When you hear the word evangelism, what do you think? If you are like me, you may think of conversations that someone like Ray Comfort has with people on the street. The next thought likely is something like, I totally admire Ray for doing this, but I’m not sure I could do this myself. In fact the thought of going on the street and preaching may give you feelings of anxiety and dread. 

While I do admire people like Ray Comfort for being brave and doing the things he does, I am not Ray Comfort. To be honest I was describing myself above. Going out on the streets and telling people about Jesus is not something I feel like I could do very well. There have been a handful of times when I felt led to give a message to a stranger. However, as of now that is few and far between. 

What Did Jesus Say

Still, we are called to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ (‭ESV)‬‬ 

If you read the Gospel of Mark, he expands on what this looks like. He says, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭16‬:‭17‬-‭18‬ ‭(ESV‬‬) 

This Command Is For Everyone

These verses tell us that every single person who follows Jesus is to do these things. This means we are supposed to go out into the whole world and make disciples. We are supposed to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We are to remember Jesus is with us at all times. Furthermore, we are supposed to cast out demons, speak in new tongues, lay our hands on the sick and see them recover. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t done those things a ton in my life. I’ve been a part of praying for healing and deliverance and seen people become free and healed. However, this is far from my daily life. 

I do recognize I skipped the part about picking up serpents and drinking deadly poison and not being hurt. I believe this can be literal or figurative. This does not mean we purposefully go pick up snakes and drink poison because the Bible says it won’t hurt us. What it does mean is if we come into contact with these things, they will become powerless under the authority and blood of Jesus. Think of the story in Acts when Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake and nothing happened to him (Acts 28:1-10). 

What Does It Mean To Make Disciples

Back to the making disciples of all the nations. What does that mean? How does this allow us to think of evangelism differently than going out into the street and preaching? 

Notice it says to make disciples, not just get people saved. While salvation is the first and most important step in this process, it is not the end. It is only the beginning of a lifelong journey that needs more mature Christians to teach what it means to be a follower of Jesus. These new babies in the faith need someone to teach them things like how to read their Bible (even how to look things up in the Bible), how to pray, how to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, and on and on it goes. How are these new Christians going to know how to be a follower of Jesus if all we do is go out into the streets and tell them about him and then leave them to figure it out on their own?

Do What Jesus Did 

Think about what Jesus did with his disciples. He took them under his leadership to teach them about the Kingdom of God, show them how to pray, and teach them to have faith in the Father. Jesus walked with these guys in good times and bad times. He explained important truths to them, and when they still didn’t get it, he tried another way of teaching them the lessons he had for them. Jesus lived a life showing what it is like to be completely connected to God the Father and the Holy Spirit. He demonstrated a life filled with prayer, faith, and signs and wonders. 

Then he expected these same guys to go out and do what they were taught. They were to tell others about the Kingdom of God, show others how to have faith, and even do signs and wonders. 

We Are To Do The Same

Likewise, this is how we execute on the Great Commission. We learn how to have faith and what it means to serve God and be his child. Then we go out and teach those lessons to others. We build relationships with other believers. We walk with them in the good times and the hard times. 

The amazing part is while we may start out knowing more about the Christian life, over time those we disciple will start to teach us. We must be willing to learn from them too! Over time it will become a back and forth of each of you learning something new and teaching the other these lessons. I know I have friends who I’ve spent time encouraging and discipling only to have them learn new things and teach me. I treasure these relationships and work to maintain them. 

Living A Life Evangelizing 

What about evangelism? Don’t we need to go out and preach the Gospel to others? Absolutely! Still, I don’t think that going out and trying to be Ray Comfort when that is totally out of your wheelhouse is necessary. Here is where the thinking about evangelism differently comes to play. What if we simply lived a life that exemplified Jesus to those we come into contact with? What would happen if our words were flavored with the Word of God? How about we react to situations like Jesus would? 

There is a saying that actions speak louder than words. What if we applied this idea to our daily life and acted like Jesus would in any given situation. 

Then when that guy cuts us off in traffic, we would be praying blessings and safety for him instead of curses and anger. When we are at the checkout line, we can encourage that tired cashier instead of just ignoring them and making them feel unseen and not valued. When we are at work and a coworker says something unkind, we can silently pray for them and respond with kindness, even if they don’t deserve kindness at that moment. 

How much more of a testimony would it be to the world if we actually practiced what we preach? You might just be surprised to find people attracted to you and asking why you react to situations the way you do. Then you will be free to tell them how you are only able to react the way you do because of Jesus and the work he has done in your life. You will be evangelizing and not even have to go out into the streets and be a street preacher! 

The Power Of Testimony 

Let’s not forget the power of testimonies. What is a testimony? It is simply a story of something good that happened in your life as a result of an external stimulus. Companies use testimonies all the time. You’ve given testimonies plenty of times. Think about that one product you bought that changed your life for the better. Did you go tell all your friends about it and insist they go out and buy it too? That my friend is giving a testimony. 

We can do the same when it comes to telling others about who Jesus is. What has Jesus done for you lately? How has he provided for you? When has he shown up for you in a big way? What new lessons have you learned from him lately? Is there something he has shown you while you were reading the Bible or praying that you never noticed or thought about before? 

You can use the questions above to springboard you into ideas of the testimonies you have already. Perhaps you may not have even thought about before. Go tell these stories to your friends, family, and anyone else who the Lord highlights. If they are already believers, these stories will encourage them in their walk with Jesus. They will start to think about what stories they have to share about how Jesus has worked in their life. If they are yet to be Christians, they will become intrigued. They may start to ponder the stories you tell, and who knows but these stories will lead them into a relationship with Jesus! 

Believing For Jesus To Do Signs From Mark

If you recall, the passage in Mark says, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭16‬:‭17‬-‭18‬ ‭(ESV‬‬) 

What happens if we try to do these things and we don’t immediately see results? What then? Brett and I have been on a journey over the past five years to see God do these things in our lives and the lives of those we come in contact with. We have seen some results, but we haven’t gotten to the point of always seeing results every single time we pray like Jesus did. 

Brett and I have decided to keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking. We have adopted Matthew 7:7 as our verse when it comes to seeing God do these signs in our day and time. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭7‬ ‭(ESV)‬‬ 

We refuse to give up on the idea that God will do and still does these works. We continue to seek God for answers as to why we didn’t see immediate results. Brett and I keep knocking on the door, knowing God will open the door to these answers in his timing. Above all, we just keep believing that all God has said in his Word is true and valid for today.  

Action Steps

What now? Now we get to work on thinking about what testimonies we have. We ask the Lord to give us opportunities to share these testimonies. We pray for boldness to speak up when given these opportunities. Trusting that the Lord will do the work of salvation and growth, we share his love with those he places in our lives. We do exactly what Matthew 7:7 says to do and keep asking, seeking, and knocking, knowing God will answer our prayers. You can do these things because you have the power of the Holy Spirit living inside you. Now, let’s all go out and evangelize the world with both our words and deeds!