Overcoming Challenges in Evangelism

We live in a time of confusion. The world is looking for answers in the wrong places without any success or fulfillment. The solution is found in the proclaiming of the Gospel as it is still "the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16). Every follower of Jesus Christ is called to proclaim the good news to the world. However, evangelism often comes with its own set of challenges. Some common obstacles to effective evangelism include spiritual opposition, lack of personal example from leaders, insufficient training, and limited evangelism strategies. Here we will discuss some biblical solutions to overcome them. 

One primary obstacle is spiritual opposition to the gospel. The enemy does not want people to hear and receive the truth, but prayer is a powerful weapon against this. Jesus emphasized the importance of prayer in evangelism, stating, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest" (Matthew 9:37-38). We should pray for more people to be involved in kingdom work, for opportunities to proclaim the gospel, for boldness in our witness, for the rapid spread of the message and for people to be saved. The Apostle Paul frequently requested prayer support for his evangelistic efforts, as seen in Colossians 4:3-4 ("At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ...") and Ephesians 6:19-20 ("and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel").

Another obstacle is the lack of personal examples from leaders. Pastors and church leaders must model personal evangelism. As Paul wrote, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). When leaders actively engage in proclaiming their faith, it inspires and encourages others to do the same. Many churches also struggle with creating a sustainable process for evangelism training. It is not enough to have a one-time workshop; ongoing, long-term training processes are needed. Paul instructed Timothy to "entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2). This principle of multiplication should guide our evangelism training efforts. 

We also often fail to employ a variety of evangelism strategies. Consider using invitational strategies (inviting people to hear the gospel), engagement strategies (sending believers into the community), and relational strategies (deploying Christians to proclaim their faith in their everyday environments). The Psalmist invites people to "Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul" (Psalm 66:16). Jesus commands us to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19) and reminds us that we are "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the world" (Matthew 5:13-14).

By addressing these obstacles with biblical solutions, we can enhance our evangelistic efforts and more effectively proclaim the life-changing message of the Lord Jesus Christ. Evangelism is not a task for just a select few; it is a calling for every believer. Let us pray for God's guidance and strength as we seek to fulfill this important mission for the glory of God.