Red Apple Evangelism

This week, I had the joy of leading a new friend into a personal relationship with Christ. This marks the first of what I trust will be many stories of new spiritual life through faithful proclamation of the gospel at New City Church. It is his story to tell, so I don’t want to steal his thunder. I believe there will soon be an appropriate time for him to share his testimony and be baptized as the public profession of his faith.  

But I’m amazed at how God is always at work drawing people to himself and allowing us to join him in the process. A few weeks ago, my new friend accepted an invitation to attend the first “Prayer and Praise” service of our new church plant. The next day, I “randomly” ran into him at the gym, where he greeted me and told me how much he enjoyed the service. Over the next couple of weeks, circumstances in his life had become increasingly difficult, yet he said God had been sending him messages to get his attention. 

I invited him to meet me for breakfast. When he sat down, it wasn’t long before he humbly opened up his life to me. I shared with him the priority of getting his vertical relationship right with God before addressing other areas. I told him about Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, in which he said, “You must be born again.” Although he had been in and out of church, he said he had never heard that he must be born again in order to see the kingdom of God. By the time we finished our last piece of bacon, he had a new spiritual birthday, having confessed his sin to Christ and trusting his work on the cross alone for salvation. 

In our last core group meeting, I shared about “Red Apple Evangelism.” That is the understanding that God is the one who ripens a heart to respond to the good news of the gospel. And he often does it through a crisis of some sort. Most of us who have been saved can share about how God brought us to the end of ourselves through painful circumstances before we cried out to him. That is how God ripens a green apple and prepares it to be harvested. This is what Jesus meant in John 4:35 when he said, “The fields are white for harvest.” We don’t need to wait. We just need to open our eyes to the people all around us who are ready to hear the good news of Jesus. 

Who do you know who is experiencing loneliness, a financial crisis, a relational conflict, or a health challenge? It may be that God is using all of those difficulties to convince them that life is not working for them without a vertical relationship with God. God has placed you in their lives to share your story of faith and Christ’s story of salvation.

I first learned how to effectively share the gospel through a 17-week course called Evangelism Explosion offered at my local church. I was a 16-year-old junior in high school and had only been a Christian for a little over a year. It involved memorizing about 30 scriptures, a five-point outline, several illustrations, and questions to initiate gospel conversations. That framework empowered me to boldly share my faith with anyone who would listen. And, to my amazement, some of my friends and teammates at school actually prayed to receive Christ on the spot after I shared the gospel with them. It was contagious. The more I shared, the bolder I became

But as I’ve gotten older, more theologically educated, and more “mature”, I think I’ve overcomplicated evangelism. As a result, I’ve lacked boldness. It’s not about the perfect approach, apologetic arguements, or building relational capital as much as it is about boldness. Honestly, I was a bolder, more effective evangelist as a 16-year-old than I am now. 

Leading my friend to Christ over breakfast last week has renewed my desire to be a Red Apple Evangelist. As I move into a new community to start a new church, I know I will be surrounded by new people whom God is preparing to hear the gospel. Join me in responding to Jesus’ urgency. “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. (John 4:35)