By Larry Rosenbaum
This past week I asked two pastors why it is so hard to get Christians involved in evangelism. Both pastored churches which were very much involved in street ministry 15 years ago. Today, few of their members are involved in evangelism of any kind. They gave several reasons for this. One main reason was economics. Over the past 15 years, there has been a great increase in the number of church families in which both parents work and in which the husband works overtime in order to pay their bills. Many families are heavily in debt and are trying desperately to catch up. They barely have time to attend Sunday morning service and possibly a home fellowship. Many say there is no time for anyng else.
While the stock market is (as I write) at a record high and the politicians boast about our wonderful economy, this economic success has come at a price. When I was growing up, most families lived on a single paycheck. We thought that in the future, as automation took over the workplace, we would have more leisure time. Because of technology, the average work week had decreased from 80 to 60 to 40 hours. We expected it to continue to decrease to 30 or even 20 hours. For a number of reasons, this did not happen. Today, most families need two paychecks to maintain their standard of living.
As Christians, how do we relate this new “economic reality” to our responsibility to fulfill the Great Commission? For some Christians, their increased prosperity had led to increased support for world missions. But giving is only one part of our responsibility as Christians. We are also personally responsible to bring the gospel to others.
Some Christians find that they have many opportunities to witness in their daily lives–at work, to their neighbors and friends, while riding the bus, etc. However, most Christians rarely witness in their everyday lives. They need to set aside time to witness–on the streets, door-to-door, at prisons and nursing homes, etc. But where do we find the time?
One thing we need to consider is simplifying our lives. The Bible says that “Godliness with contentment is great gain….And having food and clothing let us be content” (1 Tim. 6:6,8). Our actual needs are few. We need food, clothing, and shelter. But advertisers spend billions of dollars trying to convince us we need a brand new car, a new computer, the latest fashions in clothing, and so on. Many Christians work overtime or go into debt to purchase these things. We don’t want to deprive us or our children of anything material. Our children need us to spend time with them, teaching them God’s ways, much more than they need us to spend lots of money on them.
Our time is our most valuable asset. God will hold us accountable for how we use our time. Should we spend extra hours at work trying to support a lifestyle we don’t need and God does not want us to have? Then, when we come home from work, we are too tired and stressed out to spend time with the Lord, our family, our church, or reaching the lost. “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” Eph. 5:15-17.
One pastor gave another reason why few Christians witness: we have left our first love. We need to fall in love with Jesus again. If we love Him, we will want to tell others about Him. The sacrifices we must make to do this will seem small.
