#32 Evangelism Encounter
Is the Great Commission Evangelistic?
Previously, in my Christian walk, I had never shared the Gospel with a stranger. I had plenty of experience talking about Jesus with my friends, family, and peers, but the thought of approaching someone I did not know and sharing Jesus with them often left my stomach in knots. This assignment has helped tremendously to show that evangelism does not have to be scary. However, I am still asking myself the question: “does the Great Commission necessitate evangelism, or are evangelism and discipleship, the topic of the Great Commission, two different things?” I believe that the two tasks are connected in a way, but my impression is that discipleship is a voluntary relationship between two Christian parties. Therefore, evangelism proceeds discipleship. This is why part of me believes that evangelism with strangers from another culture is not part of the Great Commission. Even if I share the Gospel and it is accepted, cultural barriers still hinder me from truly discipling the new Christian. Missions, of course, are concerned with engulfing yourself in this new culture to reach a select few who have a better opportunity to share the Good news with the community. This task mitigates cultural barriers. My evangelistic endeavor with Samad Hashmi, a good friend of mine and a fellow classmate, demonstrates that.
Samad works at a halaal market that serves many Muslims and different people groups from around the world. He often evangelizes to customers as he checks out their items at the cashier. Samad invited me to his store to see evangelism in action, learn from him, and participate myself.
The encounter that I would like to share is brief. A man approached the counter, and Samad asked if he was a Christian. This question is not always appropriate when starting the conversation as it can be interpreted as an aggressive introduction. However, Samad knew that this man was from Sudan, a Christian country, and realized that the question would be appropriate. The man said that he was a Muslim, so we asked if he had ever heard the Gospel before. After he said no, I told him that the prophet Jesus was really more than a prophet. He is God in the flesh. He came down from heaven to teach us to live the perfect life, to die in our place, and to rise from the dead three days later. I explained that by believing in Jesus and His work, we have a right relationship with God and get to worship Him forever in heaven. Samad added that if we do not believe in Jesus, not even good works can save us from hell. We told the man that we would like nothing more than to worship alongside him in eternity and offered Jesus to Him and a card with a link to the Bible in Arabic, the man's language. He responded that he would go home, read, and think about it.
We ended up talking to a few more people as well, and I pray that at least some seeds were planted. I hope that God will use our labor for His glory and save the people that we talked to. I believe I was faithful in participating in the task of evangelizing strangers. Yet, I still believe that Samad is more suited to evangelize to those people as He is more experienced with their culture and languages. I believe my work is better suited for the people of my culture and language. However, I would like to one day learn of another culture, go to them, learn from them, and share the Gospel with their leaders in the community for a church to be planted and the Gospel of Jesus to be known. In the meantime, I am content with the Lord using me where I am to share the good news with the people around me. I pray that the Lord will use me where I am and prepare me to take the Gospel overseas eventually.
