Evangelism Coach

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In Acts 13:6ff, we encounter the story of Sergius Paulus, a proconsul for Rome, in Paphos on the island of Cyprus.

The passage: Acts 13:6ff
Barnabas and Saul were on what has been called their first missionary journey, and the gospel is now going beyond the limits of Palestine and into the Greek and Roman world.

The proconsul was a man spiritually thirsty. He likely had heard about the goings on, and “because he wanted to hear the word of God,” he invited Barnabas and Saul to come.

Over the course of conversations, a sorcerer named Bar-Jesus tried to interfere with the conversations and tried to keep the proconsul “from the faith.”

Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, gives a powerful word to Bar-Jesus, that speaks directly to the power of sin. “Will you never stop perverting the ways of the Lord?” Paul pronounces that the judgment of God will come upon Bar-Jesus: blindness, and it happened.

When the proconsul saw what had happened, “he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.”

Reflections

The evangelists
Barnabas and Saul were busy “proclaiming the word of God in the synagogues” as they traveled around. Imagine that one after noon, a messenger comes and says, “The proconsul would like to see you.”

I believe that God allows people to come into our life for a purpose. The proconsul was stepping into the life of Barnabas and Saul, with a summons to come and explain the word of God. It was an opportunity that they didn’t have to seek or create, but rather one that fell into their lap.

Paul and Barnabas may not have known why they were being summoned. Could it be they would be persecuted as had happened to other Christian leaders? Would they be thrown in jail? Would they be beaten and deported?

They may not have known, they were just summoned. However, they went, perhaps wondering what God was up to.

The seeker
The proconsul was a spiritually thirsty man. Something about what he was hearing gave him enough curiosity to seek after the truth. He is the one who made the effort to have Barnabbas and Saul brought to him.

When one is spiritually thirsty, one is self-propelled to find the water. We’ve seen that in some of the prior conversion stories. He is the one who takes the initiative to find the truth from Paul and Barnabbas.

The sorcerer
However, there was a sorcerer around that sought to hinder the conversation.

I’ve seen plenty of times where a spiritually thirsty person has someone around them ready to drag them down, or away from the truth. Last weekend, I listened to a testimony from a man who had friends telling him that the Bible was full of lies during his search for Christ.

The conversion:
We don’t know what the content of their own coversation was, but with the demonstration of the Spirit’s power to confirm the word, Paulus believed. Paul addresses the sin in the sorcerer’s life, not in Sergius Paulus, the proconsul.

Two thoughts
Some folks come to faith after a conversation, like the Ethiopian Eunuch
did. Others will come to faith after seeing evidence of God’s power after the conversation.

I have seen such conversions happen in my life, where visible manifestation of God’s power helps a person into belief. We could talk all we want, but not until the demonstration of power, did it click.

Finally, Paul and Barnabbas were doing their own thing when someone (Paulus) stepped into their life. I find that evangelism happens “easiest” when I pay attention to the people who come into my life, like a seat mate that talks to me on an airplane, or the hair cutting person who engages me in conversation. Often they are the ones themselves who open the door to a spiritual conversation.

Let me ask you this?
Do you to notice the spiritually people that God brings into your life? Ask God today to give you the eyes to see them.

The Apostle Paul
Simon the Sorcerer
Ethiopian Eunuch
Psidian Antioch
Sergius Paulus
Cornelius

“What will you pay for?”
On a plane ride from Chicago to Richmond, my elderly seat mate chatted at me nearly the entire way. Just after the captain made his pre-landing announcements, she laments to me over the awful choices she sees her granddaughter making. Thinking of her granddaughter’s eternity, she sighs, “I guess we will all have to pay for our actions someday.”I asked her “What will you have to pay for some day?”

The conversation came to an end at that moment, as the attendants began their pre-landing instructions about seat backs, table trays, collecting debris, and repacking personal belongings. In the hustle and rustle of the cabin preparations, there was no opportunity to finish.

The passage (Acts 10)
Cornelius was a centurion (soldier) for Rome. The town was Caesarea. “He and his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.” He was a religious man, doing spiritual practices, and the term “God-fearer” indicates that he was a Gentile who had converted to Judaism. He found himself in a deep religious tradition, practicing its ways.

In a day of prayer, an angel of the Lord directs him to a particular man, in a particular town, in a particular house. Is that guidance any more clear?

When they meet (23-26), Peter explains the facts about Jesus – “the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all” (v.36).

He explains some of the historical events that happened (37-41) and how he was given the message to “testify that Christ is the one whom God has appointed judge of the living and the dead . . . [those] who believe in him receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”

The Holy Spirit falls on all who heard the message and people take baptism (v.48) God had given them repentance unto life (11:17)

Reflections
Cornelius was a spiritual man, one who was very religious, seeking after God and doing spiritual practices. He has this vision in prayer to find a particular man in a particular town, staying at a particular house. Can you imagine the curiosity, or the dread?“What for?”

“What will he tell me?”

“He’s Jewish, what might he want with me, a Roman Gentile?”

“Will he even come into my house?”

“What does God want to tell me?”

Cornelius meets this man who comes to his house, who then begins to explain three things.

1. The historical events about the death and resurrection of Christ.
2. God has appointed Christ to judge the living and the dead.
3. Those who believe in him receive forgiveness of sin through his name.

In Roman culture, there was a big concern about the afterlife – what would happen when you died. What did you have to pay for the things done in this life?

Peter adapted the gospel to address an underlying concern that Cornelius likely had. Peter didn’t explain sin nor use Old Testament law, but approached sin in a different way. Sin will be judged, and those who believe will receive forgiveness. Repentance is changing your mind as to who you will follow. Starting with a concern of Cornelius, Peter presents Jesus as the future judge.

The text doesn’t say anything about Cornelius’s individual response. He is lumped in with “all who heard the message.” He responded and received the Holy Spirit and likely took baptism with those who were baptized. We can presume that he believed and responded to the message.

So what:
Do people in our culture today think about what happens after they die?I see such questions raised in film (such as Ghost), horror flicks that deal with ghosts, shows on TLC that deal with hauntings and spirits. I hear such questions come up in music and song.

Questions of life after death come to the surface when people begin to reflect how life is so fragile: the accidental death of a loved one, the violent end of a homicide, or mass murder like the Virigina Tech tragedy.

It may not be on the same surface as Cornelius, but a question deep in the heart none the lest. Ecclesiastes writes that God has set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannnot understand it.

Let me ask you this?
Do you encounter people who think about having to pay for their actions after they die? Ask the Lord to open a conversation with someone about these thoughts and feel free to share them here.

For more in the series on Conversion in the NT
The Apostle Paul
Simon the Sorcerer
Ethiopian Eunuch
Cornelius

Let’s look at an “easy conversion,” that of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts Chapter 8.

This conversion was as simple as picking a ripe mango ready to fall from a tree. 

It’s not so much about the Eunuch as it is about Phillip being God’s tool to help the man come to faith. 

The fruit is ready

These are the kinds of evangelistic conversations I love because a person has been prepared by the Lord to this point, and I get to be the one God uses to bring that person into the kingdom.

It reminds me that God is the Evangelist, that the Holy Spirit goes before us to prepare the way, and that when we are obedient to His promptings, the Lord can use us. 

The passage: Acts 8:26-40.

Phillip had been directed by the Lord to go on a scavenger hunt. “Go to the south road, the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

Phillip was then prompted to go and stand near a chariot that was on the road.

Phillip hears a man reading a particular passage from the book of Isaiah.

Phillip asks if he understands.

The man’s response: “How can I unless someone explains it to me? Please tell me who the prophet is talking about.”

Phillip began there and told him the good news about Jesus.  The eunuch believed, he took baptism, and went on his way rejoicing, never to see Phillip again.

Reflections:

A seeker:
We know from the text what Phillip didn’t know at first. This man had been coming from Jerusalem, where he had been to worship God. Phillip didn’t know him, but found a man reading out loud from the Old Testament.

This man shows all the signs of one who is spiritualy thirsty.

• He had reworked his schedule to go to Jerusalem on his own.
• He was reading from the Scripture.
• He wanted somebody to explain what he was reading.
• He was willing to search for the truth.
• He was willing to understand.

This man was hungry for the things of God. He was spiritually thirsty.  Prepared by God.

All he needed was a person to help explain.

An evangelist.
The Lord used an obedient Phillip to help this man into the kingdom.

God worked both sides of the equation, so to speak, putting Phillip and the spiritualy thirsty eunuch in the same place at the same time.  This positioning is the Role of the Holy Spirit in Evangelism.

All Phillip had to do in this encounter with a stranger was to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

In other words, Phillip got to work with God.

Phillip didn’t

• need to pry open a hard heart like a can of beans.
• have to waste hours of conversation about the existence of God.
• need to get the Eunuch to the starting point of a Gospel Script

All the talk in the world could not replace the work of God that prepared the eunuch ahead of time.

Luke on summarizes the conversation as “the good news about Jesus”.  This was not a Scripted Evangelism Conversation.

So what?
For one brief afternoon, the stories of these two strangers intersected. Phillip was doing his ordinary routine when the Lord prompted him to go to specific place. The eunuch was simply going home after a pilgrimage.

But at one moment, their paths crossed and one man’s destiny was changed.

It is my desire that you spend time asking “God where are you at work?” It’s much easier to cooperate with God’s activity, rather than wasting hours of argument prying open a locked heart.

The key is that Phillip noticed “THAT” Chariot.  God underlined the chariot and Phillip positioned himself.

More than just conversions

This is a learnable model of personal evangelism that can be done as a practical exercise.  

See Effective Evangelism Training Lab Time.  It forms the basis for Fear Free Evangelism, an Evangelism Training Workshop that I do around the US and as a webinar

Listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit for those Kairos moments can bring good news to lots of people in many situations.

Examples:

I want to give you examples of how this can play out in real life.

• God’s presence is with us. – My tutor hears the gospel
• Seminar Testimony - a wrong phone number
• Is he a PC USA Pastor? – Divine moment in Cracker Barrell
• What is an Evangelist? – Student wants a definition
• Reflections from Enfield CT - Walmart Stories
• Evangelism Motives: Why bother? – taxi driver shares Jesus

Let me ask you this?
Will you take the time today to ask God to show you where He is at work?

More in the Conversion in the NT

The Apostle Paul
Simon the Sorcerer
Ethiopian Eunuch
Psidian Antioch
Sergius Paulus
Cornelius

We have already looked The Apostle Paul conversion, as a conversion that fell from heaven. Now we look at a puzzling conversion story – was it complete, partial, or entirely false? Since we can’t read Simon’s heart, it may be an unanswerable question.

The passage: Acts 7:9ff
Through signs and wonders, Simon the sorcerer had gathered a following and people proclaimed him “the great power.” People followed him because he amazed them with magic tricks and spells.

However when Phillip came along, preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus, people believed Phillip and were baptized (v.12).

Verse 13 says that “Simon himself believed and was baptized.”

Yet, when Peter visits, Simon wants to buy the power to lay hands on people to receive the Holy Spirit. (v.18). Peter rebukes him by saying “your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness . . . for I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

Simon seems repentant ( v.24) when he petitions Peter to pray for him.

The conversion:
The text says that “Simon believed and was baptized.” It is quite plausible to state that he had demonstrated some kind of conversion experience. Luke doesn’t give us a timeline of days or months, or years here, but on the face value and plain reading, it appears that Simon believed.

Clearly, Simon was attracted to the “power” element of Phillip’s evangelism. “He followed Phillip and was astonished by the great signs and miracles that he saw” (8.13). Simon’s entry point to belief, so to speak, was the power of God.

Since Simon was also a Samaritan and a sorcerer, his worldview was likely beginning to undergo a shift. It’s plausible to state that Simon did not have any accurate knowledge of the Old Testament, nor the Law or its promises, nor of God’s covenant community — it wasn’t his background.

It is quite possible that Simon believed and took baptism before he understood everything.

The rebuke
Peter doesn’t rebuke him for not being a Christian, but for not understanding how the Holy Spirit was given. He’s rebuked for desiring the power of God in an incorrect manner. He seems to have wanted to further his own ministry of power – as if the Spirit of God would be just another magic trick that he could amaze people with.

Peter says Simon’s heart was full of “bitterness” and was “captive to sin.” That’s something entirely different than saying he wasn’t a believer.

Even as believers, we can still have hearts that are full of bitterness. Likewise, we may continue to have struggles connected with particular sinful patterns – but it doesn’t mean that our conversion was invalid.

So What?
Luke’s point is not to give us a theological treatise on conversion. In the theme of Acts, he’s demonstrating how the gospel is spreading beyond Jerusalem.

We know nothing else about Simon after this point in the biblical records. Church history identifies him as Simon Magus, and early Christian authors regarded him later as a heretic. The sin of simony, or paying for position in the church, is named after Simon.

If the later observations about the Simon from church history are true, then we might be able to say that Simon gave initial hints that he “believed” but over time, it became clear that his response, though perhaps initially genuine, didn’t bear fruit.

In our experiences, many of us have seen people who have claimed to believe before they have fully understood all the consequences and ramifications of belief in Jesus.

We’ve also seen people that “believe” but over the years, just drop out, disappear, disconnect, and leave the church in general. It seems to be the seed that fell on the rocky soil – has a good spurt of growth, but the cares of the world take over and choke the seed (Mark 4).

We can’t read the human heart. Simon appeared to have had a belief, but over time, it just didn’t pan out.

It’s not my point here to label Simon’s conversion: false conversion, conversion misfire, or backslider. I think depending on our understanding of evangelism, we may settle on one.

However, it does make me think of those I know who have left the faith after giving evidence of belief. Though they “made a decision,” they hung around for a while and eventually left. My heart breaks because they have walked away from the grace of God. Where else can they go? Jesus alone has the words of eternal life.

Let me ask you this?
Do you pray for your friends who walk away from the faith? Ask God today to bring them back – the prodigals that Christ died for.

The Apostle Paul
Simon the Sorcerer
Ethiopian Eunuch
Psidian Antioch
Sergius Paulus
Cornelius

Sometimes conversions are just unbelieveable. They “fall from heaven” so to speak. There is no evangelist, no gospel presentation, no explanation of the law, it just happens – God does all the work. While not the norm, it can happen. God is sovereign enough to make it happen.

For example, the apostle Paul’s conversion – fell from heaven. He’s busy “breathing murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.” On the road to Damascus, God interrupts his life. Read it yourself in Acts 9.

It was a dramatic encounter – voice from heaven, bright lights, temporary blindness. Paul’s travel companions heard the sound, they were dumbfounded – they were speechless.

While praying after the event, Paul sees a vision of a man named Ananias (small detail revealed by God) coming to lay hands on him. God, working both sides of the equation, sends Ananias to go and do that thing. Ananias lays hands on Paul and Paul is healed. He was baptized.

From what we know of the rest of Paul’s life from the New Testament, he grew in understanding what had happened to him.

Over time, the Lord revealed more about the richness of salvation, the wonder of grace, the relationship between the law and salvation, and how the gospel would go forth to the Gentiles. It is a plausible argument that Paul believed first, and then understood the richness of what happened to him.

It is my prayer that God in His sovereignty would bring more people into the Kingdom, even where there are no evangelists.

While not the normal approach to evangelism, we can’t exclude that it may happen. God can reveal Christ to people without us, should He choose.

Over the next few days, we’ll look at a couple more conversion stories in the New Testament and see what we might learn about the conversion experience.

Let me ask you this?
Would you pray for more conversions that fall from heaven?

For the series:
The Apostle Paul
Simon the Sorcerer
Ethiopian Eunuch
Psidian Antioch
Sergius Paulus
Cornelius

I’ve been reading a new book since I very quickly finished Reimagining Evangelism: Inviting Friends on a Spiritual Journey.

This new book, Doubting: Growing Through the Uncertainties of Faith, by Alister McGrath, speaks of the presence of doubt in our Christian walk, but also during the conversion process. He raises excellent points about the role of doubt in our evangelism.

What is doubt?

Doubt, he writes, is part of our human nature. Its not skepticism, nor is it unbelief. Rather, its a difficulty understanding. Skepticism is willful doubt as a matter of principle. Unbelief is a decision not to believe, but doubt exists in the abscence of information, when we have an incomplete understanding.

In our conversion experience, some of us likely had lots of doubts to overcome, we wanted to gather as much information as possible to know that we were making a rational evaluation of the evidence and consequences of accepting Jesus into our life. We searched intently for answers until we had enough doubts settled to committ ourselves fully to following the Lord. Here, doubt was a major obstacle to coming to faith.

Others of us may have had a powerful encounter with the Lord, decided to follow him, and then begin to wrestle with the truth of it all. The experiental encounter was enough to allow us to risk everything without full knowledge of what we were getting into. The character of God that we discovered in that encounter revelaed enough to us to trust Him for everything else, and sort it out as we mature in faith. Here, doubt becomes a partner in the journey of faith.

Faith and doubt co-exist
Ultimately however, to believe in God demands faith. To accept Christ into our lives demands fatih. To accept Christianity as true demands faith. Becuase faith is required, doubt will exist in our life.

“Faith is not belief without proof, but turst without reservations — a trust in God who has shown himself worthy of that trust.” — McGrath.

“Faith needs the vitality of experience if it is to live — and the support of undrstanding if it is to survive.” (McGrath, p. 31).

Doubt and Evangelism
As evangelists, we have to deal with doubt in our own life, and in the life of people we share with.

First, our own. Do we really believe what we share, what we proclaim? How active is your relationship with the Lord? Do you have the “vitality of experience” that supports your belief in the gospel? Or is what you share some one else’s script? We want to be authentic in our sharing, and your owned lived experience in your relationship with the Lord is the most authentic of testimony. How can we truthfully proclaim that we know we are forgiven with we question the truthfulness of that statement in our own heart?

Sure we can proclaim it because its part of the gospel content, as a propositional idea. But, can we share it with conviction because we believe it ourselves? If we doubt our own forgiveness, or our own hope for life after death, or even the love of God for us in Christ, I’m not sure we can proclaim it ourselves convinvingly. The problem is not the gospel itself, its our doubt in its validity for us.

Secondly, we have to deal with doubt in the people we share with. As mentioned, doubt can be a hurdle to overcome that keeps a person from committing to Jesus Christ, or doubt can cause people to question their initial committment. Again, the problem is not with the gospel itself, but with our inabiliy to see what God is doing with the seeds we plant. The seed works in secret, the problem is not with the seed itself. As evangelists, we help people along in their journey to Christ, planting seeds as prompted by the Lord. Some will fall on good ground, others will be eaten by the birds. The problem is not the seed, its the soil.