The Terrifying Puffball of Dandelion Evangelism

Evangelism scares the you-know-what out of people. If you want to see beads of sweat drip down most any believers head, mention that you are setting up an evangelism evening and that you’re going to go out and share the gospel…and that they are invited!!

Wont that be fun?

Want to go door to door with me handing out these tracts?!  Woohoo!

WANT TO STAND AT THE BUS STATION AND READ THE BIBLE?!

Ok.

I am a little scared now.

Anyway.

That fear of evangelism is probably why many churches have evangelism committees, great commission committees, or home mission committees. I’ve spent close to 7 years of my life on a “Home Mission Committee,’ in one capacity or another.  If we strip it all away and boil it down to one sentence that these committees are all about, it is this: the committee is mandated by the church to stimulate the congregation to their duty in sharing the gospel.

The main role is one of encouraging the saints to share the joy they have in Christ Jesus.

Yet…

These committees spend an inordinate amount of time focusing on other things like setting up play dates and coffee socials, baby bottle drives, soup kitchen duties, and social justicey things, or doing the job of evangelizing themselves.

What about the gospel?

What about sharing it?

What about the rest of us?

No amount of our setting up garage sales, or VBS, or hot dog sales, or pancake breakfasts or book sales, or baking sales or the church landing page, or host families, or discussing  how the ushers smile and seat people or anything that brings people into the church basement for a few hours is going to encourage YOU to share the gospel.  These are good things, don’t get me wrong…but this is not about those things.

Our duty is to share the gospel, not play games with it, or dress it up, or hold fundraising meals in the hopes of someone coming along that we can talk to.

 

Evangelism is simply sowing the seed. That is what Jesus compares it too in Luke 8. Any of us can sow seed.

You can do it.

No Really! You can!

Sowing seed literally means just scattering seeds on the ground.  Grab a handful and throw!

YOU DON’T NEED A COMMITTEE TO DO IT FOR YOU!

Ahem.

Have you ever watched a little girl blow a dandelion puff ball in the wind?  It’s that easy!  And you never know where one of those seeds will grow.  We have all seen dandelions growing in cracks in the sidewalk.  I have one growing in the crack by our garage.  Somehow that seed got there and grew…probably some little girl just decided to set a puffball free.

You don’t need to be a preacher.  You don’t even need to be that all good on making words. I for sure ain’t.

But God is.

And it’s just His Words we are using.

So simple.

Share the word… God doesn’t need garage sales or pancake breakfasts. He doesn’t need gifted orators or debaters. He has chosen you to be his tool.  Just as much as he has chosen your pastor to be your preacher.

All it takes is one little sentence, one little conversation, one little toss, one little blow, and the Holy Spirit can take that dandelion seed of the gospel and plant it in places you never ever imagined it could grow.

So how can you set a dandelion puffball free? It doesn’t have to be complicated. Simply mention Jesus in conversation. Invite unbelievers for dinner and read the Bible and pray.  Invite a friend to church. Sure you can stand at the bus stop ad preach, or go door to door, but it doesn’t have to be that intimidating – and most of us are not cut out for that.

Just sow a seed.

And remember its not about you or me. We don’t make anything grow. Just like the little girl doesn’t make the dandelion grow in the sidewalk crack, we don’t do the converting.

Just speak the Word.

Scatter some seed.

Pick up that dandelion and blow.