What Does Evangelism Mean Today?
We hear the word “evangelism” and think of the guys at the airport
with flowers and sheets, or think of Billy Graham and his television specials.
But what can the average Jane do to evangelize in her own home? I mean, we
take our kids to church, sometimes screaming and kicking all the way
(sometimes it’s actually the kids), and we nudge our husbands when we see
their heads start to bob a little to the left. But how can we really be sure that
it’s enough? Let’s take a look at how the first disciples came to know Jesus.
We go back to the gospel of John again and we turn to Chapter
1:40-42. “Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother was one of the two who heard what
John (the baptist) had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing
Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the
Messiah”(that is the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.”
Pretty simple, huh. But it really is that simple. There really isn’t a sure
fire way to guarantee that someone will get to know the Lord by something
we do. That is God’s work. Let’s look closer at this portion of scripture.
Andrew was already following Jesus when he went to get his brother and take
him along. We can assume that Andrew was a new Christian, on fire for the
Messiah. And we can assume that Peter was also curios to know what
Andrew was talking about when he said he found him. So, just like a brother,
Peter probably wanted to make sure his brother wasn’t going to make a
mistake and follow the wrong guy. Another thing I want to point out is that
instead of going up to a stranger, Andrew found his brother. He went to
family. How is Andrew’s example relevent to us today? We, too, as mothers
and sisters and daughters can go to our family and bring them along with us.
There is another way to bring others along with us to meet Jesus. That
way is through example. We can show God’s redeeming love through how
we treat other people. Sometimes this way can be the easiest for us as
women. It’s seem that everything we do is up for scrutinization by our
children and our spouses. So we can hold fastly to the words of Isaiah 35: 3-4
that says:
“Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to
those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong do not fear; your God will come with
vengence; with divine retribution and He will save you.’”.
