This is from last spring….

Derek came to our door to see if we would pay him $5 to mow our tiny yard. My wife refused him per my direction. He then pleaded to mow it for $3, she told him no and he walked away dejected. Here is how I failed step-by-step. First, I should have answered the door. It was an unfamiliar man at our door. I used the excuse of not having a shirt on to not answer. I failed at leading my wife and in turn set her up for failure. Second, I did not pursue Derek when I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me to do so. I felt sick but shrugged it off as an issue of safety, absurdity and the fact that I assumed he was high. I did not repent, confess or sorrow in my sin. I went on.That was on a Saturday. Fast-forward to the next Wednesday. Noah and I were working in the office (aka, his basement). Derek came to his door asking the same thing. Noah’s reaction was opposite of mine. He agreed, but he did more than that. Here is what he says:

Yesterday a young guy came to our door asking to mow our yard to earn a little cash. I wasn’t home so Heather asked him to come back today. He did. Honestly, a big part of me wanted to see him move along on his way, but something (someone…obviously the Holy Spirit) told me to talk with the guy. I asked him what his story was. He’s a 23 year old taking care of his mom who lost her job. He’s going door to door asking to mow yards from 15 dollars all the way down to 3 dollars. He just needs the cash. He and his mom have until the end of May and they are getting evicted and he is trying to earn enough to feed them and get them a new place come June. He didn’t want to work for free. In fact he was adamant about that. I asked him if he had eaten lunch. He hadn’t. So I asked him if I could make him something. He told me that wasn’t necessary and I told him…hey man, we’re friends now right? While I came inside I prayed, under my breath, that God would give me the words to share with Derek. I went back out and he made a comment about how I was being too nice. I told him that I was a Christian and that I loved Jesus and because of what Jesus has done for me…dying on the cross for my sins, that I was compelled by God’s grace to love him. He started telling me about his brother who died of an overdose, and how he turned his back on God when that happened. I shared the Gospel with him for about 3 to 5 minutes. Just testifying to God’s grace in the Gospel. He cried. I almost cried. We stood outside over his old broken down lawn mower while he ate his sack lunch we talked about his life. I invited him to come to Gospel Community this Friday. I know it will change the dynamic a little bit. He is a stranger to us all. But I believe God wants to save Derek. He wasn’t ready to come check out church yet because he said he has some issues. I told him to come check out “the church” on Friday. I’m also planning on having him come back to help me with some landscaping. Pray for Derek. He’s in a crappy situation and doesn’t have any answers. He is looking for hope in a hopeless situation. Pray that God would take the next 2 days to open his heart to the Gospel and that when we talk about it on Friday, he would respond in faith. Guys, I am reminded again today of what Paul says in Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe.” Derek needed some cash. Derek needed some water. Derek need a lunch and Derek needed a friend. But more than all of that, Derek needs Jesus.

Noah’s response is definitely an evidence of God’s grace. He wants to save Derek and it is obvious that he is pursuing him. Where I failed at being missional, sharing the gospel, being an evangelist, the Lord prompted Noah and he received, doing those things for the sake of the Gospel.

So what now? When we fail at sharing the Gospel, living missionally, what do we do? First we must confess the sin and repent of it. I had to come to terms with myself that I have so much to learn about following Christ living where I live and doing what I do. If you would have asked me before I would have told you that I would be ready to share the Gospel at anytime and at any moment. Here is my mistake. I equate the Gospel with a formulaic saying instead of a lifestyle. If I am who I say I am, then I should be ready to share the Gospel instantly at anytime with leading and wisdom from the Holy Spirit. This is the stuff we preach at August Gate! That we do not need “institutional” evangelism but rather know the Gospel so that at any moment we can share the Gospel. This is the moment we find shame in our sin of disobedience but know that God is faithful to forgive. The next step is to pray for God’s grace in the situation to either make it right yourself with another opportunity or pray for another Christ follower in that person’s path to share the Gospel with them.  I failed at this as well. I allowed the shame of the incident to drive me to indifference instead of repentance and prayer. We need to be praying for the people we meet and will meet. The third step is to pray for an increased awareness and courage to be bold with the Gospel. I failed at one of the fundamentals of a Christ follower and one of the fundamentals of a pastor and covenant member of August Gate. This reminds me that I am not there yet, I have not arrived. I need the constant reminder and encouragement of scripture that I am called to not be ashamed of the Gospel but to be proud of the life giving force that saved me and is within me.

Call it being missional, sharing the Gospel, or evangelizing, the point is that we are called to make disciples and for disciples to be made they must here the call of the Gospel. It is our purpose and our focus. We must be ready at every moment to do this, whether or not we feel like it. This situation reminded me of Matthew 25:31-46. So many times physical, felt needs are the inroad to sharing the Gospel with someone. I have repented of this and hopefully I will see Derek at our Gospel Community on Friday and love him, and not just love him because I feel that I need to right a wrong but love him because that is what I am called to do, because being missional (evangelism) is the first and greatest act of love that we have to give.