Are You a Witness or a Wimp?

The persecution that we see as Christians in America is nothing compared to what we see in other countries, the persecution against our beloved apostles and early church fathers who have pleaded for sinners to repent and pleaded for the lost to look upon Christ. We recently had the opportunity to evangelize at a local community event and what surprised me the most is the amount of backlash I got for sharing the Gospel. The surprise wasn’t the amount of backlash but the lack thereof. The largest amount of backlash was a roll of the eyes or a “no thank you.” First thought for any Christian when they hear this is probably, “Well how did you evangelize? Did you talk about sin? Did you talk about hell? Did you bring humility to the proud and grace to the humble?” The answers to all these questions is an emphatic “YES!” The fact is that most that I talked to didn’t even know what God had done for them to replace His wrath upon their sin. They didn’t know what “repent” meant. They thought they were saved because they went to church or were baptized as an infant. When they heard what the Saviour did on the cross they were astonished and wanted to know more. I spoke to one middle aged woman who exclaimed that she had never spoken to a Christian!

What is our problem? We have people ready and wanting to hear and yet we sit down at night watching our T.V. or getting together with friends on the weekends talking and learning more about doctrine and theology and doing nothing with it. Who cares how much I know about the early church, the doctrines of Grace, or apologetics if I sit at home and just “pray” for the lost. I am not saying prayer isn’t important, for it is vital to God’s plan, but most cop out with prayer instead of action. Did Philip pray when the angel came and told him the following:

But an angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza: the same is desert.
Acts 8:26

The Scriptures don’t tell us he did, it just says that “He arose and went.” We have a country that allows free speech and yet we won’t even tell people about our Saviour who died on the cross while we were still in our sin, while we were spitting in His face, while we were giving Him vinegar instead of water, even though in return, He offers these same sinners the water which will forever quench their thirst.

Most will say, “I don’t know enough to share my faith, or I am too scared” Look at these two Scriptures and know you and I are without excuse:

And I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
1 Cor 2:1-5

For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline. Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of God;
2 Tim 1:7-8

Do you believe in the power of the Spirit? Do you believe in the power of God’s word? Do you even care that people all around you are dying and going to hell? Do you want to watch those who are your friends and family burn and watch the worm eat them? I would hope the answer would be “NO.” Look at what will happen at the end of the age:

And they shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations for an oblation unto Jehovah, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith Jehovah, as the children of Israel bring their oblation in a clean vessel into the house of Jehovah. And of them also will I take for priests (and) for Levites, saith Jehovah. For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Jehovah. And they shall go forth, and look upon the dead bodies of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
Isa 66:20-24

I don’t know exactly what will happen at the end of our age but it seems as though there will be a time where we watch the unregenerate burn and watch the worm eat at their dead bodies. Next time you say you don’t know what to say or that you are too scared think of watching that loved one burn as they look into your eyes and ask you, “Why didn’t you share Christ crucified?”