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The Commentary

Encouragement for the disappointed evangelist

One of the highlights of this year has been participating in the A Passion for Life outreach which was held by churches across the country over the Easter period; hard work brought great meetings.

At Chertsey Street in Guildford we had a bit of a miracle meeting, with Rico Tice using a sports theme to introduce the gospel. It was a curry night which attracted 150 men. The minor miracle was that that evening all the surrounding streets were in darkness, suffering a local power cut, but, for some reason we have not yet fathomed, the church had electricity. It was quite a talking point as men arrived out of the darkness wondering why we alone had light and power. It was an excellent event. Our main evangelist Nick Howard also spoke wonderfully well on numerous occasions especially with the church packed with members and friends on Easter morning.

But for all that, at first glance, the results seemed pretty meagre. One man came to Christ and a woman, of whose spiritual state we are unsure, returned to attending church. Some of us were hoping for more and found ourselves rather disappointed.

How to respond

How do we react to being disappointed evangelists? The blame game is not a good idea. We should remember that even the Lord Jesus was a disappointed evangelist. In the Gospels we find him pronouncing ‘Woe’ on the towns of Korazin and Bethsaida, saying, ‘If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago’ (Matthew 11.21). If Christ, the perfect soul-winner, felt frustrated by the hardness and perversity of the human heart, then we must not be too quick to blame ourselves or others. Even his miracles did not convince them.

In response to this disappointment Jesus did three things.

First, with sorrow he warned those who had failed to repent, ‘It will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you’ (Matthew 11.24).

Second, he recalled God’s sovereignty in salvation. He prayed, ‘I praise you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure’ (Matthew 11.25,26).

And, thirdly, Jesus did not give up, but carried on evangelising, beckoning sinners to himself. ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me… and you will find rest for your souls’ (Matthew 11.28,29). Jesus didn’t give up on outreach and, as we return from holiday to a new autumn term, nor should we.

Long term

When immediate results in our evangelism are small or non-existent we might comfort ourselves with the thought that seed sown now might take time to come to fruition. Perhaps, although we have been disappointed in the short term, our efforts will, under God, bring results in the long run. This is not a cop out. This is really true. Just this last week (as I write), one of the women in our congregation had precisely that encouragement.

Here is the note which went around on the church prayer wheel: ‘Cathy had a call this week from a former work colleague, Diane, who she has not met for ten years, who has just become a Christian. She said Cathy was instrumental in her conversion. What an encouragement when we think of all the seed sown in our A Passion for Life outreach’!

John Benton