Personal evangelism is simply described as the efforts of a Christian to share their faith in Jesus Christ with others. It should be easy for each of us, remembering the moment we accepted Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, to share that moment with others. I remember my “moment” well; I was pulled off the side of the road at a three-way stop on the back side of the campus of Southern Illinois University when I told God I was tired of running, I was tired of feeling like my life didn’t matter, and I was tired of feeling empty. I told God I was a sinner and in need of his grace; I told the Lord that if He would accept me and forgive me, I would completely surrender my life to Him. Immediately I experienced a great psychological weight being lifted off me. As a Christian, I am sure you have experienced that same feeling and know exactly what I am talking about, yet why do we find it so hard to share that with others who need to hear it? Why aren’t we more concerned and burdened to be active in personal evangelism?
During the roughly three-year earthly ministry of Jesus, he taught: I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples (John 15:1-8). In this verse, Jesus is identifying himself as the true vine. To completely understand what imagery that the Lord is using here, I would like to share what I learned a while back about grape vines.
About the true vine
When I was living in Louisiana, I rented a house that had three grapevines. Having never grown grapes before, I decided that the next time I went to the local plant nursery I would ask someone how I should care for these vines. What I learned was that grapevines are not like a peach tree. For a grapevine to produce the best fruit, they must be carefully maintained. The most important part of the grapevine is the “true vine” which is the main stem between the branches and the roots. During the early spring, as the vine emerges from winter hibernation, the vine must be dressed – any branch not having new growth or having growth that is irregular, must be removed. Once the vine begins to bloom, the branches must be dressed again, removing any branch that does not have blooms or having blooms that are irregular. By doing this, not only is the health of the “true vine” protected, but the vine will bear fully mature and developed fruit. Thinking about what Jesus is teaching about, I believe that the fruit that He wants us to bear is nothing other than the spreading and sharing of the gospel. Jesus wants us to become involved in personal evangelism; He wants us to bring others to Him.
Paul and personal evangelism
The apostle Paul understood this teaching of Christ and in his various letters to the churches, we see that the importance of personal evangelism is often written about. After becoming a Christian, the book of Acts records that Paul wasted little time in telling others about what Jesus had done for him: And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ (Acts 9:20-22). Even before he had been commissioned as a missionary by the assembly of Christians in Jerusalem, Paul was preaching what he knew about Christ – what Christ had done in his life. Many times Christians do not want to take part in evangelism, fearing they might mess up, get embarrassed, or any number of reasons. The truth is that all of us have a story to share of how the Lord reached down and touched our lives. After Paul’s surrender to the Lord, he was used to bring the gospel to others in a way that Peter, John, and James were ill-suited to do. Paul was well learned and because of his demonstrated knowledge, was well suited to spread the gospel of Jesus in the Hellenized world of southern Europe and Asia Minor. Peter or James, a fisherman and the son of a carpenter, would have simply been rejected or ignored.
As Christians, each of us have differences in abilities, talents, and backgrounds. We all have the will of Jesus in common. Jesus desires us to bear fruit; He desires us to share what He has done for us with the lost. He has prepared each of us to be able to share the gospel with those whom we come into contact. If we will allow Him, He will prune us, cutting out the things in our lives that will distract us from bearing much fruit. He will allow us to grow, to develop, and to ripen to the point where our fruit becomes bringing others to Him so that they may come to know the Lord Jesus as their personal savior. Our efforts a personal evangelism do not have to be fancy. They just have to be sincere, show an understanding of God’s love and grace, to turn from sin, and the need to trust in Jesus as the only hope for Heaven. While it should always involve scripture, it also is a story that needs to be told from your heart, a personal story of how Jesus loves you. Are you ready to bear fruit for the Master? What good is a grapevine that doesn’t bear grapes? Does your life point the way to the true vine?
