2 tips on how to overcome fear of evangelism

How do you respond to a missed Gospel opportunity? You want to share Jesus, but sometimes your feet don’t move. Your mouth fails to open. I have been there, and I’m guessing you have too. 

What if we let God turn our regrets into resolve? 

Two weeks ago, I was at a gas station and sensed the Holy Spirit prompting me to give a Gospel tract to a Muslim man nearby. Grabbing a tract from my dashboard, I slid it into my pocket. Intending to step out in faith, I opened the car door. But my two feet did not respond in obedience to the Holy Spirit’s prompting.

I have to admit, my response was hesitancy and excuses. Filling my gas tank, I just stood there. Excuses piled high in my mind. What will he think of me? What if it’s awkward? I’m tired. Do I really have time? I need to get home to my three young kiddos. I’m already running late. 

Did you hear the common thread through all my excuses? Me, myself and I. 

Like an intense ping pong game, my mind bounced back and forth between deep conviction and selfish, fear-filled excuses. It’s crazy how we can get in our heads, overcomplicating a very simple act of obedience. Deep desire to share the best news ever filled my heart. I saw a simple gospel opportunity before me. Why did my feet not move?

Regret sat with me as I got back into my car, Gospel tract still in my pocket. Immediately, I wished for a greater faith, deeper love and determined attitude. God provided an opportunity. The Holy Spirit prompted. I missed it. 

How do we respond to missed gospel opportunities?

Encouragement #1: God’s got grace and growth for you

Jesus offers grace. We must not wallow in disappointment or self-condemnation. John 1:16 states, “from His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.  ”Remember the Gospel message you are sharing is built on the grace of God. Are you allowing that same grace to work in your heart after a missed opportunity? God’s grace is unearned, undeserved favor freely given to people, not because of anything we have done. 

Let me state the obvious: grace is not a cop-out for sharing the Gospel. God’s grace gives us something so much better. Grace gives us the reminder that nothing we do changes who we are in Christ; we are children of God. We are already saved by grace, not by our works. The reality of grace develops the reality of greater joy in personal evangelism. 

After a missed opportunity, take captive your thoughts. Refuse to allow overthinking or shame to have any place in your mind. Instead, look up to Jesus and think on what is true. Pray for the person you missed a conversation with and look for the next opportunity to initiate a gospel conversation. Friend, I hope you receive God’s grace. But don’t stop there. God also gives us growth. 

Grace without growth in evangelism — creates complacency. Growth without grace creates a striving, self-dependent Gospel proclaiming Christian. God’s got grace and growth for us. We need both! 

If you want to grow in confidence in personal evangelism, remember where your confidence lies. Lest we forget where our sufficiency is found! 2 Corinthians 3:5-6 encourages us in this very thing, “Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant…” 

Let a missed opportunity fuel growth in your personal evangelism. If your evangelism is passive, like floating down the lazy river at the waterpark, you may need to adopt a new growth mentality. Jump in the lap pool! Take on an athlete mentality to train and get some more gospel conversation reps in.

Let’s get practical. Action steps to grow in personal evangelism and questions to initiate conversations:

• Pray regularly for opportunities and boldness to share the Gospel with five people in your life. It’s called Pray5! All the cool kids are doing it. 
• Invite a friend or neighbor to join you at an event or service at church where they are sharing the gospel. After the event, ask, “What are your thoughts on the message you heard?”
• Initiate Gospel conversations:
• After mentioning how you are a Christian. Ask a simple question like, “Do you have a faith?” 
• Ask a family member or friend: “I know you know I’m a Christian, I’m curious, what is it you think I believe?” Listen and respond accordingly. Look for ways to bring in the Gospel. 

God can use you to listen, ask good questions and speak the gospel. Remember, no athlete competing for Christ trains in the lazy river. Grab hold of God’s grace! May we get excited about the ways God can grow us this very week! 

Encouragement #2: Turn regret into resolve

Choose determination over discouragement. Rub shoulders with believers who embody a deep resolve to share the Gospel. Let them spur you on! I’m inspired by the determination of courageous teens I work with every day at Decision Point. They are leading the way in bold evangelism across America and beyond. Refusing to be held back by regret or fear, their resolve to share the Gospel is unmatched. 

Don’t let the devil win you over to discouragement. Instead, firmly put your hope in God. Psalm 42:5 states, “Why, my soul are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put you hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”

Be like David! Stare discouragement in the face. Choose to encourage yourself in your Lord. 1 Samuel 30:6 states, “And David was greatly distressed … but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” 

You know the word of exhortation I needed after that moment at the gas station? “Heather, don’t allow your cowardice of missing a Gospel opportunity to compound. Respond to that regret with resolve. Preach to yourself: “The next door God opens I will be quick to walk through. I will open my mouth. I will start the conversation. I will give away that gospel tract as a gift. I will remember it’s about obedience, not results.”

How did God turn my regret into resolve?

One week later, the Lord fueled my heart with this exact resolve when I sat down in a black, squeaky chair for a haircut. Silently, I prayed for God to give me courage and open the hairdresser’s heart to Jesus. Before the blow-dry ended, I asked her, “Have you ever heard the Gospel?” She began to explain her Catholic upbringing, quickly questioning purgatory. I asked, “Is the gospel you heard one that said you have to be a good enough person to get to heaven?” She nodded. I said clearly, “I believe that’s not true. Can I tell you the true gospel and hope I have in life?” She was eager to hear more. We continued in conversation, and I shared the gospel. Showing the contrast of how no one can be “good enough” to get to heaven, I shared Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”She immediately replied, “That’s so much better!” She wasn’t ready to accept Christ. That’s okay. A seed was planted. As she finished blow-drying my hair, her reflection in the mirror was one of an open heart. 

The Gospel tract left my pocket that day. I placed it in her hand before leaving. She smiled and said, “Thank you!” She was genuinely open to God. I learned in a fresh way — my regrets in evangelism have the opportunity to turn into resolve. Let Acts 20:24 stir up determination in our hearts, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

May we walk with a strengthened resolve to unashamedly share Jesus in everyday life.