Nov 27, 2019
Rev. Nicholas J. Kersten
Director of Education and History
As I sit to write this month, Wisconsin has been “blessed” with an unusually cold late October which has culminated in a couple of rare October snows. It is much colder here than it usually is this time of year. Nevertheless, I expect even this “cold” will seem pleasant as the frigid cold of January and February approaches. When the bitter cold hits, every degree matters. If you don’t believe me, consider the nearly magical difference between 33° Fahrenheit and 32°. The one-degree difference can change the character of any moisture from relatively innocuous liquid to a potentially dangerous solid or semi-solid! It is not only in wintery weather where one degree can make a difference, though. Small changes can make a big difference in our world, and most importantly, in our walk with Jesus Christ.
There is one area this month where I want to highlight the importance of making a one-degree change: sharing our faith. I think many SDBs would agree that sharing our faith is important and that we should do it. Sadly, however, many of us do not burn with hot passion for sharing with others the gift of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. If we’re honest, many of us really aren’t even particularly warm to the task. We are cold. Sometimes ice cold.
Overcoming this frozenness in our faith is often delayed by guilt. We know we should be doing more; we can’t commit to the next step we should take; we imagine a high bar for competency in sharing; we compare ourselves unhelpfully and unrealistically to the evangelists we know; we fear we don’t measure up or that we will make a mistake; and we do nothing. Our temperature drops another degree.
Last year, I read a very helpful book on evangelism by Kevin Harney called Organic Outreach for Ordinary People.1 In it, Kevin lays out what he calls “The One Degree Rule.” He hangs more words on the Biblical reasons to do evangelism and the reasons why we sometimes do not. Then he asks his readers to pray:
“…Lord will you increase my burden for lost
people, break my heart for those who don’t
know you, and increase my evangelistic
temperature?”
He goes on to suggest that no matter how cold or hot we are to share our faith, there is always a way for us to go up one degree. He entreats his readers to pray and take steps every day to increase their evangelism temperature by this single degree. He warns against comparing ourselves to others, as we don’t know where others are coming from, and instead to find little ways to increase our fire. He gives five helpful suggestions about how to accomplish this:
1. Engage in prayer consistently.
2. Make time to be with those who are far from God.
3. Tell stories (inside the body of faith about what God is doing in unbelievers you know).
4. Make celebration natural (especially by highlighting obedience in this area, even when it doesn’t immediately lead to someone coming to faith).
5. Spend time reflecting on eternity (and ponder the potential consequences of our action or inaction in this area).
As we approach a new year, I would like every reader of this publication and every SDB in our Conference to commit to increasing their evangelistic temperature by one degree each week in the new year by praying the prayer of dedication Kevin suggests and then adopting his strategies. I am undertaking this challenge myself. If you undertake it and would like accountability in it, let me know you’re doing it and I will check back in with you to see how your commitment is going! I hope to print stories in this next year from all of you about how God is making a huge impact with our collective gain of evangelism temperature!
1 Organic Outreach for Ordinary People: Sharing Good News Naturally, by Kevin G. Harney. Zondervan. Grand Rapids, MI 2009. ISBN 978-0-310-27395-0. I have cited this throughout the column and would highly recommend this resource to anyone reading this.
2 If you want more suggestions, Kevin also has a website with free resources: http://www.organicoutreach.org.
