Have you ever been burdened to
go and give out tracts, or to speak to your neighbor about the Lord, or to
engage in some other type of gospel work? Or have you ever been asked by a
fellow Christian to join him in such activities? No doubt, all of our readers,
if truly saved, have experienced this—hopefully many times in their lives since
new birth. But doesn’t it often happen that before you have an opportunity to
act upon such a thought or burden that you start thinking of all sorts of
excuses why you should not engage in such activity? And more often than
not, perhaps, the burden passes away without the deed being accomplished.
What are some of the excuses we
think of for not doing gospel work?
1. I might be rebuffed or mocked
by someone.
2. I might meet someone from the
office while I am giving out tracts, and that person might tell others at the
office what I was doing, and what will they think of me then?
3. I might be challenged with a
question which I cannot answer.
4. If it is the Lord’s purpose for
certain persons to be saved, He can accomplish this purpose without my help.
5. If Mr. X, with whom I lost my
temper last month, sees me giving out tracts, he will think I am a hypocrite!
6. I have a headache.
7. I have too much else to do
(the children’s swing set needs another coat of paint, I haven’t read last
night’s newspaper or this week’s Newsweek yet, the bathroom faucet has
been dripping for the past two months and something should be done about it).
8. I have too much else to do (I
should take the children on an outing today).
9. I have too much else to do (I
should be studying for next week’s Bible study; I should be writing that
article I promised for Words of Truth).
We could go on and on thinking
of excuses why we should not do the work which is so pleasing to the Lord —
sowing the seed of the gospel. Whenever one has a thought or desire to do work
for the Lord, particularly when that work is aimed at wresting lost souls out
of Satan’s kingdom, we can be certain that Satan and his helpers are going to
be making every attempt to prevent thought or desire from resulting in action.
It might be useful to consider
some of the excuses just listed so that we can be prepared to respond to them
in the right way.
One of the greatest hindrances
to gospel work is pride. This often takes the form of fear that our
reputation or popularity among our neighbors or colleagues may be adversely
affected if we are "caught" doing gospel work or witnessing for
Christ. About the only way to deal with this is to confess to God our pride, to
recognize it as sin and as something abhorrent to God. "Every one that is
proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord" (Prov. 16:5; see also 8:13).
We must remember that we belong to the One who "made Himself of no
reputation" (Phil. 2:7).
What about the problem of being
rebuffed or mocked by someone? Consider the words of the Lord Jesus in John 15:
19, 20:"The world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The
servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will
also persecute you." Far from being a problem, should it not rather be
counted a privilege to suffer for Him who suffered so much for us? "If we
suffer, we shall also reign with Him" (2 Tim. 2:12). "Unto you it is
given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer
for His sake" (Phil. 1:29).
Concerning excuse number three,
what will people think of me if I cannot defend my faith or answer all of their
questions or objections? Won’t that be worse than not talking to them at all?
The response to this is that most persons have great respect for the person who
is willing to admit that he does not have all the answers. If you find
you are not immediately able to answer a certain question, ask the other person
if he would be willing to meet with you on another occasion to discuss the
matter further after you have had an opportunity to think about it and to
search the Scriptures to find the answer. Among other things, this will also reveal
whether the other person is sincere in his questioning or is just trifling with
you and with God.
As to excuse number four, it is
most certainly true that the Lord can save persons without my help. But
consider the following illustration:My son comes to me one day and says, in a
very frustrated tone of voice, "Daddy, will you help me with my model
airplane? I can’t get the wings to stick to the fuselage." I look up at
him over my newspaper and reply, "Son, if God wants the wings to stick to
the fuselage, He will find a way for it to be done." Whereupon he says,
"Okay, Dad. Say, I have an idea. I’ll ask Mr. Matthews next door. He is
good at fixing things." Do you get the point? The airplane gets put
together, but Daddy loses out on the blessing of helping his son, and misses a
wonderful opportunity to strengthen the relationship with his son. In like
manner do we lose out on the blessing of working with and for the Lord in the
matter of winning souls to Himself.
If you are afraid of being
called a hypocrite because of your ungodly behavior in the past toward another,
the solution is simple—simple in theory, that is, but oh, so difficult to carry
out in practice. If I have sinned against my neighbor or offended him in any
way, it is my obligation to go to him and confess my sin and ask his
forgiveness (James 5:16). And it does not matter if he was wrong too—even if
his part of the wrong was 95 percent and mine only five percent. It is still my
obligation to confess my sin to him and seek his forgiveness. "If thou
bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught
against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be
reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift" (Matt. 5:23,
24).
If the excuse is "I am not
feeling well," try to imagine what your response would be if a friend
called and asked you to play tennis with him or go to a concert with him. Often
this excuse is offered as a substitute to excuses number one and two, for it is
easier on the conscience than those other two.
Perhaps the most common excuses
for not working for the Lord are those of "no time" or "too much
else to do." Now, God has no intention for us to neglect our
responsibilities in the home or at work; that is, it is never valid to shirk
our earthly responsibilities by saying we have to spend our time serving the
Lord. But the Lord does expect to be placed first in our lives, and if we set
aside time to devote to Him (whether for studying the Bible, praying, or working
for Him), He will honor us by helping us to be more efficient in our other
duties and responsibilities. We will find that we are spending less time
cleaning up messes, correcting mistakes, taking the car to be fixed, and the
like, if we have given Christ the time due to Him each day.
With regard to excuse number
eight, it is important to maintain a proper balance between the time devoted to
the family and time devoted to the Lord. Neither should be stressed to the
neglect of the other. (Thus, this particular excuse may indeed be valid at
times, that is, the Lord may prefer that the time be spent with the
family—cementing those relationships—rather than away ministering to others.)
Often the two can be effectively combined. For instance, the home can be an effective
sphere for evangelism by having our children’s friends over to spend the night
and presenting the gospel to them as they join in the family devotions, as well
as our joining with the children in their games. Often, if one is not
particularly gifted in evangelism, a person might use the excuse that he is too
busy exercising his gift (be it teaching, pastoring, helping, or whatever) to
engage in evangelistic work. But it is clear from Scripture that God intends
for all of His children, whatever their gift might be, to cultivate a longing
desire for the salvation of souls, to be "fishers of men." "Do
the work of an evangelist" (2 Tim. 4:5).
May the Lord encourage each of
us in the work of the gospel. May we value the love of Christ and of the Father
toward us, and the sacrificial work accomplished for us at Calvary. May we have
a compassion for the lost, hell-bound souls around us on every hand. There is
no want of opportunity to give out the gospel, to speak a word for our dear
Saviour. May we gird up our loins and be ready for each opportunity as it
arises. And may we be cognizant of Satan’s devices to hinder us from
capitalizing on these opportunities, and not yield to the excuses he plants in
our minds. "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (Eph.
5:16).