Fear and Faith at the Doorstep

In my experience training members across the globe in both personal and public evangelism, a consistent theme has emerged, regardless of culture or geography: Fear is one of the primary barriers to evangelism.

According to a study in which more than 1,600 Christians were asked why they don’t share their faith, 22 percent responded that fear was the limiting factor. And yet the Bible has a plethora of promises encouraging us not to fear!

God’s Word reminds us that godly love “has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love” (1 John 4:18, NLT).[1]

In this article I will address some common and legitimate fears that people have raised in my seminars, and solutions that I have offered to help reassure, restore, and revive their faith in evangelism and personal witness.

Define the Mission

One person asked: What if, in the middle of sharing my heart and my faith, the other person does not accept what I have to say?

No matter how well and lovingly you may present the gospel, people have the right to accept or reject what is shared with them. We must remember that even Jesus was rejected when He came to this earth.

We must be clear on what our job is and what our calling is not. Our calling is to share with others the good news. We do the sharing; the Holy Spirit does the converting. It is the power of God that draws people to Him. We are His vessels.

If you have faithfully shared the gospel with others, allow space for them to make a decision. They may refuse to accept what you have shared at that time, but sometime later in life the Holy Spirit will bring it back to their remembrance.

No matter how well and lovingly you may present the gospel, people have the right to accept or reject what is shared with them.

Do not be easily discouraged when a person chooses to reject what you share; persevere and endure. “He who endures to the end shall be saved” (Matt. 24:13).

Failure and Success

Another question frequently asked is What if I fail in sharing the gospel and make a huge mistake?

It’s amazing how God can turn failure into success for His glory.

The Bible is replete with people who failed. Adam and Eve failed. Moses failed. Noah failed. Peter failed. Failure is a part of life on this sinful earth. People have been failing since Eden. It’s a universal phenomenon. “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity” (Prov. 24:16).

It’s not the failures that ought to determine and define us, but how we respond to those failures.

The difference between a just man and a wicked man in Proverbs is that when a just man falls or fails, he seeks help. He seeks forgiveness and repentance. And through this process he rises and emerges. When the wicked person fails, he doesn’t seek help. Therefore, he doesn’t rise again.

The same can be applied to sharing your faith. When you feel as if you have failed, don’t let that determine your future. Get up, learn, and move on. Don’t be afraid of failures and mistakes; learn from them and move on.

One of my favorite quotes is this: “Remember this. If you have made mistakes, you certainly gain a victory if you see these mistakes and regard them as beacons of warning. Thus you turn defeat into victory, disappointing the enemy and honoring your Redeemer.”[2]

The Bible speaks of two major mistakes Joshua made during the early conquest of Canaan: the premature attack on Ai and the league with the deceptive Gibeonites (Joshua 7:2-5; 9:3-27). Joshua and the elders of Israel were so distraught over the defeat at Ai that they rent their clothes and put dust on their heads (Joshua 7:6). 

Don’t let fear outweigh the possibility of someone’s redemption.

 God had a low tolerance for this discouragement, apparently, for He commanded Israel’s leader, “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?” (verse 10). Another version says, “The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?’ ” (NIV)..

I like what George Bernard Shaw says: “A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” Joshua had erred in doing as he did, but once the error was confessed and forsaken, it was time for action. 

Don’t Hold Back

A final fear people often express is: What if someone asks a question I cannot answer?

If someone asks a question you cannot answer, then simply say, “I do not know. Let me try to find an answer for you, and let’s talk again.” This provides another opportunity to share the gospel and reveals honesty, humility, sincerity, respect, and care.

You can also respond by saying, “That’s a good question. But to tell you the truth, I’ve not thought about that one before. Give me a little time to think about it and research what the Bible has to say. Is that OK?”

It’s OK to admit that you don’t know the answer. Better do that than come up with something that may be totally wrong.

Don’t let fear outweigh the possibility of someone’s redemption. Be of good courage, because God has already promised that His Word shall go forth and not return unto Him void, but will accomplish that which He pleases.

[1] Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

[2] Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1900, 1941), p. 332.