As believers, we know we’re called to share the gospel, and we certainly want to be able to do so effectively. But you need to remember it won’t always go smoothly, and the people we share with won’t always get saved on the spot. This doesn't mean we stop sharing, though.
Once, while sharing with an elderly woman from England on a flight from London to New York, I was interrupted by the woman so she could tell me that I reminded her of the singer Meatloaf! These interruptions do not matter. Just share. Share because people are lost. Share because Christ saves. Share because you do not want anyone in your life worse than lost.
Let me explain.
In the Deep South, ice is a problem. Winter seldom brings fluffy snow. If a winter storm does hit, we are more likely to get ice, with maybe a thin layer of snow on top. The problem is that our infrastructure is not made for ice, and most of us have not the slightest clue how to drive on ice. As a result, people decide to stay home and do crazy things like pulling makeshift sleds behind ATVs like redneck maniacs. Usually after a day or two of no power, the ice melts and we all go back to our normal lives—perhaps with a few battle scars from our poor judgment concerning the ATVs.
However, a few years back, a big ice storm hit that closed down schools and many businesses for an entire week. At the time, my wife and I had five kids, and five days is a long time to be cooped up together. Fortunately, we had power, so I turned on my truck’s four-wheel drive and drove into town to rent a movie from the rental box outside a local drug store. I decided on Everest, a 2015 movie recounting the tremendous events of May 1996.
Sadly, Everest retells the story of eight people who lost their lives in one day attempting to climb Mount Everest. Rob Hall, played by Jason Clarke, was the lead guide for his company, Adventure Consultants. He was known in the climbing community as one of the first to commercialize the climbing of Mount Everest. Clients would pay his company to take them to the top.
The last scene of that movie stays with me even to this day. After a heroic effort to save some of his clients from a terrible series of events and a deadly storm, Rob finds himself alone on the face of Mount Everest, unable to climb down due to extreme exhaustion, hypothermia, and altitude sickness. Over the radio, his base camp crew tells him that help is on the way. Due to his mental and physical strength, Rob does the unthinkable. He survives a night on Everest completely exposed to the elements without supplemental oxygen. When morning comes and radio communication is re-established, his team has dreadful news. They cannot get to him the second day either. He knows he will not survive. All night his will to live had kept him alive, yet in a mere moment, hope drains from his eyes. They patch his radio to a satellite phone, and he has one last conversation with his wife, who is pregnant with their first child. Then, alone on Everest, Rob dies.
As I watched this closing scene, one haunting thought echoed in my mind. There is something worse than being lost and alone. It is being lost and alone and knowing no one is coming for you. On day one, Rob Hall believed help was coming. On day two, there was no way to reach him, and therefore, no hope.
I don’t know who is lost and alone in your life. I do know that if you love Jesus and He has given you new life, you automatically have what they need. You cannot save anyone; God is not asking you to change people’s hearts. Only He can work in the soul of a sinner. But you can decide that no one in your life who is lost will be lost with no one coming to look for them.
Who in your life right now needs the gospel? Will you make a commitment to prayerfully share with them soon? Give them the opportunity to be saved. God will do the rest.