The holiday season is upon us! For some, this means more days off work and more time with family. And if you have unbelieving family members, the joy of celebrating Christmas can be mixed with anxiety and hopeful expectation—this is perhaps the best time of year to talk about Jesus.
After all, there are songs on mainstream radio proclaiming the birth of a King, whom people are coming to adore, a Saviour who can save us all from Satan’s power. This is the time of year when people are most open to going to a church service or watching your kids sing in a Christmas program. Yet, even during this special time of year, sharing the gospel with family can be difficult. Why? We’re up against some tough obstacles (just to name a few):
- Our world is fallen.
- People are slaves to sin.
- The Devil is not sitting idly by as we tell people to turn from darkness to the light of Christ.
- There can be challenging family dynamics or strained relationships.
(adapted from Bringing the Gospel Home)
Evangelism is never really comfortable, natural, or easy. And that’s not the goal of evangelism anyway. Rather, “[the goal is] evangelism that heralds accurately and powerfully the goodness of the gospel—regardless of the difficulty for us proclaiming it or the resistance from those who hear it,” explains Randy Newman, author of ‘Bringing the Gospel Home.’
Randy Newman who is a converted Jew tells of his struggles to bring the gospel home to his Jewish family, and provides helpful insights in what is often a difficult task for us and yet one we long to fulfil, a task of love for the Lord and for those near and dear to us.
I have read the first chapter as I write this, which gives a balanced biblical view, and therefore a high view, of the family which is so essential for evangelism, followed with some practical implications and pointers for us in relating to non-Christian family members.
Crossways is making an electronic version of this available free to download this Christmas (in 3 formats – pdf, mobi (kindle) and ePub). Go to http://www.crossway.org/blog and look for the link. I encourage you to download a free copy.