
The Bible also declares that there is joy in heaven when one sinner repents and believes in Jesus Christ (Luke 15:7.10), and that God Himself rejoices over His own (Zephaniah 3:17). With God living in us and working through us, we can't help but have that same joy when we see others understand and believe Him, for they have been "rescued from the domain of darkness, and transferred…into the kingdom of light." (Colossians 1:13)
Aleena Denison has a heart for seeing the message of the Bible presented in a clear way,and is dedicated to sharing Jesus with the lost and helping believers see their responsibilities in evangelism, discipleship, and Bible study. For more information and free downloads, see http://www.goodseed.com
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