By Sally Dyck
Women are natural evangelists! What I mean is that women are quick to share with each other—with their mothers and sisters and daughters, with their best friends and even co-workers—what is deep in their hearts. Deep in their hearts can be joy and gladness; deep in their hearts can be sorrow and pain.
So when women are filled with good news, excitement, or deep interest in something, such as what God is doing in their lives, I find that women talk about it a lot! Maybe not publicly, standing in front of a large group and pontificating about their religious beliefs, but over cups of coffee, in book groups (whether the book is “religious” or not), and even in line at the grocery store.
But I doubt that many of these women who talk about their faith over coffee, in book groups, or in grocery lines would raise their hand if you asked, “Who here has an evangelistic heart?” But they might raise their hands if they understood that “evangelism” isn’t preaching like Billy Graham or buttonholing someone with the question, “Have you been saved?” Evangelism means reaching others for Christ through having a conversation that shares the love and grace of Jesus with them. Sometimes we use our words, and sometimes our actions speak louder than our words.
An evangelistic heart is one that is sincerely interested and excited about being a person who is on a journey of faith. Some would describe it as having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, but others might express it as a journey with others toward God. An evangelistic heart doesn’t kick anyone off the journey because they express their experience differently!
An evangelistic heart is interested in how other people experience and express their faith in God, and the best way to do that is to talk to them about it. That means the subject of God seems to come up in conversations naturally, regardless of whether or not the person goes to your church, or how well you know the person, or even if they would describe themselves as Christian. Just as it’s natural to talk about the weather, which is everywhere and constantly impacting us, why wouldn’t we talk about God, who is everywhere, all the time?
An evangelistic heart is also a heart that is broken. A heart that breaks is part of what happens when we journey with Jesus. An evangelistic heart breaks for the people in this world who suffer physically, emotionally, spiritually, and any other way that we can suffer.
Someone with an evangelistic heart might be accused of being a “bleeding heart,” and if that’s the case for you just say, “Why, thank you! That’s the nicest thing anyone’s said about me today!”
God’s heart breaks for those in need and breaks when our hearts don’t seem to care. An evangelistic heart beats for the kid never picked on the team, the mothers whose children precede them in death for any reason, the homeless man on thestreet corner . . . the list goes on.
An evangelistic heart has a passion—at least one—for people in need and does what she can to reach out.
A person with an evangelistic heart is a beautiful person . . .like you.
Have you ever had such good news that you couldn’t wait to tell your mother, sister, friend, co-worker, the woman on the bus, anyone because it was so wonderful? What was it, and who did you tell?
Let us dare to live and love our lives away for God! Let us actively seek to live a life reaching others for Christ. Let us ask ourselves, “What is the reach of God in my life? Was there a part of me one day that decided He had enough of me? Did I decide I was doing enough, speaking enough, praying enough, serving enough? Did I say thus far and no further?” Will we dare whisper, “Reach deeper, Lord, reach further. Reach down until I know You at a depth I’ve never known You before”? Out of such yearning can come a fresh vision and renewed commitment to Jesus and His cause that will result in those around us catching fire. Once we are exceedingly reached ourselves, we will see God reach others at a life-changing depth too.
~ Love, Jill Briscoe