He sat there staring...allowing his words to have their impact as if a mortar round had been fired and he was waiting for the impact concussion.

We had been talking about evangelism or rather the seeming lack of it. Churches have shifted their focus to service projects (building classrooms, manning medical clinics, cleaning up yards) but then not telling the recipients about Jesus in whose name the activities were done. So evangelism efforts are relegated to the “professionals”: missionaries, evangelists, staff members of parachurch organizations whose “job” is to talk about Jesus.

His words came quicker, with more intensity as he noted:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).

“…And you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Then he looked me in the eyes and said, “There are only two options for our not doing evangelism — either we don’t believe God or we don’t care.” And he sat there staring.

The words were like a grenade, stunning, blinding and disorienting my religiously ordered mind. The haze has slowly cleared in the weeks since that Friday morning in Nashville, Tennessee.

We must not believe God or we don’t care
If we don’t tell others about Jesus, if our actions contradict our professed ideals, if we claim concern about people’s souls for eternity, but make no significant effort to share with them our Savior — then we must not believe God or we don’t care.

I believe and I care; let me tell you why at bbrant@heraldoftruth.org or share your thoughts with everyone on our blog at hopeforlife.org.

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