Distractions to Evangelism
It's amazing how quickly time can be lost through social media. One minute, you take a quick break from work to check out a funny meme someone sent you; the next, you find yourself watching a video of a cat juggling chainsaws while riding a unicycle. Several hours later, you're deep into a documentary on the history of self-inflating mattresses. Before you know it, you've wasted an entire day due to distractions.
While the analogy above may sound extreme (although, now I'm curious about the history of self-inflating mattresses), the truth it conveys is relevant: distractions are everywhere.
It's remarkably easy for us to be sidetracked into areas that aren't important, leading to a significant reduction in our focus and productivity. This holds true in our daily working lives, and it's equally applicable to evangelism. When reaching out to the lost, it's crucial to avoid getting distracted by secondary issues; instead, we must prioritize keeping the main thing—the main thing.
I remember an incident from several years ago when a man contacted the ministry I served, inquiring about tracts detailing the end times, with a particular focus on the rapture. He insisted that the most crucial message for people in our society was the specifics of how the rapture would unfold. In response, I tried to gently explain to him that the emphasis should be on the gospel itself, rather than any specific interpretation of the end times. However, he appeared disinterested. He had become entangled in a distraction, which caused the gospel to be overshadowed.
While there are numerous valuable subjects for study and research, it's crucial to remember that in evangelism, we must keep our message on target by focusing upon the simplicity of the gospel.
Now, please hear me carefully. I am not suggesting that other subjects and topics are unimportant; I am not advocating a form of 'evangelism-onlyism.' What I am emphasizing is that as people of the gospel, our focus should be on proclaiming the message that Scripture declares as the ‘most important’ (1 Corinthians 15:3).
While there are many subjects I enjoy studying, unfortunately, at times, these other issues can become quite distracting. When I get bogged down in them, I notice that my evangelistic fervour diminishes. For instance, I find the whole question of textual criticism and the debate over which Bible translation is best to be a fascinating subject. However, often when I delve too deeply into that area, I discover that my emphasis on outreach almost becomes paralyzed as I wrestle over which Bible version to use in witnessing or even in my personal reading.
Another area of study I enjoy is history. Unlike the paralysis that comes from textual criticism, this one often leaves me distracted in the sense that I find myself wanting to spend more time reading and studying this topic. It reaches a point where I'd rather indulge in that than go out to share the gospel. Studying in the comfort of my study with a subject I love is much easier than going out to engage in the challenging task of evangelism.
Numerous areas can distract us from sharing the gospel, so we must be alert to these dangers. Interestingly, some distractions come from tools designed to help us better share the good news. I remember working with a godly brother several years ago who became very passionate about apologetics. Understanding how to defend the faith and provide answers is biblical (1 Peter 3:15), but what occurred was that this brother became so consumed with apologetics that he ended up neglecting the proclamation of the gospel. One night, we had an open-air outreach where this brother stood up to preach. Shortly after his message began, crowds gathered to heckle and ask questions — a common occurrence and often helpful in open-air preaching. Over the next hour, my friend answered questions and dismantled the arguments put forth by unbelievers against the gospel. The crowd was silenced in the face of his robust apologetic assault, but as I listened, I was grieved. In that one hour of preaching, my friend had become so engrossed in apologetics that he forgot to share the gospel. It was a wasted hour, as no evangelism had taken place.
If you're reading this article, I trust that you are interested in sharing the gospel and genuinely want to see people come to know Christ. In light of this, let me encourage you to avoid distractions at all costs. Stick to the simple message of the gospel – proclaim Jesus. Whenever you find yourself drawn into apologetics or other subjects, make sure to engage those topics with an eye on the cross. Always bring it back to the gospel.
In Romans 1:16, the Apostle Paul declares, ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.' Notice, it isn't apologetics, textual criticism, eschatology, history, healings, prophecy, politics, conspiracies, etc., that is the power of God for salvation; it is only the gospel! Avoid distractions and simply proclaim Christ.
If you want to see people saved, we must refocus our attention solely on the gospel. The enemy would be pleased for us to preach anything else other than the gospel; he doesn’t mind if you are correct elsewhere. What he wants is to silence the gospel (Mark 4:15). Avoid distractions in evangelism; instead, keep making much of Jesus.
__________