Editor’s Note: The following is a continuation of our bulletin on June 26, 2022. EB

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.” (Proverbs 11:30 ESV)

Several weeks ago, I wrote a bulletin article entitled  The Ten Commandments of Sharing Your Faith. Since the purpose of every disciple’s life is to “fish for men” and “seek and to save the lost,” (Mark 1:17, Luke 19:10) I thought it would be important to share several practicals that have helped me in my experience to “[capture] souls.” In this article, I covered four of the ten practicals or commandments:

(I) Thou Shalt Never Leave Your Wingman, (II) Thou Shalt Never Apologize For Stopping Someone (III) Thou Shalt Always Compliment, and (IV), Thou Shalt Not Have A Spiel.

After writing about these four commandments, I received the following encouraging message from a sister in the Church: “I HAVE AMAZING NEWS! I took your advice about how to reach out effectively. So far, every single person that I’ve reached out to has been open; 4-5 people today. This is amazing! Thank you, bro. I’ve been spinning my wheels [in evangelism] for so long.” Thus, here are the final six commandments:

V. Thou Shalt Not Ask For Numbers

You may be thinking, “How can we follow up with someone if we don’t ask for their number?” The operative word, however, is “ask.” In Jesus’ short interaction with Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector who had lived a very sinful life, Jesus didn’t ask him for anything. Instead, He said, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” (Luke 19:5) In short, Jesus didn’t ask; He demanded. This subtle and slight change in our effort to gain someone’s contact information in order to follow up with them and potentially win them for Christ can make all the difference in the world. Just think of when you were invited for dinner at your grandmother’s house, and she pushed you to eat all that food she cooked. She didn’t ask, did she? And you ate well beyond your capacity, didn’t you? We must remember that it will always be “forceful men” who forcefully advance the Kingdom! (Matthew 11:12 ‘84 NIV)

Now that said, we must also be tactful in our evangelism. Don’t expect to get anyone’s number by being a jerk. Being demanding is not mutually exclusive from being loving. Like Jesus, you can be demanding and loving at the same time. For example, you could say something along these lines: “Why don’t you give me your number so I can text you and set up a time to meet.” This is very different from, “Can I have your number so I can text you and set up a time to meet.” Again, it is subtle change but it makes a big difference.

VI. Thou Shalt Confirm The Number

When someone gives me their number, I always make sure to confirm it. How do I do this? I simply say, “Why don’t I call you so that you have my number too?” This allows me to learn whether or not the number they gave me is real or fake. In most cases, the numbers are real and the people I reach out to are happy to have my number as well. However, every so often I get a fake number. And usually the person gets pretty shifty when I offer to call it in front of them so they have my number too. This allows me to confront them about why they gave me a fake number. I usually say something like, “This isn’t your number, is it? Why did you give me a fake number? If you weren’t interested you could have just said so.” Sometimes these conversations actually turn into longer conversations in which a person can change their mind about pursuing a relationship with God more seriously!

VII. Thou Shalt Not Chase People Down

When Jesus sent out His disciples for evangelistic missions, He commanded them, “But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you.’”(Luke 10:10-11) The bottom line is that Jesus wasn’t about pursuing people who were clearly not open. In His famous Sermon On The Mount, He was even more blunt. Jesus said, “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” (Matthew 7:6) That is, not only will un-open people not be won over, but they can hurt you in the process of pursuing them. Therefore, we must not give “dogs what is sacred.”

VIII. Thou Shalt Never Be Surprised

There are two ways that disciples can be surprised while they’re sharing their faith: (1) They can be surprised by persecution, (I John 3:13) and (2) they can be surprised when someone is actually super open. In either case, it is not good to be surprised. “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world… That is why the world hates you.” On the one hand, we should expect persecution. (John 15:19) Persecution is nothing new. It’s not weird, or out of the ordinary. It is just part of being a disciple. (II Timothy 3:12) On the other hand, we should also expect miracles to happen. After all, even the Son of God required human faith to perform miracles. The Bible says,  “He could not do any miracles there, except lay His hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. (Mark 6:5-6) If you are surprised when someone wants to study the Bible with you or wants to or wants to become a disciple, can you claim that you had faith? Great faith is required to produce great miracles. So we cannot be surprised when they actually happen!

IX. Thou Shalt Be Organized And Follow Up

It has been said, “There are four things do not come back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity.” (Ted Chiang, an American writer) The Bible urges us to make the most of every opportunity. (Ephesians 5:16) There is nothing more futile than doing the hard work of sharing your faith, and then wasting the opportunity by failing to follow up.

X. Thou Shalt Be Fired Up Regardless of Results

This is the last, and perhaps most important commandment. It is all too easy to let the ebbs and flows, the ups and downs, and the ins and outs of ministry to affect us emotionally and spiritually. This is something that Jesus warned His disciples sharply about when they reported to Him all that had happened through their evangelistic campaign and efforts. He said, “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 17:20) That simple fact does not change based on the results of our spiritual efforts. It does not change when people are becoming disciples, nor does it change when they are not.

In my experience as an Evangelist, I have gone through times of fruitlessness or “droughts.” It has been in these times “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes that I have always found comfort in the words of Habakkuk, on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”(Habakkuk 3:17-18) Let us always rejoice and find our joy in our God, as He is our Savior, and He will be the Savior of many to come through our evangelism! To Him be all the glory!