Force-Feeding Faith

The other day, as I sat in my car, I watched a woman who was diligently handing out religious tracts in front of the grocery store. With a serious look on her face she placed the unwanted tract into the hands of the defenseless passersby; she began to feel more empowered by this feat so she quickly changed locations and stood at the door of the liquor store. This, being a Saturday night, the place was abundant with even more victims of Satan that needed to be saved by her impersonal attempt at evangelism.

I watched her shove the tracts into the hands of the unwilling recipients as they graciously nodded their heads while cramming the unwanted paper in their pocket. I could see that she was becoming increasingly excited by her newest mission; her chest begin to stick out and she became even more aggressive. I could practically hear her boasting to her sisters at Sunday morning bible study,"Well honey let me tell you what I did for the Lord on Saturday!! I handed out 100 tracts to the lost souls as they walked into the LIQUOR STORE!! I was BOLD and just walked right up to the front door, no one got past me without the Word of God!! Each time a seed was planted and I know the Word will not return void...mmm--hmm HALLELUJAH!!!" 

I remember being that "zealot" walking the streets forcing my beliefs onto others because I thought that was evangelism. All the while I was rehearsing my success story in my head, anxious to tell everyone what I had done in the Lord's Name. I remember patting myself on the back for "doing the Lord's work" and being so pleased with my actions... As I sat in my car that night, I asked myself, "What were you thinking?"

In Mark 4 Jesus tells the parable of the sower:

“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”.v 3-8

...As I watched this scene unfold that night, this parable was going off in my spirit. It was as if I could hear the Lord say, "STOP sowing seed by the wayside, you're  tossing it onto stones!" In this parable Jesus uses sowing and reaping to illustrate the powerful truth that a heart must be ready to receive the Word. It takes time and and preparation before a heart can accept the Word.  Jesus was clearly showing us that, in order to be a sower of seed, we had to first become a caretaker of the land. A good sower knows when the land is ready for the seed because they have spent countless hours caring and preparing it with lots of TLC.

I watched each person, as they crammed the unwanted tract into their pockets, get frustrated with the invasive sower. I remember thinking, "They think she's crazy and this is NOT inspiring them to come to Jesus."  I'm certain that the woman's intentions were sincere, and she felt as if she was bringing about change, and doing God's work, but this was completely ineffective and counterproductive.

We live in a microwave society where we expect things to happen instantaneously. Everything is fast and convenient ..everything except evangelism. If we expect to be effective as sowers, we have to make sure the heart is ready... Evangelism is not putting a tract in someone's hand, never seeing them again. Evangelism is a commitment to love that person as Christ does...it is that love that makes the heart receptive and pliable...Evangelism is relationship


When we try to force-feed the Word into people they immediately spit it out and it leaves a bad taste in the mouths. (I don't know about you, but once something has made me sick, I NEVER want to eat it again)



Over the years, I have found, that people will let you know when they're ready to hear the Word. #permissionevangelism

Just Bb