Have you ever had a sense that you were to go talk to a random stranger about Jesus? Maybe they were sitting alone in a booth at the restaurant, or on a bench at the park, or sitting at the gate waiting for their flight, or whatever. Oh, you weren’t thinking about blasting in on them with the Four Spiritual Laws, but you felt the urge to strike up a dialogue that could possibly lead to a spiritual conversation.
The next time that happens, can I encourage you to pursue that urging? It will take courage and you will have to overcome a hundred rationalizations why doing it would be so wrong, but do it. It is not an urging, it is a prompting from the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, there is nothing random about it. Since it is the Spirit prompting you to be his mouthpiece, it is entirely strategic. And that is no stranger with whom you will be speaking; it is someone who matters to God and whom he has chosen for a kingdom purpose.
If you will accept this assignment, all you have to do is walk through the open door—if it opens. If it doesn’t, move on, you have been obedient. If it cracks a little wider, plant a seed. If it leads to an invitation, have that spiritual conversation. Just respond in the moment with obedience and watch God do the rest.
Philip, a layman in the early church, had one of those “promptings”. He followed it and struck up a conversation with a man who happened to be an important official in the Ethiopian government. He saw the man was actually reading from the Book of Isaiah and Philip asked him a brilliant question: “Do you have any idea what that means?” The man said, “Uh-uh…don’t have a clue!” And that began a very strategic spiritual conversation—although Philip had no idea how important it would be when he first followed that prompting.
It is likely that the conversion of this Ethiopian official planted the first seed of Christianity in a nation that is now 84 million people, of which 18% (some reports say the percentage is even higher) are born-again believers. A veritable revival is currently taking place in that nation with signs, wonders, miracles and church growth akin to the book of Acts. It is very much within the realm of possibility that one day soon all of Ethiopia will happily surrender to Jesus Christ.
Might we say it all started with a prompting—and a believer who obediently and faithfully followed that prompting? I think so!
Following your prompting may not turn out to be that dramatic, but then again, Philip had no idea that his encounter would lead to the salvation of a nation. He simply responded to the Spirit.
How about you and I do what Philip did—and leave the rest up to God.
“Evangelism is not a professional job for a few trained men, but is instead the unrelenting responsibility of every person who belongs to the company of Jesus.” ~Elton Trueblood