Lifestyle Evangelism is . . . Unconditional Love.

One important principle in being mission-minded is that of having unconditional love. Your circle of friends and family may at times be suspect of your caring for them. To the non-Christian, caring is usually done with strings attached as almost every other gimmick in the secular world. You may find your family, friends and loved ones making a statement like, “Even if I do not accept your religion, will you still love me?” That statement cuts deep into the heart, but for the non-Christian, it is a fair statement. In our own way we need to let them know that, yes, we will still love them without making them feel guilty about accepting our “religion.” Only in not attaching strings to our love and not trying to make them feel guilty do we show true, unconditional love. This principle is extremely difficult to follow, and do need God’s continued guidance and strength to exercise this type of unconditional love.

Another important principle in being witness-minded is that of patience. We cannot force a decision, conversion, or faith on anyone. We can talk until we are blue in the face and it could make great sense to us, but we are not the ones doing the converting, putting the faith in their hearts. The Holy Spirit is the one who gives/works faith in hearts when and where He pleases.

As we patiently wait on the Holy Spirit to do His work, we continue to pray for our family, friends and loved ones. We continue to live our lives as a witness to the faith we have in us. And we continue to introduce our circle of friends and family to other members of our congregation and involve them in church-related activities.

As we can see, being witness-minded can be a tough, taxing experience, but it can also be very rewarding as the Holy Spirit works through us to bring His Word to His people. And we do God’s will, giving glory to the Lord for the souls He saves.

36 of 52 © Rev. Ronald A. Bogs