And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. – Acts 5:42
This is such a convicting verse. As Christians, we know that we should be telling others about Christ on a daily basis. However, so many times we fall short of this; even as I write these words, I am convicted in my own heart. There are so many times when I fail to obey this command, whether it be due to willful disobedience or the fact that life sometimes just gets in the way of things. Then, there are those moments when we have an experience that shakes us to the core!
Once while living in Florida, my husband and I were out soulwinning in an apartment complex with a group from our church. I was knocking on doors with my youngest daughter on the second floor, and my husband was knocking on doors with a young man on the floor just below us. After knocking on the last door and receiving no answer, we placed a tract in the door and turned to go. As we turned, the door suddenly opened, and a man wearing an Army sweatshirt came outside. He began shouting at us and asking why we were out bothering people! He said, “I don’t go to your door to push my beliefs on you! Why do you have to be knocking on people’s doors and pushing your religion on them?”
No matter what we said or how kindly we said it, this man was determined to have a confrontational moment with us, so I told my daughter to go get her dad. My husband came and tried to calm him down. We wished him a good day and turned to go, but he followed my husband all the way to the parking lot. He was taller than my husband by a few inches. When the man threatened to call the police, my husband turned around, got right in his face, and said, “We did nothing wrong. We’re just inviting people to church. Go ahead and call the police!” The man suddenly backed down and walked away.
A few years ago, just as there were hints about a “pandemic” but before there was any stay-at-home order issued in our state, I was soulwinning with my daughter. The world was nervous and on edge about the pandemic—to be honest, so was I. No one knew what to expect. It seemed as though someone was being unkind to someone else at every turn. My daughter and I had gone to a subdivision, as is our custom every Saturday, to knock on doors and share the Gospel.
As we were walking through the neighborhood and knocking on doors, it seemed that no one was out except at one house. I told my daughter that we were just going to leave tracts in the doors so that we did not make anyone uncomfortable. We began doing this, but when we came to this particular house, there was a man outside with his dogs. Because of his demeanor, I could tell he was not going to give us a good reception. Something inside of me told me to keep walking. However, we did not want to be unfriendly, so we greeted him and said, “Good morning.”
As we passed by, my daughter attempted to reach out her hand to give him a tract, but he said, “Have you been tested for COVID-19?” We politely told him that we had not and that we just wanted to give him an invitation to come to church, and then we would be on our way. He began to tell us that we should not be out doing this because we did not know what types of germs we were spreading and leaving on the doors of other people in his community. Basically, he was not very happy that we were there. In order for us not to leave a bad testimony for Christ or our church, we chose to leave the neighborhood. It was a very tense situation that could have turned into something worse than it did.
To be honest, this is nothing compared to what the apostles encountered and suffered for Christ when they went door to door. The Bible says in Acts 5:40, And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. We let too many things deter us from obeying the Great Commission. Many people tell us that we should not go door to door. These people will use anything to try to deter us. However, if the apostles could endure a beating and still go out and tell others about Christ, then we have no excuse not to go out as well.
Regardless of what happens or does not happen in this world, we still need to find a way to share the Gospel with other people. Many Christians sadly fell out of the routine of going door-to-door to share the Gospel, but there is no reason not to get busy for God now! I know that the Lord is with each and every one of us who step out in faith to obey by being soulwinners.
Situations similar to what my daughter and I encountered will always happen, but we should not take it personally or judge people harshly. We simply need to get out there and share Christ with others. After all, many of us first heard about Jesus through door-to-door soulwinning or through a one-on-one experience with a Christian who was just being faithful and doing what God wanted him or her to do.
More than ever before, the world and our nation need Christ. This is not the time to let ourselves become complacent or fearful of sharing the message of salvation. II Timothy 1:7 says, For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Let us not become slack in our obligation to reach others for Christ, no matter how difficult in may be to get back out there. Remember what the Bible says in Luke 14:23: And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
by April Hernandez