See – Share – Invite
Three simple actions that are the essence of evangelism. Real evangelism is simply seeing what God is doing in our lives, sharing that with others, and inviting them to come and see for themselves. Simple. So why do we find it so hard to think of ourselves as evangelists? Why are we so afraid of spreading the Good News to others?
Maybe it scares us because we don’t see or pay attention to God at work in our lives. Think about that for a moment. How have you experienced Christ? How have you seen God working in you, in your life, or in the church? How has your life changed since you met Jesus? And if you don’t see God at work, why not?
In order to see God at work among us, we have to be looking for Him. As John the Baptist’s disciples began following Jesus, his first words to them were “What are you looking for?” They’d seen Jesus, thanks to John, but Jesus’ question must have brought them up short. What were they looking for? What did they really want to find?
Jesus asks the same question when he receives messengers from the imprisoned John who ask, “Are you the One? Or should we look for another?” Jesus sends the messengers back to John with the words, “Go tell John what you see and hear. The blind see, the lame walk, and the poor have good news preached to them.” Later Jesus goes on to ask the crowd that has gathered to listen to Him, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? A prophet?” In other words, “What are you looking for?” So, what are you looking for, and how do you see God working in and around you?
To see God working in us, we need to know what we’re looking for and where to look. Maybe we’re looking in all the wrong places. Noticing all the wrong things. We can miss the Kingdom of God if we don’t keep our focus on Jesus Himself. Like John who called attention to the approaching Lamb of God, we need to see Him, and call attention to Him.
But first we need to know what we’re looking for. Are you looking for grace and forgiveness? Are you looking for eternal life? Are you looking for an abiding and deep connection with the God who created you simply because He loves you?
If that’s you, let me invite you to know the Word who became flesh, and to rest assured that Jesus loves you so much that He died for you so that you could have eternal life. Let me invite you to come and see Jesus. And when you do, I hope that like those disciples you’ll be inspired to share what you’ve seen and invite others to know Him too.
See. Share. Invite. Evangelism. That’s all it takes.