Get Up! Shake Yourself! Act!

 

“You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world.” _{Matthew 5 v13-14}

 

Does the idea of Summer evangelism fill you with dread?  Does the thought of giving your testimony in a bustling tourist-filled street make you quake and tremble?

  If so then this blog post  is for you!

   I’m not quite sure what finally convinced me, after years of avoiding the decision, to go on a beach mission in 2011. Actually, when I think back, the majority of my major life decisions thus far have occurred, after weeks of non-decisive mind wrangling, by me simply saying “I’m gunna do it and see what happens.” It was a similar process which led me to end my full-time education at 16 and to spend a month in India a few years back (I dislike most hot foods and am not a fan of excessive heat!).

   Despite the slightly foolish decision making process I used, the decision nevertheless was a good one. I enjoyed (if ‘enjoyed’ is the correct word?) one of the most amazing weeks of my life. I am not a ‘people-person’ per se, and I am not great with children either (I find myself running out of energy and words pretty rapidly), my spiritual vocabulary is choc-a-bloc with clichés and my apologetic armoury is not equipped with patience or knowledge - despite these [fairly major] deficiencies I found the week an amazing blessing.

   When asked on the final night what I had most learnt over the duration of the week I saw no other option than to voice how amazed I had been to finally realise what ‘trusting God’ really meant. Like Abraham who trusted God to provide an offering when he was commanded to sacrifice Isaac, I learnt that when God commands us to proclaim the gospel to all nations he doesn’t fail to give us the strength, courage and wisdom we need. Each day, each ‘Holiday Special’, each sketch, each conversation, each open air, I felt useless and scared. This was a real and very practical lesson in trusting the Almighty. Do you remember how, in the wilderness, the Israelites were commanded to only gather enough manna for the one day- any manna not eaten would rot away over night. They learnt, through experience, to trust God daily for their provision.

 

“My strength is made perfect in weakness.” _{2 Corinthians  12 v 9} 

    “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God,
who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” _{James 1 v 5}

 

   Okay, so anyone who regularly reads their Bible cannot help but realise that the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ was designed to be spread. Agreed? Okay, just in case you don’t agree here are a few reminders:

    How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
Romans 10 (part of Paul’s timeline in a Christian’s conversion)

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”
Mark 16

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.”
Matthew 9

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.
Proverbs 11

  The Bible is fairly clear. Which, I admit, we often wish it wasn’t. Evangelism is hard work. Evangelism is scary. But God commands us to share the Gospel. And, by the way, how would we have become Christians if someone hadn’t shared the Gospel with us first?

  It was Spurgeon, the 18th century English preacher, who asked the question:

“If you could know the regrets at the end of your life, would not these be the regrets: that you have not served Christ better, loved him more, spoken of him oftener, given more generously to his cause and more  uniformly proved yourself to be consecrated to him?”

  So…what is stopping you doing some specific evangelistic work this summer? Perhaps you think you don’t have enough experience or would make mistakes? Take it from a pro (in the area of mistakes) its better to try and fail then never to try at all! I could tell you many stories of mistakes I made last year- trays of tea spilt over the lad’s dorm, tug-o-war chanting which went wrong, bruised thumbs during sketches, embarrassing spelling tests…. but I digress! Maybe you worry, as I have, that you don’t feel as concerned for the lost as you should do? The UBM prayer update makes this point:

“Matthew 14v14 shows the correct order: “Jesus WENT OUT… HE SAW a great multitude; and He was MOVED WITH COMPASSION for them.” Emotions follow when we seek to obey Christ’s great commission (Mark 16v15)”

  Perhaps I should add a small disclaimer at this point: nothing I have said so far in support of summer evangelism is intended IN THE SLIGHTEST to diminish from our daily, weekly, monthly responsibilities to spread the good news of Jesus Christ!

   I would like to recommend United Beach Missions, in particular, to you. I realise that there are many opportunities for gospel proclamation this summer and, perhaps, other missions are better suited to you: if so, then take them! UBM is, by no means, the exclusive summer evangelism option. But, if you want an opportunity to share Jesus then this is a great one to use!

    I knew 2 of the 20ish people on my team (and I didn’t know those 2 at all well), but I quickly felt befriended and blessed by the team I was with. They were a great bunch of Christians, from various nationalities, backgrounds and churches, but all united by the Gospel. The team Bible times and prayer times were really beneficial, and the experience and support of the leaders and older members helped me to quickly find my feet. The leaders specifically explained the organisation and timetables for the ears of first-timers and did everything to ensure that we knew what we had to do and didn’t feel swamped by the activities.

    Check out the UBM website at http://www.ubm.org.uk/ or email/comment me for any more details.

    Let me leave you with a fantastic quote to aid you in your decision making!

“Get up! Shake yourself! Act! Do something! Do it at once! Go on doing it! Do it with all your might! Spare no pains! Never stop any more! Read, pray, talk, sing, give! Do anything you can- everything that seems likely to make people know the truth about themselves and heaven and hell. God will help you!”

_{William Booth}