EVANGELIZE OR NOT TO EVANGELIZE
Job 21:14,15 Yet they say to God, “Leave us alone! We know no desire to know your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?”
As in the days of Job there are still multitudes of people that still feel this way today. I don’t think that it is a conscious thought by many, but just the same they do not think about God or want to have time for him in their life.
There are as many different reasons I suppose as people, but there are some reasons that seem very convenient at least while they are still alive on earth. Some people feel that it is impossible to know if there is a God. If here is one how do we know if it is the right one , or if there is only one God? There will always be plenty of excuses for doubt to justify in the mind of the unbeliever not to believe or even want to believe. While there are many good reasons to believe there is a God, it ultimately takes faith. No matter how much evidence there may be it is hard to have 100% proof that makes a case for doubt impossible. Some question if World War II or the Jewish Holocaust ever happened. Some say that President John Kennedy and Elvis Presley never died, and that no one ever walked on the moon. You might think all they need to do is see it on TV or read it in books. They will just point out that anyone can write a book and that doesn’t make it true. People can make things appear on film or TV that are not real at all. For someone that doesn’t want to believe there will always be an excuse or a doubt.
This brings us to the situation for Job and his friends. Job is claiming that his friends do not want to listen to what he has to say, and their minds are so much against his point of view that it is impossible to have a conversation with them. And when we read what Job’s friends say about Job it appears that they think the same about him. It seems that they are so set in their ways that they don’t hear what the others are saying or even at times what they are saying themselves. This in itself is very common.
When people talk they often are thinking about their reply rather than what they should be hearing. This is why often people say they heard someone say things that were never said. One Sunday after church I had a lady tell me that my sermon about the beautiful snow coming down was the most wonderful sermon she had ever heard. I didn’t even mention snow! Maybe we needed stain glass windows in that church! This is one reason why most councilers will spend most of their time listening and taking notes and ask question to the people about what they just said. Sometimes we say things that even we don’t pay attention to. This is why often even denying they said it. Sometimes our brain is going faster than our mouth or the other way around, resulting in saying things we shouldn’t have said or should have said and didn’t.
Even though many pastors make the laity think that everyone is called to be an evangelist and help people become a Christian, this is not really the case. Evangelism is a gift from the Holy Spirit that he give as he chooses to benefit the church. Everyone should be ready to give account for the hope they have (I Peter 3:15), and while this helps plant seeds that can lead to a person becoming a Christian it is not necessarily the calling for that person to become an evangelist. Many pastors have caused a great deal of guilt in the laity by inferring they were letting Jesus down by not winning souls for him.
Sometimes more harm can be done by incorrect evangelism than if they would have just been a good Christian friend that loved and cared for them. If what is said is not in love, respect and under the direction of the Holy Spirit you can almost count on more harm being done than Good News really heard no matter how many verses were quoted.
Jesus said in Matthew 7:6, “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” This would have been good advice for Job’s friends to have followed. Job didn’t want to hear from them or even God. Job had hardened his heart in such a way that he would say the opposite of even what he knew was right. When this happens it is best to no longer try to change their mind, because the problem is not in their mind but their heart! Only the Holy Spirit can help, and he will not even force them. God will always respect a person’s free will, and so should we as Christians. All that is left for us to do is to love and pray for them. To do otherwise we may only harden them further from coming to Jesus.
Prayer: Lord, when people tell us to leave them alone and not to say any more to them about Jesus it hurts us, but we know it hurts you even more. Holy Spirit please help us to be led by you in who we share our love for Jesus with and when to do it. We love you Lord and ask this in Jesus’ name.
