Suzanne points us to her Boundless article on evangelism. She writes about an evangelist named Eric. A couple excerpts:
“Very few of us reap,” Eric says. “A lot of us sow. If we’re satisfied with that, it opens up a lot more peace, patience and power because we’re entrusting the person to the Lord.”
It’s helpful to view witnessing as laying a foundation. “I guarantee the person I’m sharing with will meet another believer,” Eric says. “And if he’s had a positive experience with me, he’ll be more open. Don’t ruin it for the next guy.”
Eric told Suzanne a story of befriending a young woman who worked at Starbucks. They had a couple of spiritual conversations and she even came to some Christian gatherings. Later, she quit her Starbucks job and Eric lost touch with her.
Three years later, Eric was now a pastor. The woman went to his church and came up to him. With tears in her eyes, she said, “Someone has told me it takes 85 conversations to get saved. It took 86 for me. Thank you for sharing the gospel with me.”
Suzanne writes:
That experience burned a passion for evangelism in Eric’s heart. “I want to sow the gospel in as many lives as I can,” he says. “You’ll never know until heaven how many of those conversations were No. 27… No. 28 … No. 29. I want in on that.”
4 responses so far ↓
suzanne // Aug 8, 2006 at 12:55 pm
Thanks for mentioning this article on your blog. My conversation with Eric really impacted me; I hope it will do the same for others.
dee // Aug 8, 2006 at 7:54 pm
You’re welcome! I already had one friend who wanted to repost my blog post.
David Burdick // Aug 9, 2006 at 3:06 pm
Oh, how this struck a chord with me!!!!!!
Yes, don’t ruin it for the next guy!!!!!! That should be a statute!
Yes, we sow and few see the fruits. What a principle to follow! I realized it, but it hadn’t been formulated so clearly for me until now. Before I came to Jesus, or rather, He got a hold of me, I kept coming on real strong, impatient that I wouldn’t get that fish in my net and then Jesus would be mad at me. Nobody wants Jesus mad at him! Then I discovered the real Jesus in the Bible, and now conversion is His work. I get to be the servant, the bottom of the totem pole, and its so peaceful down here that I actually enjoy evangelism and talking about Jesus. I understand that the timing is everything, and that if a fish gets away there are other fishers of men out there. Its not a testimony of my evangelistic exploits out in the world that is important, but that the fish eventually get into the net. Its not that I want a new friend so I must work hard to catch a fish, because Jesus is my full-time friend now and that’s really all I need.
What a relief! What a full-time Sabbath!
dee // Aug 9, 2006 at 6:18 pm
Yes, this is a great relief. It takes out the pressure to “convert” someone and makes witnessing more realistic and manageable.
Thanks for your enthusiastic comment. :)
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