stop trying, start living

I recently read this article on servant evangelism and it was along the lines of a conversation I had with a friend this past week.  As Christians, we sometimes make things more complicated than they should be.  The opening line of the article says :

Stop Trying, Start Living

A lot could be said from that.  We tend to make excuses for our life, blaming our lack of maturity and fruitfulness on our circumstances or background or busyness or the difficulty of it.  But if there’s something we should be doing, then just do it!  I know, it’s hard and we’re busy, but God will help us, and we all have the same amount of time per day — it’s just that some people make better use of their time and thus accomplish more.  (Yes, I’m preaching at myself too!)

The main point of the article was on evangelism, to which the same concept applies — stop trying, start living.  There’s not some big, complicated formula to follow, nor are there all these rules of do this and don’t do that.  We don’t need training (though I have no problem with getting trained — I think we should).  We don’t need money or other material things.  We just need to be willing to.  By that I mean willing enough that we’ll actually go out and witness.  A witness is someone who tells what they saw and/or experienced.  You just tell people about what God has done in your life and what you’ve heard about Him.  (Of course, you need to have an active relationship with Jesus to have something to testify of.)

All Christians are called to be a witness for Jesus.  (See Matthew 28:18-20.)  It doesn’t require special talents.  There’s no excuse for not doing it.  As the article says, “Live your life by being yourself as you are walking in God’s Spirit.”  Do what you know you should be doing.  You may not know all the specifics of God’s will, but you know some, just from reading the Bible.  And going into the world and making disciples is one of the things we are all called to do.