The Stress Of Evangelism

Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)—

‘But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.’

Confession time: I am the sort of person who gets stressed out by evangelism. This is particularly bad because evangelism is part of my job. Sorry. The issue is that I worry about what to say and what answers to give to difficult questions, and I worry that I might not have the right thing to say and might put someone off Jesus altogether. I worry that I might not be able to articulate eloquently who Jesus is and what he has done, and that I won’t be able to convey the amazing person he is, and the amazing salvation, hope, future and freedom we can find in him.

However, what Galatians 5 reminds me is that the fruit of the Spirt is a witness to the wonder and the goodness of Jesus. In the fruit of the Spirit we find a list of the characteristics of Jesus that we see on display throughout the gospels, and a list of what is available to us, living in the Spirit.

As someone who finds evangelism stressful, I am encouraged that the fruit of the Spirit offers a blueprint of life with Jesus. As Henri Nouwen puts it, 'The way God's Spirit manifests itself most convincingly is through its fruit: love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control. These fruits speak for themselves. It is therefore always better to raise the question “How can I grow in the Spirit?' rather than the question “How can I make others believe in the Spirit?'

I don’t have to worry about making others believe in the Spirit: cultivating the fruit of the Spirit is one of the best ways I can witness for Christ to the world around me; I can trust that a life producing this fruit will point people to Jesus.

Reflect—Read one of your favourite stories of Jesus in the gospels. What fruits does he display?

Prayer— Gracious Lord, please grow the fruit of the Spirit in me.