Psalm 66:5 Come and see what God has done,
how awesome his works on man’s behalf!

This is the essence of testimony, and thus, of evangelism. As long as we are trying to convince someone intellectually of the Gospel, the best we will get is intellectual agreement, which is not saving faith. Jesus didn’t say, “You will be debaters,” he said, “You will be my witnesses.” (Acts 1:8) Some people are gifted in apologetics or polemics, and those forms of argument have their place, but they are not, at their root, evangelism. We’ve got to start on the basis of what God has done, and specifically, what He has done for us personally. Some people are afraid or embarrassed to let people know that they themselves needed salvation. That’s a deception of the devil! The devil wants us to focus on our imperfections and so “disqualify” ourselves from witnessing, because he knows there is no more powerful tool to liberate people from his clutches than the simple testimony, “This is what God did for me.” We do need to be able to explain that Jesus died for all mankind, but beyond that, theology tends to get in the way of evangelism more than it helps. That’s not to say that theology isn’t important; it’s very important just what we believe. However, if we lead with theology, so to speak, we aren’t likely to get very far in bringing people to repentance and faith.

Frankly, this is a real issue for me, particularly ministering in Japan. Because I was raised in a strongly Christian home, I was never in the level of darkness that binds most of the people I deal with. I never had to deal with the issue of the Shinto god shelf or the Buddhist altar in my home, for example. Thus, in evangelism I’m largely limited to talking about what the Bible says, and since my average hearer has never even held a Bible, that’s hard for them to relate to. However, people do notice how God blesses me, and when that happens, I’ve got to talk about it as this verse says. It’s not ideal, but it’s practical reality that everyone tends to look at things from the standpoint of, “What’s in it for me?” When people notice how I am blessed, I must be sure to give God the glory and tell them that He loves them as much as He loves me, so His grace is equally available to them. Right now we are experiencing some fairly remarkable blessings as a church. We’ve got to keep our focus on the reality that this is something God is doing, not that we have done or earned. We need to do that to protect ourselves from pride and also to draw others into the Kingdom, which is God’s purpose for it in the first place.

Father, thank You for this pointed Word. Thank You for all You enabled us to get done yesterday, and all that You will enable us to get done today. I continue to pray that everything will go smoothly the next two days, with many people coming to the bazaar and a lot of stuff being sold, but most especially, a lot of people being drawn to You and Your Church. Japanese today are skittish of “religion.” Help us share Your love with them in ways they can recognize and receive it, so that they too may receive Your greatest gift of salvation. Thank You. Hallelujah!