My dad said one time, “Jake, if we really believed in hell, we’d be knocking peoples’ doors down to tell them about Christ.” Amen. The reality of eternal suffering away from the favorable presence of God should compel us to love our neighbor and tell them the only way to be right before a holy God. 

I used to work at a hospital a few blocks from my house. I would walk to and from work, which gave me time to think over the day. I was young, unmarried, and trying to get the hang of nursing. I remember walking home one of those early days and having a troubling thought. Nursing was pretty hard, and I was trying really hard, but I was disappointed with the day, and it had to do with evangelism. I wasn’t upset because I hadn’t shared the gospel. Work was challenging, and I genuinely couldn’t see where I could have shared it. I also knew that doing my job well pleased God (Col 3:23). So why was I disappointed? I was disappointed, not because I hadn’t shared Christ that day, but because it hadn’t even crossed my mind to share Christ that day.

Thoughtless and Prayerless

Not every moment is a time for evangelism. I get that. God has commanded us to work heartily for the Lord, and to do all things for His glory, even eating and drinking (1 Cor 10:31). We have to be careful not to create a secular/spiritual divide, creating an unbiblical category that makes our occupations merely worldly ambitions. All things can be kingdom things when done for His glory. But I’m afraid that we can be too thoughtless and prayerless about evangelism. We can forget to be looking out for chances to share Christ. Paul said, “pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison” (Col 4:3). Even in prison Paul was looking for an opportunity for the word. Paul asked again for prayer, “that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak” (Eph 6:19-20).

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