Last week, we had so many testimonies from team members. So many lives were touched as our team faithfully proclaimed the law and the gospel and lovingly called folks to repentance and faith in the Lord. As we "debriefed" and prayed at the end of our time together, standing near the water on a grand summer evening, there was a sense among all of great satisfaction. We had, by God's grace, participated in the greatest mission of all--the mission of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many lives were impacted. Many sincerely listened to the truth that they so desperately need.


I am continually reminded, and I continually want to remind you of what SUCCESS is in this great mission. Unfortunately many are discouraged because of misunderstanding this point. Our success is in faithfully and lovingly declaring the truth of the gospel. As soon as a Christian takes on a result-oriented view of success in evangelism (i.e. "How many did we get to 'say the prayer' tonight?"), a misguided approach to evangelism sets in. Let the words of J.I. Packer speak to this issue: "But the way to tell whether in fact you are evangelizing is not to ask whether conversions are known to have resulted from your witness. It is to ask whether you are faithfully making known the gospel message."

So, just how do you know if you have been successful when you witness to someone?  Years ago, I lived under a horrible bondage.  It seemed that the message I got from other Christians was that success equalled conversion (or at least the person praying the sinner's prayer).  The results of such thinking are just devastating.  First, it puts so much pressure on the Christian to think about his witnessing encounters in terms of the necessity of "closing the deal."  Consequently, he is always preoccupied with trying to steer the conversation to the point where he can ask the unsaved person if he wants to pray to be saved right then and there.  Depending on the Christian's personality, this can lead (in the case of the "salesman" type of personality) to lots of "decisions," often, in fact, false conversions.  Or it can lead to many "failures" in the case of the rest of us who don't seem to be able to turn on the charm and persuasiveness.  Do you find yourself in this kind of evangelism rut?  If so, there's some great news for you. 

In witnessing, there are two job descriptions: proclaiming the glorious gospel (ours) and converting the soul (God's).  Here's the reality:  We can't do God's and God won't do ours.  So, be free, Christian soldier, to go forth sowing gospel seeds to the glory of God.  You sow the seed and trust God to give the growth.

J.I. Packer puts it this way.  "But the way to tell whether in fact you are evangelizing is not to ask whether conversions are known to have resulted from your witness. It is to ask whether you are faithfully making know the gospel message."