EVANGELISM HIDDEN BARRIERS
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EVANGELISM HIDDEN BARRIERS
“Discussion Board Forum Thread”
Evangelism is the preaching of the gospel with the intention of exposing God's love
for all mankind through Jesus Christ[1]. Evangelism is one of the greatest things a
believer can exert, especially if we want to make a difference in the lives those
who are lost and sow seeds that has eternal rewards. I have had my own
disappointment evangelistic encounter with an old neighbor and the outcomes were
sad. I didn't share the gospel because I felt I was not prepared for the
antagonistic issues; I never got an opportunity because she died.. There are some
vast ways, Johnnie could have done to set the stage to attain a glorious successful
evangelism experience for Toya and here are a few ways:
Assist Toya in understanding and recognizing her sinful condition and awaken her of
the redemptive plan God has for humanity.
Became more knowledgeable of hidden barriers and approach them with the hand of
God’s love. Not just knowing the evangelism barriers but have a solution that would
grant divine resolution as well.
Welcome Acts 1:8 provisions and its resourceful wisdom to be active during his
evangelism missions. Opening the doors for threefold participation (the Holy
Spirit, you and the unbeliever). Ask questions and listen to the response; I
strongly believe, there are vast ways we can listening such as defensively listening
and listening to the heart of God advancing. Geisler emphasis on a valid point, and
we must not disregard, and he states, “It is the Holy Spirit who helps nonbelievers
to receive (welcome) the things of the Spirit of God, when the natural man cannot (1
Corinthians 2:14). Certainly, the natural man can perceive some truth, but he cannot
receive or approve2 the truth, and therefore he does not welcome it.)[2]”.
I would recommend Johnnie to read some resourceful material would empower him to
have great success with his evangelism outreach missions, and they are:
“Tell Someone: You can share the Good News” and “As It is in Heaven: How Eternity
Brings Focus to What Really Matters” (by Greg Laurie)
“Heaven is Real” (by Todd Burpo)
“Share Jesus without Fear” (by William Frey)
Johnnie could have been open to the Holy Spirit's guidance by asking for divine
participate as he shared the good new gospel with Toya. Jesus tells us with great
clarity in John 14:13-14, ‘… whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do,
that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I
will do it”[3]. I am fully persuaded one of the major mistakes Johnnie made was
trusting in his accomplishments vice allow the Holy Spirit flow freely and through
him as he reconciles Toya to the kingdom of God and the wonderful journey God
ordained for her life. The Holy Spirit desires to have an active role in our
witnessing encounters, however, it’s our job to inquire about his divine
participation.
There are powerful personal lessons I have learned from this “Evangelism Case Study”
and they are: (1) not to assume just because I attend an evangelism training I am
fully ready to take on hard witnessing encounter; (2) understanding and revisit the
hidden barriers in evangelism encounters and get strategic insights from the Holy
Spirit, so I can avoid them; (3) parables are great; however there must be spiritual
balance that reflects the biblical precision; (4) most important I must be absolute
reliance on the Holy Spirit active participation. Greg Laurie shares some wonderful
facts in his book, ‘Tell Someone: You can Share the Good News” and he tells us,
“No, you may not feel qualified, but God is not looking for ability as much as He is
looking for availability. God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the
called”[4].
The role of discernment plays the major part in communicating effectively in winning
the lost to Christ and it will provide wisdom to avoid asking offensive questions
that cause nonbelievers to object receiving Christ as their wonderful savior It
will identify whether the potential new convert has emotional, intellectual or
volitional barriers. Geisler shares some insightful truth on 10 true objections
much use to justify for not moving forward in accepting Christ as their Lord and
Savior; I strongly believe the most common is “How can there be a loving God when
there is so much evil and suffering in the world”.
[1] Evangelism. (2017, September 12). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved
23:16, October 4, 2017, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Evangelism&oldid=800267521
[2] Geisler, D. A., & Geisler, N. (2014). Conversational evangelism: Connecting with
people to share Jesus. Retrieved from http://wsb.to/&lSn0r1u
[3] Zondervan Publishing House (Grand Rapids, Mich.). (2017), John 14:13-14. In the
Holy Bible: New International Version (p. 151).
[4] Laurie, G. (2016). Something Christians & Non-Christians Have in Common. In Tell
someone: You can share the good news (p. 14). Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing
Group.
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