by Brittney Perkins
Since the time I was a little child, I have always been wired with an extra dose of empathy and a raging demand for justice. Tucked into my memories of being a sibling or a classmate are stories of feeling the pain of others around me as if it was my own.
Over the years, the Lord has refined those qualities and used them in my life to minister the gospel and disciple people through major seasons of suffering. In this blog, I want to share three “nuggets” I have found helpful and fruitful.
The first nugget is to Love Them.
1 Corinthians 13:1-7
One major key to all evangelism is love. If you don’t love the people you are ministering to, it isn’t going to be effective. This does not mean mustering up an inauthentic sentiment and telling ourselves we love them. People will feel more open to letting you into their pain and grief when they realize you genuinely care about them and are not just trying to recite a script to them. As the saying goes, “people don’t want to hear about all that you know until they know that you care.”
Pray for them and depend on the Holy Spirit to equip you and reveal what each person needs. Even if we feel inadequate and confused, whenever we turn our eyes to the Lord, He provides the words, the wisdom, and everything in between.
Jude 21-23 says, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.”
Notice there isn’t just one way mentioned in these verses to minister to people. Care for the person in that moment. Be available and willing to go the extra mile to express your love for them. I remember literally “walking the extra mile” for a young woman I had been ministering to. Joseph was working an overnight shift and at that time we only had one vehicle. It was late and I got a call from this woman in distress feeling like she wanted to end her life that night. I knew she shouldn’t be alone, so I immediately told her, “I am coming for you.” And that is exactly what I did. I got on my sneakers, got my sister so I wouldn’t walk alone and we walked two miles to get my car from Joseph’s job and then drove 45 minutes to pick her up.
The second nugget is to Be Wise.
“Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond.” | Colossians 4:5-6
This is one of my favorite passages pertaining to evangelism, and to summarize it: read the room! This is not a one-size-fits-all approach, it takes discernment to know what each person needs. Be a friend. Some need to be admonished with the truths of Scripture, some need time to vent, and some need emotional support. When ministering to the grieving, I often need to say less and just be there to cry or be strong for them when their world was falling apart. Other times, I have needed to address the “elephant in the room” and talk directly about the sin issues at hand.
1 Peter 3:15 says we ought to “sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and respect.”
The key here is that in all our endeavors of evangelism, we need to do so “with gentleness and respect.” Thankfully, we do not depend on our own wisdom. None of us are super humans and can muster this up on our own. Two of the most freeing aspects in evangelizing are prayer and having an ear to hear the Lord. It is wonderful to remember that we cannot “save people”–that’s God’s job. Instead, we are called to be willing vessels to be used as the hands and feet of Christ. Stay connected to Christ. His Spirit will give you the answers if you are willing to be used.
The final nugget is to Be Patient.
When being used to evangelize to people who are suffering, oftentimes, these are not quick one-time conversations. In these sorts of circumstances, we must be willing to walk with them. We must have friends who are not in the faith. We must also remember that as the body of Christ, we are on a collective mission together. We are not all on separate individual missions where “this” is my ministry and “that” is yours – rather all of us work together to share the good news of Jesus. Jesus does the drawing and the saving and we get to be faithful with our part of that work. Evangelism rarely equals immediate repentance and salvation. It usually encompasses years of plowing and sowing by many different people and through various circumstances. We are all only one small part of the grand work God is doing and if we can scale back our expectations we will see that God is already at work drawing many to Himself.
In the infamous passage from Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus says, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Notice that Jesus tells us to “go” AND “make disciples.” He says “baptize them” AND “teach them.” This passage leads me to believe that our job should continue even beyond a soul coming to faith. We should take an “as you go” approach, meaning, as you go on through life, bring people along with you. Share the good news, pray for salvation, disciple them to know how to follow Christ and allow them to see the gospel lived out in “real time” through your life.
I haven’t always done this perfectly, however, with a commitment to prayer and growth, I have seen the Lord admonish, push, and grow me in these areas as I’ve evangelized to hurting people. I pray this blog encourages you to step out and be a friend to someone new today. Be willing to be used as an “everyday evangelist” and see what God does with those relationships.
Brittney Perkins is a current member and former Children’s Director of Living Hope Church. She and her husband, Joseph, have four children.
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