"So when they met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1.6-8, NIV). [S]
The word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.
We’re in the second week of a short series titled “Share the Gift”. A series designed to help disciples be more confidant when it comes to engaging someone with God.
In our theme verse for the series Jesus said to his disciples, “you will be my witnesses”. And that implies that all disciples are to share the gift of what Jesus has done for them with another human being.
There’s no doubt in my mind that at some level every disciples of Jesus want to be obedient and share what Jesus has done for them with another.. Unfortunately, there are hurdles, high hurdles that intimidate us and in some cases keep us from trying to share what Jesus has done all together. It’s my hope that somehow this mini-series will help to lower those hurdles so they’re more manageable and we’re more likely to run over them, or in some cases, even through them.
Last week we identified the first hurdle. And that was the belief that people aren’t interested in our gift. But through using scripture and contemporary statistics and experiences we learned and affirmed that people will give us the opportunity to share our gift, especially, during the Christmas window which is November 30-December 30.
Now, let’s turn our attention to the next hurdle or two. And this is a dozy. “I’m not an evangelist so I can’t do it.” “I’m not gifted for this. That’s the work for someone else to do. That’s someone else’s responsibility. Someone else is better fitted for that. I’m not an evangelist, so I can’t do it. Listen to the words Paul wrote to his young protégé Timothy in 2 Timothy 4.1-5.
[S] “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4.1-5, NIV) [S]
Paul told Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist.” My first reaction might be, well that’s because he was an evangelist. No, he wasn’t. That was not Timothy’s strong suit. That is not what he was naturally inclined to do. We learn in 1 Timothy 4.13-14 that his primary spiritual gift, that which he found the most joy and ease at using, was the gift of teaching. And we see the evidence of that in this passage where Paul charges him to preach, and to instruct because men will not put up with sound doctrine and will turn from truth to myths. Timothy is a preacher/teacher.
I can see Timothy looking at Paul saying, “But, my gift is teaching.” “I’m more comfortable teaching believers about the faith.” I’m not like you. I could never do what you do. I can’t confront people like you do. I’m not good at debating. I can’t reason like you do. I could never be like you are. It’s as if Paul said, “So.” “You’re not like me. You’re right. We’re not gifted the same. Our personalities are different. Regardless of your spiritual gift mix and temperament Tim, you are still to do the work of an evangelist. And so are we.
We find that a little unnerving don’t we? Why? I think it’s because we have a limited view of what it means to do the work of an evangelist. When you think of doing the work of an evangelist who or what comes to mind? Billy Graham, Franklyn Graham, Billy Sunday, the Apostle Paul, the guy in rainbow colored hair carrying a megaphone saying, “Turn or burn!” If those were our only options available to us then I would be hesitant about sharing the gift as well. But those aren’t the only options. There is no one “evangelist” model. When it comes to sharing the gift, one size doesn’t fit all.
Look, God made each of us in a unique way correct? Doesn’t it reason then that God would want to use us to share the gift in a way that is like us instead of like another? To illustrate this I’m going to show you five different people in the bible who shared their gift in a way that was true to who they were.
Peter. When we think of an evangelist Peter most closely resembles what comes to mind. He was the confrontational and boisterous voice of God. Peter was confident, courageous, bold, direct, and very opinionated. When he shared the gift he gathered a crowd. We saw this last week as he gathered a crowd in Acts 2 preached Christ crucified and risen followed by an altar call of 3,000. Some contemporary examples might be Chuck Colson or Billy Graham.
Paul was more of an intellectual when it came to sharing the gift. He used reason and well thought out platitudes to make his case. He was more like an apologeticist, someone who defends the faith with well reasoned arguments, logic and reason. A good example of this is found in Acts 17. Paul is on Mars Hill speaking with Greek philosophers about religion and their gods. Contemporary might be D. James Kennedy and Josh McDowell.
The Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 illustrates yet another way of sharing the gift. It’s more of an invitational style than a confrontational. After visiting with Jesus at the well she went back into town and told her friends about him and then invited them to come and see and hear him for themselves. She might never have thought she was doing the work of an evangelist simply because she invited some others to go and see or hear someone else speak. By inviting others to attend a special speaking engagement with her, a church service, she was doing the work of an evangelist.
There’s yet another style when it comes to doing the work of an evangelist and that’s the testimonial style illustrated in Mark 5. It’s the story of Jesus healing a man who was possessed by evil thus transforming his life completely. In return he was going to give himself to Jesus as a traveling disciple. But Jesus told him to return home to one of the cities in the Decapolis and tell others what God had done for him and the mercy he had shown him. So he went home and when people saw the change in his life and asked him, what happened, he would say something like, “Jesus changed my life. All I know is that before Jesus my life was a mess. I didn’t like people, I couldn’t stand them, I wanted to hurt them and scare them. But then Jesus came and touched me, and now I am no longer the same.” The same style is illustrated in John 5 with a man who had been born blind. Jesus and the disciples were walking along when they came along a blind beggar probably standing outside a door way to a public place. Jesus mixed some of his spit with the dirt on the ground and placed it on the mans eyes like a salve and said go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam. He did so and went home seeing. People were excited. They were intrigued, they were skeptical. How did this happen they asked. “The man they called Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I did. And now I can see.” These two men simply told their story.
A contemporary might be someone like Joni Erickson Tada who was paralyzed in a swimming accident who now tells people what a difference God is making in her life.
The point being that each one of these people was very different from the others. Each one did the work of an evangelist in a way that was true to who they were illustrating that we too can do the work of an evangelist and share the gift of God with someone in a way that is most natural to who we are.
And let me add, God needs us to do the work of an evangelist in this way because there are people out there who are like you and will need someone like them to share it with them.
You and I can do the work of an evangelist. You and I can lower the hurdle that gets in the way of sharing our gift if we’ll do the work of an evangelist in a way that is congruent with who we are as a person.
I want to ask you to do something today. I want you to affirm some of the basic truths that have unfolded when it comes to sharing the gift.
[S] I believe people need to hear the good news of God in Christ.
I believe people will be most open to hearing that good news this Christmas.
I believe God wants me to do the work of an evangelist.
[S] I believe I can do this work in a way that is true to who I am.
I believe I’m going to share my gift this Christmas.
[S] Next week we’ll unwrap just how we determine who to share that gift with and what to say about it. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised to know that it really is easier than you think.
