Avoiding Discouragement in Evangelism

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

Matthew 28:19-20a

The Great Commission, huh? If you’ve been around the church long at all, you’re more than likely numb to these verses. But let’s presume you’re all lovely obedient followers of Christ, and you heed His call to go and make disciples. Even still, you probably see this task as unfeasible—and not even because you don’t have the willpower to go. You may choose to read your Bible in public, hoping it will strike up conversation. You may be discipling younger believers in your local church. You might have gone on a short-term mission trip to another country, or you might be serving long-term. No matter what capacity you are trying to win souls for Christ, you (more than likely) have felt discouragement over not seeing the fruit of your efforts.

Please, stop. It isn’t about you.

I’m not trying to act like your story of fruitlessness is less important than someone else’s, but I’ve probably met the king of discouragement. This past June, I took a trip to northern Italy. While there, I had the opportunity to serve alongside some of the most God-centered men that I have spent a decent amount of time with. One of the church planters I met there was named Larry. Larry has been serving in the Aosta, Italy area for almost two decades now, and told me that he has performed somewhere (and I may get the number wrong) around twenty baptisms. For almost every single year he has served, he has seen one person come to Christ. Like I said, I am assuming you’re lovely commandment-obeying followers of Christ, so you probably don’t think this is as disheartening as I do. That’s simply an insane number in my eyes. But Larry was not discouraged. He didn’t speak as if his labor was in vain. Instead, I think Larry understood a couple points about evangelism that I haven’t understood until recently.

1. The authority of Scripture is not ours.
If we are preaching God’s Word properly, we should realize that the words we speak aren’t actually our words at all. Right before the Great Commission, Christ speaks, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). He doesn’t say some or most; all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Christ. We couldn’t even have authority if we tried.

2. The power of the Gospel is not ours.
Think about the lordship of Christ: If one chooses to not honor Christ as Lord, Christ is still powerful over him or her, though they may choose to hide themselves from His authority, or give themselves up to earthly authorities alone. The same can be said of the message of the Gospel. Though we labor, it is not our energy being wasted. It isn’t our energy at all; the Gospel does the work for us. The Gospel is powerful, and (as Matt Chandler writes about in chapter 4 of The Explicit Gospel) it demands a response, whether one of acceptance or rejection. The power isn't yours; it’s God’s.

3. The response of the calloused is not ours.
Frequently I find myself equating the negative response other people have to my sharing of the Gospel message to my own spiritual life. According to Romans 9:16, a repentant heart “depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” There’s nothing we can do to draw one to repentance, for only the Father draws (John 6:44). We must make ourselves readily available for God to use as a means of winning souls, but we need not question ourselves when we don’t see repentance.