Quiet Chat or Megaphone
And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. Isaiah 12:4 (ESV)
I don’t know about you all, but I function much better in a quiet chat setting especially when I am talking about Jesus—but that’s just me. There are certainly megaphone moments and people openly respond. I think back to the Billy Graham crusades and would call them the mega-amplified moments. He changed millions of lives.
For many of us, it is extremely difficult to talk about spiritual things—but we must. Last week at Bible study, Bobbie made the comment that evangelism begins on our knees. When she first said it, I was going to question her but remained silent. I have had a week to ponder this and I think she’s right. We pray for friends and family to know Jesus, for Him to give us opportunities to share (then we chicken out).
Maybe there are a couple kinds of evangelism. One would be urgent care and the other might be rehabilitation. The soul that has recently been wounded, battered and bruised; this traumatized person needs urgent care. You must get their attention.
Then there are those who kind of know who Jesus is, but they still need some TLC and long-term rehab care. These seekers respond to a quiet chat. They do want to hear what Jesus has done for us; they want to test the waters by holding our hand. But they jump back from the John the Baptist’s in-your- face kind of care.
How does one know which to use and when? The demographics and situations dictate approach. A horrific, mass murder of innocent children is not the time to put on your camel-hair loin cloth and offer to share your locusts and honey. In fact, no words need be spoken; just be there.
Please don’t confuse pastoral care with evangelism. We are all asked to give an account of God’s work in our lives, but when lives are taken without warning, by thoughtlessness of others, or even a terminal illness, we find ourselves at a loss for words. That’s when the pastoral rehab team comes in to help.
We are blessed every single day, but no one will ever know unless we talk about it.
Heavenly Father, we thank You for all the blessings You pour out upon us. Help us joyfully share with others whenever and wherever we are. AMEN.