Evangelism over Email?! Part 2: C (again). October 30th, 2018
- hemadeusalive
- Dec 15, 2018
- 8 min read
I am getting around to writing this a lot later than I thought I would. My apologies! There have been many changes in my life over this past month. To be short and sweet, I will say that I am headed home to America tomorrow, and I am ENGAGED! His name is Zach, and he has been featured in some of my posts (and is probably reading this now… ha!). I ask that you please pray for our relationship as we prepare for marriage. Without further ado, I will begin to tell you about when I shared the Gospel with C (again).
As I have said in my previous post, this is far from my preferred method of sharing the Gospel. I did so with a lot of fear in my heart– a lot can be misinterpreted with written words. I tried very hard to be transparent with my motives in sending this type of email, as well as with the fact that I love this person. Something I have been thinking a lot about during my time abroad is what “speaking the truth in love” means (Eph 4). I know that the Gospel itself is offensive (John 6), so there’s no need to add to it. However, I find that sometimes I have trouble figuring out when I should be more kind and gentle. I wrote this email with those things in mind. I have decided to basically paste this email, just for the sake of transparency. I did not reference personal events or feelings as much as I did in the last email. It was her birthday when I sent it.
“Since I cannot be there to celebrate with you today, I thought I would give you an electronic gift, one that is truly from my heart!!! I know we have talks every once and a while about spiritual things, but I want to let you know that I am praying for you. I have prayed for you for a long time– about a myriad of things! However, my prayer has been and will continue to be first and foremost that the Lord would save you, C.
I know this year has been tough for you. There have been many sad things that have happened, and stressful things too. I am sure I have only heard just the surface of everything that has been happening on the day to day level. I remember when you denounced Christ in March, and when you told me you had re-accepted Him into your heart again to “try things out” in May. I also know that it is polite to take you for your word and to take statements of faith at face-value. I am not insinuating that you are not a Christian because I get great joy out of it, or because I want to put you down and tell you all of the things you are doing wrong, or to infer that I am so much better and holier than you. Please believe me on this, I do not know any other way to prove that to you other than telling you and being completely honest with you. The only reason I am bringing this up to you, on your birthday no less, is because I love you so deeply, C. I do not want to be content in the complacency or afraid of the awkwardness between you and i that may follow when there is a chance that the good news of the gospel will change your whole world.
While reading tonight, I came across Luke 6:46-49, which says “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’, and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great”. This was the passage that made me decide to message you all of this, because I really really really do not want you to be someone who builds your house on sand.
Before, we have talked about sin, and the fact that we need a Savior, and even that there are ways to tell if someone is saved. These ways are not visible morality or intellectual knowledge or even religious involvement. Just because someone refrains from stealing or lying doesn’t mean they are saved, just because someone may know many bible verses does not mean they are saved, and just because someone works in a church ministry like the worship team doesn’t mean they are saved. You feel me? The true proofs of authentic faith are things like repentance of sin, love for God, a certain hunger for God’s Word, and obedient living (as seen in this passage from Luke). I admit that I do not know your inner inner heart, but after our conversation in May where you re-accepted Jesus into your heart, I am not sure that I have seen any of these things. I do not say this to attack you by any means, but I just want to bring this to your attention. This is really important, I cannot stress how important it is.
I know that when we talked about sin, we both agreed that we do not meet the standard that God has set (the Law), meaning that we need a Savior or we would be deserving of hell. Jesus is that Savior, as we have both been told countless times. God does not want to send anyone to hell- in Ezekiel it says that He is not willing that anyone would perish in their sins. He will hurtle people to hell because He must, as a just and righteous God, but that is not what He delights in (Ezekiel says this too). God is kind, and loving, and He is a saving God. God stands ready to save you, and complete forgiveness is available to you. All of your sins, past present and future, can be forgiven. However, there are terms– terms that God sets. The Bible teaches that you must come to God with correct knowledge, correct motive, and a correct response in order to be saved.
“Correct knowledge” seems pretty vague, but it is really just the big summary of what God has revealed about His character, us, and Jesus in the Bible. God is a triune God, meaning that there’s the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He created the world and everything in it, including us. Jesus was born of a virgin, and He kept the laws perfectly and died a horrific death as the sufficient payment for your sins. Jesus rose form the dead and ascended into heaven, where He sits at the right hand of the Father. We are sinful by nature and have violated God’s Laws, and because of that we are deserving of temporal punishment (earthly consequences to our sins like jail) and eternal punishment (hell). We can be forgiven and made clean because of Jesus’s work. This all sounds super cut-and-dry, and I am sure that nothing is new for you here. It may be very well possible that most Americans know most of this knowledge. But knowledge itself is not enough to save, as I mentioned above.
The right motive works with the correct knowledge. You should not become a Christian because you desire the benefits of the faith (joy, peace, comfort, everlasting life, etc.) In fact, the Bible PROMISES trials and suffering BECAUSE of our identity in Christ. We should repent and put our trust in Jesus because He is the source of all good things! If you come seeking the gifts and not the Giver, you will receive neither. Why worship creation when you could worship the Creator? Jesus is God and He is GOOD, very good.
Correct knowledge and the right motive together produce the response. This response is repentance and faith. Repentance simply means “to turn away from”. Imagine we were driving to Texas in the winter because it is warmer (we are old people in this narrative), and I offered to drive because I knew the way. Suddenly, you see a highway sign that says “Canadian border”. We would clearly be going in the wrong direction. Several things would then happen: 1. upon showing me evidence of my error, you undoubtedly want me to agree with you: you are right, and I am wrong. 2. Of course you don’t want me to agree with you and then head in the same direction; you want me to stop. 3. Now that we are pulled safely off the road, you would like a heartfelt apology. 4. Sitting on the side of the road is obviously not where you want to be, so I suspect you want me to turn around. 5. Now that we are headed in the right direction, you don’t want me to just sit there, you want me to start heading to our destination. 6. You want me to keep driving till we get to Texas. I gave that weird example because it is a good example of biblical repentance. When someone sins against you, you expect no less than those things, and so does God. Repentance is not about perfection; repentance is about heading in a new direction. You WILL still commit sins as a Christian– the only sinless one is Christ Himself. However, you will not sin with joy. Faith means that you trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You must believe that He is who He says He is, that He truly suffered, died, and rose from the grave. You must put all of your hope in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. Think of it like this: Jesus is a parachute. If your place were crashing, you wouldn’t merely acknowledge that a parachute could save you; you would put it on!
Will you? Even now, there is no time to delay. You are so young, but any moment could be your last. Four kids at my college in my year have died since I have started school.
Thank you for sticking with me through this email. I hope it did not rub you like sandpaper. I am writing it with all of the love and care I can muster. Please do not be one who builds your house on sand, C. I am continuing to pray for you now. “
I have used Todd Friel’s Don’t Stub Your Toe for reference in this email to detail the correct response to the Gospel. She has since not responded, which is disheartening. However, please pray that she would test my words against Scripture, and that the Lord would save her. I am going to try and reach out to her once I get back to the States, to see if we could talk about it some more. Please pray for her, and pray for me as well. Pray that the Lord would continue to sanctify me, that I would stop fearing man and that I would be able to communicate the Gospel with gentleness and kindness. Thank you all for reading!
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