The Biggest Barrier to Overcome in Evangelism

You may be surprised, but after training over a thousand Christians from across the country, I believe the biggest obstacle to overcome for many faithful members is guilt.

Faithful members know about the great commission. Their pastors have talked about the importance of evangelism. They are familiar with the importance of inviting and talking to their friends and neighbors about Jesus. They love hearing about missionaries and missions, they pray for them, and they regularly support them with offerings, but quickly default from participating themselves. They have had minimal personal experience in verbally proclaiming the gospel to others and this brings them guilt.

I know this is true by the number of people who come up to me and confess their feelings of guilt about not doing evangelism and not sharing their faith with others.

Guilt has no place in evangelism!

Guilt does not motivate us to proclaim the gospel, because God is not going to love us less if we don’t participate – nor love us more if we do.

The gospel motivates us to proclaim the good news.

Have you every felt like you totally messed up when you have proclaimed the gospel in the past? Have you felt like a failure? Out of impatience or frustration, have you responded angrily to a stubborn neighbor or sibling?  When your adult child refuses to go to church with you, have you responded poorly because of embarrassment or guilt?  I have some wonderful news to share with you: You are forgiven!

Have you ever received a golden opportunity to share your faith with a friend, a co-worker in the office, or a friend on a hunting trip?  Did they ask you a question about Jesus? Did they ask about Christianity around a watercooler? Out of embarrassment, awkwardness, or fear, you chose to remain silent.  I have some wonderful news for us: We are forgiven!

So, if you are feeling guilty for not participating in evangelism or not sharing your faith with others, take that guilt to the cross and let the good news of what Jesus did for you there remind you that you are completely forgiven.

We have a clean slate in God’s eyes. We have been set free. Not only has Christ forgiven us, he has already forgotten our track record in evangelism. Believe it!

Then, let the good news of forgiveness motivate you to go out and share your faith with others with confidence.

Take Action: Answer the question for this topic, found on page 11 of the study guide.