I want to share with you something that is a growing conviction of mine about evangelism and apologetics and I want to exhort you to strongly consider adopting this conviction as your own. I think many of us; myself included, have been largely wasting our time and being ineffective in our ministry as evangelists and apologists. I think we need to repent of that and march forward with new strength and fervor in to evangelism and apologetics.
Colossians 4:2-6 tells us to:
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. 5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
If you are at all like me, and I have a hunch many of you are, then you’ve been bombing it in regard to these commands. You haven’t been very prayerful about evangelism for those out there in the field doing it right now nor for God to open doors for you to do it yourself. If this isn’t true of you then *High Five* my friend. I know that I am terrible about relying on my own strength and cleverness and that I am self-centered and pray only for myself and those closest to me for the most part. I mean when was the last time I prayed for God to break open shut doors for my brothers and sisters in China or the Middle East that they might have the opportunity for the gospel to go forth in power? Sure, I have said a prayer here and there after being convicted by a news story about persecution, but I don’t faithfully pray about that regularly. I repent.
But that’s not primarily what I want to talk to you about. My main point, the conviction that is growing within me, that I hope to persuade you of as well is that we are not walking in wisdom towards outsiders and especially that we are not “making the best use of our time.” At least a whole lot of us are not. What I mean is that we need to stop wasting our time on the internet and arguing with lost people on blog comments sections and forums and Facebook and Twitter (for the love of all that is good and holy Twitter is the worst place to have a meaningful conversation anyway).
I know some of you are recoiling as you read this but please hear me out. Hear what I amsaying as well as what I am not saying.
What I am saying is that much of the time we spend interacting with people on the internet is a complete waste of time and is unwise. Who do you find yourself engaging with on the internet in long discussions for the most part? Is it people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say or is someone who is antagonistic towards the Christian faith from square one? I find that the real crime here is that many of us who are gifted as apologists and evangelists are wasting our time trying to till ground that is made up of stone rather than tilling ground that is fertile and has the potential to bear fruit.*
Why are we wasting our time on people who are trolling the internet looking to pick fights? Tell me you haven’t spent hours talking, arguing, and banging your head against the wall with people like this and, if that’s so, then maybe you don’t need to read any further. But if you know what I am talking about because you have spent countless hours interacting with people who aren’t interested in a real conversation in the first place then this is for you. STOP IT! Just stop it. You’re are not being wise and you are not making the best use of your time.
You have been spending way too much time on people who have already made up their mind that they are not going to listen and they are never going to believe. They are looking for you because they want to waste your time and they hope they can create unbelief in you and others. They are vile and worthless creatures who have concluded life is meaningless and miserable and they want to take you and everyone else down with them.** These are the guys (and gals) who have read the counter-apologetics books and have pictures of Richard Dawkins on their bedroom walls. They are committed to an anti-God ideology and they are on the hunt for people like you and me to not listen to and simply waste our time.
And they do. They are very good at wasting our time, aren’t they? It’s not that their arguments are superior (rarely are they even any good) but it’s that they’ve decided not to listen and they simply want to tell you why you’re an idiotic, homophobic, anti-scientific, flat-earth toting, unicorn believing lunatic. There is no reasoning with people who already believe that about you before you’ve said a word. But you’ve tried to haven’t you? I know I have. I have wasted a lot of time on people like that. But I’ve decided to stop it. You should to.
So the first thing that I am saying is to stop wasting your time. Now here is the first thing I am not saying.
I am not saying to stop having an online presence in evangelism and apologetics. Actually I think we should be working towards an increased presence online as Christian apologists. You should have a website/blog where you put forward intriguing articles that argue the Christian worldview in powerful and persuasive ways. You should share those articles on Facebook and Twitter. You should create Youtube videos and make your case for Christ unashamedly for the whole world to see and find as they search on Google “Does God exist?” and “Did Jesus really rise from the dead?” Get busy!
Have a way for people who are seriously interested to contact you privately through email so that you can help people who really need and want it. But don’t be afraid to tell people, if they are trolls, that you’re not going to waste your time with them (do it with gentleness and respect though…probably avoid the word “troll”). You’re time and God-given ability is too precious to waste on those who have set themselves against reason and will not give an ear to your case. But you can have real and meaningful exchanges with people online, just make sure you’re spending your time on those who really want to talk and listen and not on those other guys. By disabling comments on your blog and Youtube channel and by not getting drawn into endless exchanges on Facebook and Twitter you will be so much more free to be productive and to make the best use of your time and walk wisely towards outsiders. Give them a place where they can reach out to you privately and I promise you that it will cut out 80-90% of the trolls. Trolls want an audience, not a conversation. Be willing to talk to real people, but trolls are not real people.
Finally let me give you one more what I am saying. I am saying get off your butt. Yep. Get off your butt, shut off your computer and go outside and share the gospel. You see the people you fight with online are those who are looking for a fight and who have tried to inoculate themselves against what you’re going to say to them, but they aren’t normal people. Normal people haven’t heard of the Cosmological argument or the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Normal people are open to a discussion about God and the evidence for him and for the Bible and the Jesus of the Bible. A whole lot of normal people out there have never really even heard the gospel at all. While you are sitting on your butt arguing with people who have heard it, rejected it and now have devoted their lives to trashing and mocking Christians there are a ton of normal people who would hear you, listen to you, ask real questions and want real answers and who would respond to the gospel if you bothered to share it with them.
Do you see what I am saying? You haven’t been wise towards outsiders and you aren’t making the most of your time. The level of giftedness God has given you, and the education you have acquired is being wasted on endless debates on your computer when it could be translated into gospel empowered, life transforming, disciple making in your community. Why slam your head against deaf walls when you can speak the gospel to open ears? Get up! Go! Start building relationships with people in your community. Go to the same place, restaurant, gas station, whatever, all the time and get to know people there, build friendships and start gospel conversations with them. Take a class at the community college to learn something and make relationships with non-Christian classmates and professors and share the gospel. Go to Walmart and when you realize someone is standing next to you in the aisle say “Hi, I know this might seem a strange place to ask this question but… what do you think about Jesus?” God will do amazing things with that if you’ll get off your butt and get out into the harvest fields.
I’m convinced that some of the most capable evangelists and apologists are wasting their time and Satan is winning a war that he should be losing. Stop arguing with 3% of the population that has poised themselves against you intentionally and go meet the 97% who might be open to hearing you out! I also think that a lot of you are discouraged and you feel like what you do is not making a difference. Some days you are flat out depressed and feel like giving up. It’s because of these very same reasons. If you will get out there and get to work in the fertile fields you will come alive and you will feel so much better. God will use you and you will bear much fruit.
So, in summary, stop wasting your time on those who have hardened themselves against the gospel, do have a fruitful online presence but don’t take time for trolls, and get out into the three dimensional world and share the gospel and find just how fruitful you can be. As Jesus said in Matthew 9:37-38 “Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
*It’s true that even some of the most hardened and obnoxious atheists can still be saved. You want them to be reached. Good. Share the gospel with them plainly and then walk away. Point them to a book or two about their objections. If they are sincerely interested in the truth there is an abundance of resources for them. But if you give these people your time beyond pointing them to Jesus, the Bible and a few good books to read I promise you this will zap all of your time where you could have been more productive.
**This may seem a bit harsh to call people vile and to say that their lives are meaningless but it’s true of some people. First if God doesn’t exist then none of our lives have any objective meaning and it is usually atheists who are the worst trolls out there and if they accept the end conclusion of their own worldview then they should not be offended that I acknowledge their life as being meaningless. Furthermore I would say that these kind of people are behaving like “vile and worthless creatures” because they have made their mission in life to make others just as unhappy and miserable as they are and they often achieve it. Not all non-Christians would get such harsh words from me but people who prowl the internet seeking to destroy other people’s faith and offer no hope of any kind to offer in its place are simply what I have said, vile and worthless.
