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The Possibility of Hostility or Hunger

Brothers & Sisters,

 

            One of the things that I appreciate about Rico Tice’s book, Honest Evangelism, is that he is, well, honest. He is honest with the good news—not watering it down or seeking to make the hard bits more palatable. He is also honest about what we might encounter when seeking to evangelize. So he writes: 

For all the hostility there is to Christ, there is also a hunger for him in the hearts of those we live among. We must be honest about the hostility, or we’ll have the wrong expectations and give up on evangelism. But we must also be excited about the hunger, or we’ll have no expectations at all, and never start evangelism.

            Hostility and hunger: that’s what you’ll find as you tell others about Jesus. And, of course, at the moment you open your mouth, you don’t know which you’re going to be met with; and you don’t know what your words may do in people years later. You’ll have to risk the hostility to discover the hunger. [Rico Tice and Carl Laferton, Honest Evangelism: How to Talk About Jesus Even When Its Tough (Epsom, Surrey, England: Good Book Company, 2015), 23.]

 

            What looms larger in your mind when you’re contemplating sharing the good news with someone—the possibility of hostility or hunger? Hold out hope that the Lord Jesus has put some hungry people around you. Risk the possibility of hostility to discover the hunger. Dare to invite someone to church. Dare to ask them what they think of Jesus, and then, dare to tell them the good news of his love for them.

 

Warmly in Christ,

Mike