Friday, March 14, 2008

Prayer to become an Evangelist

You might remember that a few weeks ago I was soliciting prayer to become an Evangelist. An interesting thing has happened: as I’ve prayed for the gift of evangelism, my desire for it has decreased. I wonder if this is one of two things. Either it’s me losing focus and just going with the inertia of a non-evangelistic life or it’s God saying ‘no that’s not for you right now.’

I’d be interested in your thoughts.
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2 comments:

Jason said...

This is reminiscent of my aspiration to be a pastor, of which I often have doubts. I figure that for both of us, we are called to continue to pursue what the Scriptures teach us to pursue, namely, general characteristics of a believer.

So, with you specifically as relates to evangelism, I suppose that you should persist in attaining a love for your fellow man and a deep concern for the condition of souls, also you should continue in having an answer for the hope you have and a last one is that we should always fear God rather than man...

After pursuing all these things sincerely, I suppose how they manifest themselves in your life is a more flexible part. Are you the kind who will start talking to people you don't know on the bus or some other kind, I don't suppose we have a lot of ground for binding anyone one way or the other.

In sum, I think God would not tell you not to pursue those principles of a believer, but whether that means some specific form of evangelism I think you can be at peace at if you are pursuing the character God expects you to.

11:45 AM
Ρωμανός ~ Romanós said...

I suppose if you are thinking of evangelism as a kind of special charism, then it's possible to have people (including yourself) pray for you to be granted it. There are, I suppose, people who are more "evangelistic" than others, but once we start to identify "evangelism" as a spiritual gift or commodity, as it were, I am afraid we are at the doorway to both clericalism and, worse, whatever it is that men like Benny Hinn have, the notion that what they are doing is somehow on a higher level than what everyone is called to do.

Forgive me, brother, if I am rather an egalitarian when it comes to Christian witness. Everyone is commissioned by his or her baptism and confession of faith to be an evangelist. We shouldn't have to think about doing it. We should just be who we are in Christ, and it'll just happen. A tree can't hide or change its fruits, nor can a woman hold back her pregnancy from resulting in a child, without violence to what is God-ordained. So with us, followers of Jesus, we just live the life in Christ, and to the degree of our commitment and intention, our witness will be strong or weak, but witness we must, even if it must be yanked out of us.

4:06 PM

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