Evangelism and our Need for Others
[By Robert Haynes]

 Recently, in our first lesson to kick off this year’s theme of evangelism, it was brought up how a healthy congregation constantly has an influx of people who are new/young in faith. While it brings its set of challenges, it is something that brings about further growth. In this, hopefully brief, space, I want to tackle this concept of “Making your faith your own”, and how it may unintentionally set us to this individualistic view of faith that does not look out to others and hurts our evangelistic efforts.

The idea of “making your faith your own” is intended to motivate us towards a certain spiritual maturity. However, I wonder if we take the concept too far by turning this into an individualistic effort to become independent and turn it into “Have your own faith.” A sense of personal fortitude or the appearance of being capable independent of others can be taken too far, where we neglect the unity of faith and potentially hurt the new faith we seek to produce. Does our desperation or urgency of “making our faith our own” impress on others that there is a certain level of proficiency that must be achieved to stand absent other people? If it is, then we’ve missed the mark and perhaps pushed others away and missed out on the strength or fruit they might provide. What’s more, I think we can deny the power of God, the importance of the Holy Spirit, and the good news of Jesus Christ (John 16:7-16; 1 Cor 2:1-16). Specifically, looking at 1 Cor 2, I think we’re reminded that we needed the help of God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ to develop this faith/wisdom to begin with. All this comes before Paul’s description of Corinth’s weakness and the reference of who sows, waters, and causes increase. We then are all workers in God’s field in 1 Cor 3:8-15.

In Luke 13:6-9, Jesus tells a parable of a tree that won’t grow, and unless the situation turns around, then it is to be cut down. Why does that tree not grow? Perhaps, if we rely on our own simply through what’s immediately available, then we will not be able to grow. Worse, we might “deplete the soil” as the NET puts it in verse 7. You might be able to say that you’ve developed a faith that goes beyond your family, or that initial Paul or Apollos, that gave you water or fertilizer, but where do things go afterwards? What happens when all of your examples of faith or those who helped plant and fertilize are no longer there? As with the life of a congregation, we may very well need the faith of another to keep us producing fruit. The new faith we can develop in our evangelistic efforts can keep us going where we might fail otherwise. And I think it’s very few who can truly stand on their own in this regard, because in reality, not one of us can attain a righteousness of our own no matter how great our faith is. Paul needed his Timothy, Barnabas, and Silas. He drew strength from them. See any epistle, and Paul will note people who played a role in his delivery of the gospel and who encouraged him along the way. We like to poke fun at Jesus’ disciples, but what teacher exists without their students.

To wrap this together: Conviction is of our own, but perhaps we need to revise the idea of “making our faith our own”, because it can turn into an individualistic measure that can be harmful to our own growth and the growth of others. Faith is equated with righteousness, and can we be righteous of our own doing? No! We will fail. Maybe not today, in a month, in a year, but at some point we will. If we tie our faith to this need for success, what happens when we fail: Discouragement, stagnation, lack of fruit. We are all in this together working in God’s field and can support each other in this effort. We can become proficient workers on our own, but what good is it if we alone are proficient and others cannot do this work? As noted in our first lesson on evangelism, we need new Christians, and we should continue to look towards the faith and love of our fellow coworkers. The harvest is plenty, and there’s room for many more coworkers, and they will need our care and support. The efforts to teach should enrich our own faith in the long run. The unity of faith is our strength, and striving for faith on your own will deny yourself the benefit of the teaching Jesus did for His disciples and Paul for his proteges.