Evangelism Series: You have GOT to hear this!

Matthew 5:16

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven.”

Where it all started:

Recently, I was writing about our hopes to share the Gospel with the Cambodian people, a group made up of over 98% Buddhists. I was interested to find that this process opened up many questions and even hesitations that I have about sharing my beliefs. In the end, I really enjoyed delving into these questions and I truly felt the Holy Spirit helped me understand evangelizing and witnessing in a fresh way. I was so blessed that I wanted to pass on some of my thoughts. Why, you may ask? Because it turns out that we like to share good things with one another … I invite you to read on!

Consider the following examples in which sharing something we love is an absolutely natural part of life:

Occasionally we all come across a movie or a book that absolutely blows us away. Whether it was inspirational, made us laugh harder than we have in months, or was gushingly romantic (The Notebook ?), one of the first things we tend to do is tell someone about it. Usually before the movie is even over we think of a friend or family member who would enjoy it as much as we did. As soon as the credits roll we text them to say “you have GOT to see this”. The thing I can’t stop telling people about recently is The Chosen! (By the way, if you haven’t watched this yet you are truly missing out!)

Or, consider how videos go viral. You see something on YouTube that you enjoy enough to share on your own Facebook page. You do this simply because you want others to experience the same awesomeness you just witnessed. Others text the video to their friends and family, and co-workers watch it together to brighten their day. Before you know it, a video of grandma singing at a wedding reception is all over the internet simply because people shared it with one another.

How amazing would it be if Jesus were constantly going viral?!

I propose that our desire to tell the world about the incredible treasure we have in our faith and in Jesus should be far more compelling than our desire to share a Tik Tok.

Perhaps rather than focusing on our fears and concerns about evangelization, a better starting place may be to realize all that we are thankful for in our life with Christ and consider who we would naturally like to share this incredible blessing with. Who in our life has simply GOT to hear this?

“Sure, sounds good,” you say, “but this is a complicated issue and there’s more to it than that!” Right you are! So stay tuned for the next installment of our Evangelism Series as we continue to delve into this topic!

St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us!