Four Ways to Kindle Faithfulness in Personal Evangelism

A student at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, asked me a great question. He said, “Dr. Johnston, what is one thing that has been most helpful to you in maintaining endurance in evangelism?” When Tyler asked me this question, my first thought was, “Have I endured in personal evangelism?” “Am I truly faithful?” Well, I want to be faithful! And in the eyes of Tyler, a 55-year-old professor leading street and door-to-door evangelism is an example of endurance. If this is truly the case, all I can say is “Praise the Lord,” and “To God be the glory!”

So, in keeping with Tyler’s excellent question, my mind has expanded from one thing to four ways that have contributed to my remaining faithful in personal evangelism.

1. Plan It in Your Weekly Schedule

The one most important thing that forces me to remain faithful in evangelism is to plan it in my weekly schedule. More than anything else, planning time for street or door-to-door evangelism in my weekly schedule has been the one thing that has prompted a level of faithfulness in this most challenging spiritual discipline.

When I attended Trinity Evangelical Divinity School my evangelism professor required that we turn in an Evangelism Contact Report each week for ten weeks. At first I resented that requirement. But during that next four years the Lord used that one requirement to transform my entire life in the area of evangelism.

That same fall I began to go out in evangelism weekly with the Wheaton Evangelistic Team. On one of these evenings a student named Henry said, “Tom, let me show you how it’s done.” We crossed the street and began talking to taxi drivers across from the Water Tower Place. It was an amazing time of growth and stretching!

A veil over my eyes was soon lifted. I began to see those I encountered much as described by Jesus, “weary and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt 9:36). These experiences raised my eyes to see as Jesus:

“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” (John 4:35)

Leading a weekly evangelism team has proven the best spiritual discipline to allow me to maintain a heart for the lost.

2. Find a Friend to Join with You

Closely akin to going out in planned weekly evangelism is going with someone else. God gave me a good friend to go out with me in the early years of the Trinity Evangelistic Team. I quickly learned that street evangelism was not an activity that I should be doing alone. Dave and I would head down to the Water Tower place together on Saturday nights for evangelism. After I began recruiting students for the evangelism team, God brought other men to partner with me in street evangelism. Leading evangelism teams has led to a lifetime of building friendships, spending time in prayer, encouraging one another, and sharing the gospel together.

It is no surprise that Christ sent out his disciples two-by-two (Matt 10; Mark 6; or Luke 9, 10). Two are definitely better than one! If you want to remain encouraged in weekly scheduled evangelism, find someone else to go out with you.

3. Regularly Pray by Name for Those You Encounter

It was only after being involved in intentional evangelism that I truly developed a spiritual burden for others. I began to encounter a large number of people with hugely diverse spiritual needs. Time on my knees turned from being inward focused to caring about the spiritual lives of others. I prayed for them by name. I also began to be more earnest in praying for them while I was with them. I cried out to God on their behalf.

I began to add the names of my contacts to a prayer list. Soon that list became too long for me to pray through all the names, so I began a notation system to focus on those who made specific decisions. As this list grew, the paper began to deteriorate from daily use, and my small three-ring binder began to fall apart.

A great lesson of that period of my life came from the long list of names of people I had spoken to about Jesus. The harvest truly is white, as Jesus had said. And the laborers are few.

“But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’” (Matt 9:36-38)

These timeless truths remain wherever we may find ourselves: “the harvest is truly plentiful”! Praying for those we encounter helps us maintain a burden for sharing the gospel with lost souls around us every day.

4. Memorize Verses that Specifically Motivate Obedience in Evangelism

A fourth motivator for me in evangelism was to memorize verses that spur on urgent evangelism. There are numerous verses that describe the four urgencies of evangelism:

• Jesus is coming back quickly!
• The lost are really lost and headed for hell!
• The Christian is accountable for the lost whom he should reach!
• The time is short and the harvest is white!

Each one of these concepts provides powerful incentive to remain active in evangelism, along with the many verses that are related to each of these topics.

There are some verses that provide unusual examples of a the motivation for evangelism:

“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38)

“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to evangelize, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.” (1 Cor 1:17)

“For if I evangelize, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not evangelize! For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship.” (1 Cor 9:16-17)

Further, several verses exemplify the need for diligence in the work of evangelism:

“I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” (John 9:4)

“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.” (Acts 17:16-17)

These and many other verses provide a spiritual incentive to evangelize. Hiding these Scripture in our hearts gives the Holy Spirit tinder for kindling the flame when a cold blanket settles on our soul.

Need to rekindle a heart for the lost and a passion for evangelism? Add evangelism into your weekly calendar; find a friend to join you; begin praying for those you encounter; and memorize soul-winning verses. Soon God will pour His passion for souls into your heart!