Street Witnessing

“And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, ^25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, ^26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”

-2 Tim. 2:24-26

The first couple of times I went street-witnessing, I thought it was I who would lead them to God. I was all ready to go out and debate someone, ready to tear them down and show how stupid they were in what they believed, and to prove to everyone that I was smart. One of my main reasons I wanted to go out and talk to people was to just get into a big argument and win. I had almost completely lost the vision of love and was taken over with pride. But then as I was reading my Bible one day I came upon this verse and it so totally spoke to me.

1. “A servant of the Lord (that’s what I want to be) must not quarrel (there goes my debating theory), but be gentle to all (I have to be nice to these people?) able to teach, patient (I have to really work on that) in humility correcting those in opposition (I have gone about this all wrong!).”
These were my thoughts as I read the first half. God showed me that I was all wrong, isn’t He awesome. Instead of letting me totally flunk, He gives me a good spanking and tells me I was wrong, He humbles me and then He leads me to the truth.

2. God then continues to go on by saying why we do this-“If God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken by him to do his will.”

In Adam we sinned all. We are enslaved to sin and cannot escape it. I, being regenerated and given a new heart, a new soul, wish to share with all those lost souls out there my good news and have the same for them. But the reason we witness is in the hope that they may be the elect. Meaning God uses us to tell the others about Him in the hopes that He may open their eyes. We aren’t the ones who will save them and open their eyes. We can’t fully show them how lost they are. Only God can. It is He who opens their eyes, through us. He uses us, but it’s not us who saves them. I wasn’t going to bring them to Christ, I wasn’t going to tear down their worldview, God would. He uses me to confound the things of this world. I have the privilege to be His servant.

We, who are regenerated and saved from the snares of sin, can, be used by God to share the gospel. The death of Christ is the greatest gift, the grace and love of God is the reason we are alive. This is the reason we street-witness. Not to win a debate or to boast of how many we have lead to Christ. Rather we tell people of the mercy we have received by God through His Son, in hopes that God will open their eyes and raise them from their state of deadness. It’s not about us and never will be, but rather everything is for the glory of God, everything is Sola Deo Gloria. We teach in humility, patience and love, because of the love that has been given to us through the cross.
"For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen." Rom 11:36

Just thought I’d share this :)