4. Do not sacrifice truth for unity. Jesus Christ is controversial. Understand that and embrace it. Do not try to avoid the issue. He is the only way to the Father so it is impossible to truly witness to somebody without talking about Jesus. The world hates Jesus and they’ll hate you you too. It’s one of our precious promises from the Lord himself (John 15:18-21). Building relationships is important, but it should never come at the expense of the truth. Don’t be afraid to tell people that you believe in the Trinity, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died on the cross for our sins, and that He arose from the grave. The problem that most believers have is that they don’t know enough Bible to explain why they believe these core doctrines. The only way to teach the truth is to study and know the truth. Saturate yourself with the Word of God.
5. Don’t trust in yourself to produce results. This is not a license to be lazy. We should work hard at whatever we do and be persistent (1 Cor. 15:10). However, do not think that your intelligence, eloquence, reasoning ability, or ministry methods actually produce the results. Draw close to the Lord and love Jesus Christ more than your ministry, more than your family, more than the people you are trying to reach, and more than your own life. We plant, and we water, but the Lord gives the increase (1 Cor. 3:6-8).
6. Don’t dwell on negative thoughts. We usually lose the battle on this front. Prejudice, fear, and bitterness ruin us from within, and it’s most difficult to deal with because no one else sees what’s going on most of the time. We are not crusaders; we are messengers of good news to those who are without hope. “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8).
7. Don’t give up (2 Corinthians 4). Remember why we preach the gospel. It is about glorifying the name of our Lord who alone is worthy to receive all glory, honor, and power (Revelation 4:11). We need to control our thought life and remember this is neither about us nor those to whom we are preaching.
We must know and understand our purpose and God’s power.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing 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 was not with enticing words of man’s 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.”
Our Objective: “To preach Jesus Christ and him crucified.” There is no other message.
We don’t have to be great orators, have a PHD, or possess some mystifying talent. God uses the weak things of this world to confound the mighty (1 Cor. 1:27) and chose the “foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1 Cor. 1:21).
The Lord will bring the increase. Just keep lifting Him up (John 12:32).
(for more about world evangelism check out bcwe.org)
March 9th, 2011 at 5:42 pm
enjoy your write up helpful in preparing to minister in a mission conference
June 2nd, 2011 at 5:28 pm
Thank you! I have already been implementing these truths in my wittnessing to Mohammad. He is a muslim that I have been in contact with for half a year. Please be in prayer that the Lord will remove the sinnhul vail that covers his eyes from seeing the truth.
A Friend in Christ
~Kristy Miller