The Heartbeat of Jesus Ministries

Evangelism: Stepping out of the Boat

by Theron Walz

Some people say that Clear Lake is the best bass fishing lake in the world and having fished there several times, I agree. Situated in a large volcanic valley in Norther California, the lake is known for it’s large bass population and is a mecca of sorts of bass fishermen the country over who want a chance at one of the monsters lurking off it’s banks.

My friend, Pastor Frank, is a prolific bass fisherman who lives near the lake. He has all the tools of the trade, a bass boat, every bait and lure known to man, fish finders, GPS and of course a voracious appetite to get into the fish and catch the big ones. He knows his lake and he knows what the fish will bite or won’t bite at certain times and in certain conditions.

Simply put, Frank is a professor in the school of fish. I mean, he’s not IN the school of fish per se, what I mean is he could teach fish school…You know what I mean!

If only we could all be more like Frank in the Most Important Fishing Tournament Ever!

Yes, I’m talking about spreading the good news of the gospel of Jesus, being “fishers of men”.

Studies have shown that a large majority of Christians go to their grave without ever leading someone else to Jesus.  The implications of that are pretty scary: how could we be so selfish as to keep such a good thing to ourselves?

Most Christians don’t tell others about their faith for the simple reason that it’s just so scary! It’s hard to go up to someone cold turkey and just blab out:

“Hi my name’s Theron and I’m a Christian and did you know you’re going to hell? Yep. Well, turn or burn man. Read this tract that was printed in the 70’s to see how you’re going to hell and how you can… not go to hell. Well nice chattin’ with ya, have a nice day!”

It might seem a bit far fetched, but that’s a lot of people’s assumption of evangelism. Assuming whomever you’re talking to doesn’t sock you in the nose first, let’s assume for a moment that they actually do respond to your turn or burn message.

What if you did “get them saved”?

What are you saving them to? The First Church of Non-hell Goers? Now THAT’S a a really fun church to go to! They’re going to live their entire lives thinking that they bought the perfect insurance plan and now that they’re “saved” they don’t have to worry about eternity anymore.

What a travesty that so many miss out on the true pleasures of walking with Jesus!

I think the first key to evangelism is found in the Bible, when Jesus sent his disciples out on their first evangelistic trip. Let’s read a bit about it:

Mat 10:7-8 …And as you go, proclaim, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is at hand.  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. You have received freely, freely give.

Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about! The first evangelists didn’t waste time in frivolous debates, public relations or second hand accounts of the works of Jesus. They DID the works of Jesus! THEN they preached the gospel to a hungry crowd who was ready to receive because they had been the recipient of this good news in a tangible way.

For too long Christians have been carrying the message, but not the power to back it up.

We preach the Word, but we don’t really believe it. It’s just a way to make us feel better about ourselves by “paying our dues” and then moving on with life. We cast our bait out in the water, but we forget to tie it to our line!

Well I say it’s time to change that. It’s time to figure out where we went wrong and why we don’t have signs and wonders following us like Jesus and the early Christians did.

Maybe it’s simply because we haven’t tried.

My family has begun some new adventures in this area. We’re calling them Holy Spirit adventures. We put ourselves on the edge by asking God to show up in our everyday lives and show us people who need a touch from Him.

It’s simple, we ask, He comes! Anyone can do it. Just ask God to show you someone you can minister life to today. You’ll be surprised at how quickly He answers!

There’s a dying world out there, it’s time we started carrying some life to them and invading the enemy’s domain with the Good News of Jesus.