Does Sharing the Gospel Impact Anything?

It was just a typical Monday morning for me—meetings, deadlines, projects, and emails. As I worked, I saw a message come through from the church website:

“Hi! I’d consider myself a spiritual person, but I’ve never attended church regularly. The only times I’ve been to church was as a child and later as a teen when visiting with or going to church with my grandparents. I’m interested in furthering my education about Christ, finding Christ, and allowing God to be more present in my everyday life. What is the experience like attending church, becoming a Christian, starting a relationship with Christ, and allowing God to influence my life?”

Even when a person is open and as interested in the gospel as this person was, evangelism can be scary. For introverts like myself, fears abound: What if they get mad at me? What if they think I’m weird? What if I say something wrong? I’ve shared my faith before on mission trips but I never saw any fruit, and assumed there was none. In truth, I’d developed a mindset where I reserved sharing the gospel for mission trips but wouldn’t otherwise look for opportunities to share the gospel.

But here was an opportunity. Right in front of me.

I thought back to what a mentor recently told me, that sharing the gospel is merely pointing people toward God and helping them get one step closer to him. It reminded me of 1 Corinthians 3:6–7: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” 

This passage reminds us that every evangelistic conversation has potential. Our efforts—whether we’re tilling the soil, planting seeds, or watering—are important. The man who emailed me had only recently visited our church for the first time. Clearly, there were people in his life planting and watering gospel seeds.

The people he met, the worship he experienced, and the preaching he heard all contributed to the moment he typed out his email. I hadn’t spent years praying for this man. I hadn’t invested hours in engaging him in spiritual conversations. I hadn’t even preached the sermon that stirred his heart. But God wanted to use me. And in the process, he showed me that all the seeds I have planted in other people’s lives were not a waste.

I sat down with this man on a Sunday morning in one of the church offices. It was clear that God had been using the people and circumstances in his life to wake him up spiritually and bring him to the place where he was ready to accept Christ. I prayed with him and we rejoiced together in his new faith. I encouraged him to share his decision with others, particularly his grandparents. I’m sure they’ll find great joy and encouragement hearing that God brought to harvest the seeds they’d nurtured for years.

So, take heart, fellow Christian. Evangelism is often a long game, but the great gardener will bring a great harvest, and you never know when you might be asked to play a role!