Your work in the process of Evangelism

Steven Furtick blogs about not putting unnecessary burdens on ourselves while sharing the gospel.

He calls it “Your 50%”.

Essentially, Furtick calls us to remember that

We are called to bear witness to our faith.
God is responsible for calling people to respond in faith.

The proclamation of the gospel message through word and deed is our part.

The changing of the heart towards repentance is God’s part.

I’ve heard some teaching in the past that puts the whole burden on us:

If you don’t share, and they die in hell, it’s your fault.
If you don’t communicate the gospel exactly right, they are not converted.
If you don’t share the gospel from the right starting point, they are not converted.

Those might be extreme examples, but people carry that guilt. In my conferences, I run into a lot of them.

We need to remember

God’s sovereignty over the process of evangelism
How the Holy Spirit draws a person to faith
Christian Conversion is mysterious.

Furtick concludes with

It’s good to feel the weight of people’s souls.
It’s motivating to your 50%.
But it’s bad to carry around the weight of their will.
That’s coveting their 50%.
And it will load a weight of guilt upon you that you were never meant to bear. Jesus wants to bear their guilt. If they don’t believe, they will bear it.
For your own sake, don’t take something that’s not yours to carry.