7 Excuses Why Christians Do not Evangelize
In my previous article I listed 7 Reasons A Christian Should Evangelize. In doing so I hope you have convince about the need to evangelize.
But whether we like it or not, there are still few who do not evangelize even though they understand what it is to engage in evangelism. And it is a surprise to find out their reasons or excuses for not evangelizing.
So here are 7 excuses why Christians do not evangelize:
1. I do not know How.
I grew up in a church where quantity had remained the same for over many years. There was not a single Sunday I became excited to going to church to see new faces, to meet new friends and to have new brother or sister in Christ to join in celebrating God’s goodness. Sound terrible right?
But the saddest part is there was single year I was taught about the value of evangelism and how to do it.
I still remember that time that I and some of the youth and elders climbed up to the mountains in Pampanga to reach out Aetas in that community. Honestly, I do not what I’m supposed to contribute in going with the team. I enjoy the bond with the Aetas and sharing food with them. But I noticed something strange in doing this mission. Not a single member of the team except the Pastor had shared about the grace of God. And me together with the Aetas are listening about that heartbreaking message. But still I and the other part of the team do not do evangelism.
The reason? We do not know how. We have not been taught. We have not been trained.
Even if I go to such a mission and the only thing I do is to listen, that means I am just contributing little to the advancement of the Kingdom of God. Why? Because I do not know how.
2. It is not my gift.
I saw a lot of Christians who are wanting to be part of the leadership in the church; members who want to be part of Praise and Worship Team and the other thing but whenever they are asked to evangelism they are going to say, “I do not have that gift and yet there is someone better than me: someone who is more confident than me! I think God doesn’t call me for that but still I am serving God through another ministry.”
Every believer is called for witnessing and evangelism. If the church had offered training and teaching about evangelism and yet upon knowing its principles you are not up to witnessing then you as a Christian who is just full of excuses.
A famous Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon once said, “Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you’re not saved yourself, be sure of that!”
3. I witness by my life.
“You are the only Bible some unbelievers will ever read!” said John MacArthur and Pastor John is sure with that. It is always a right and noble thing to live pleasing in the sight of men. God doesn’t condemn that. However, it is condemning to always say, “I do not have to say it, I just have to prove it!” never will be our lives can save others, it is always the gospel of Jesus Christ which we proclaim can save a lost. As Apostle Paul said in Romans 1:16,”For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God for salvation.” You read it right. The gospel is the power of God for salvation not your testimony though your testimony can be attracting to make someone curious about the faith you possess.
4. It is the Pastor’s job.
Have you come to a church in which a Pastor is a superstar or a superhero? In a church wherein he is doing everything? He is doing visitations, exhortation, Bible Studies, a member of Music team, preparing sermons and all the others stuff? What do you think the problem with that if there are some?
Maybe. After one year, your Pastor would be in your prayer items and you are praying for his health.
May all the Christians come to understand that to share the gospel or to witness is given to all the believers whether male or female; child or adult, meaning everyone. It is not just a Pastor’s job, it is for everyone.
Matthew 28:18-20 says,
“’And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “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 of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen (NKJV).
5. Fear of failure or rejection.
Everyone doesn’t want to rejected and human being commonly fear failure. We always over think others disapproval: our family, neighbor, friends and whosoever. And by thinking how they are going to respond would make us silence.
I will never forget the first few months of my Pastoral ministry in a local church in Pampanga. I came to a place where the only people I know are the members of that Local Church. God had impressed me to go out of the streets and proclaim the good news. After praying for that for days and weeks the Lord grant me confidence to witness for His son Jesus. I started to look for a person to evangelize. So I started the conversation asking the old man I met with this statement, “Sir, Can I share to you the gospel?” Surprisingly, the old man responded and said, “Child, I am a Christian!” and I am so glad.
I went to the next street and met to people in a hut: an old man and a youth. So, again I asked for their approval and I started to converse with them about the gospel. Along the way of our conversation, the old man started to argue with me. I do not know what he’s church affiliation but observing his statements I found he doesn’t agree about Jesus to be the way to heaven and he doesn’t want to believe heaven. So I made a graceful exit and thank him for their time to I failed.
I was so discouraged that God called me to be rejected on that place. I decided to go back to church and rest but as I walked back to church I saw a family sitting at the front of their house so I greet them and asked if I can share the gospel with them. Gladly, unlike the old man I just men these people are different, so accepted the message without any doubt.
In sharing the gospel, not all who will come to you or not anyone you will approach will accept the message but let me remind you. God doesn’t call you to convert them; it is His work through the Holy Spirit. Your job is to proclaim the invitation, whether they will accept or not. Remember the story in the Bible where there was a feast and all of the invited didn’t come because of their excuses? It is still happening today.
6. Unconfessed sin.
Another thing that hinders us is our secret or unconfessed sin. Though we have the impression from God to evangelize yet we are not doing because we are seeing our unworthiness. It is still sin that make us handicap to serve God. So look about the grace of God for you. He tells us in 1 John 1:9,”If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us.”
7. I do not have time.
Our time is the busiest time ever. There are a lot of things that consumes us: our job, a lot of time browsing the internet, social media, sadly there’s a lot of Christians who spend most of their time inside the four corner of the church and do not do evangelism. So what would be our excuses? Having no time is always an invalid reason. God is watching over you 24/7. You can’t even say you do not have time because you can share your faith with everyone you meet in the office, in the school, in a computer shop. Anywhere you can share the gospel.
Paul Washer said, “If you want revival, then turn off you T.V.” Paul Washer wished to live in a time when there was no malls, no Televisions. He wants to live to a place where nothing can distract his loyal obedience to the calling of God.
But that would never happen again. Our time will test our Prioritizing the Advancement of God’s Kingdom.
May all Christians become goers and a disciplemakers.
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