Note: This is an excerpt from Answer the Call: Be Bold Evangelism Workbook. For more information about the workbook and app, click here.
MYTH: I don’t have the personality to evangelize.
TRUTH: God wouldn’t give a person a personality that hinders His assignment or plan for their life.
MYTH: I’m shy and not bold enough to evangelize.
TRUTH: God has not given believers the spirit of fear. The righteous are as bold as lions.
MYTH: It’s my pastor’s or minister’s responsibility.
TRUTH: God has given every believer the ministry of reconciliation and has committed unto every believer the word of reconciliation.
MYTH: I do community work, so I’m evangelizing.
TRUTH: Community work is important and has its place in expressing the love of God to people. Community work should not replace witnessing; it should complement it!
MYTH: I serve in my church; I don’t need to evangelize.
TRUTH: Every believer should serve in their local church, and every believer
should also obey God’s command to evangelize and share Christ.
MYTH: I invite people to church.
TRUTH: Inviting people to church is great; however, it does not fulfill the command to evangelize.
MYTH: I pray for people to get saved.
TRUTH: Praying is great. It softens hearts to receive from God and makes believers more sensitive to God’s voice, but it doesn’t replace the command to evangelize.
MYTH: I pass out tracts.
TRUTH: Providing people with more information while evangelizing is great. However, distributing tracts without evangelizing hinders the believer from allowing God to utilize them as a mouthpiece. (The exception to this would be if a person was not at liberty to engage in personal conversations, such as while working on their company’s time.)
MYTH: My life is a witness for Christ.
TRUTH: Every believer’s life should be a witness for Christ. When a believer’s attitude is that their life is a witness for Christ, then that believer should be more compelled to evangelize, due to his or her closeness and walk with God. After all, Jesus’ life on Earth was an example. Although Jesus was sinless, God still saw the need for Him to evangelize His message.
MYTH: I’m waiting for the Holy Spirit to lead me.
TRUTH: Evangelism is a command; like walking in love with people
is a command. Most believers don’t wait for the Holy Spirit to tell them to walk in love with a person, because walking in love is a known command that believers strive to adhere to. Evangelism is a command, too. Believers must renew their minds to embrace and obey this command.
MYTH: I’m not a “people person.”
TRUTH: People have different dispositions; however, that does not negate God’s command to evangelize.
MYTH: People don’t want to hear the Gospel.
TRUTH: There will always be people who are not open to hear the Gospel
message. That should not hinder believers from actively sharing the Gospel of Christ because it is the power of God unto salvation.
Believers can no longer allow the above-mentioned myths to stop them from evangelizing. God gave Jesus a message to proclaim while He lived on the Earth, and God has given believers a message to proclaim while they live on the Earth also. Jesus and believers have been given the same message and spiritual equipment. The only missing ingredient is the same obedience.
Be encouraged. Jesus said in John 14:12: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”
“As members of the Body of Christ, we have been enlisted and
supernaturally empowered to work with Jesus and to finish His work on the Earth.
Let’s not put Jesus in an unemployment line because we are not doing the work!”
—Evangelist Marie Diggs
Want to learn more about the call to evangelism? Check out the Answer the Call: Be Bold Evangelism Workbook and the Be Bold App. For more information about the workbook and app, click here.