Campaigning for Jesus
Are you someone who naturally tries to begin conversations with people? I’m not! This year our family had the opportunity to do some campaigning leading up to our state’s Primary. The Lord has used this experience to help me see more clearly a few things about sharing the Gospel. (I am also not “into” politics, and this was the first person I have EVER actually wanted to go door knocking for!)
Here are some analogies between campaigning politically and sharing the Gospel:
- 1. We live what we believe. If you really do believe in the Person and what He represents, you will get involved. Do you really believe that Jesus is the only Way for people to be made right with God, the only Way to avoid eternal torment in Hell? If the answer is “Yes,” you will act on it somehow.
- 2. Do your part. There’s a spot for everyone! In the campaign, some people produced graphics for signs and shirts; others organized gatherings; others went door to door to share about this candidate; some prayed; people donated money. What has the Lord enabled you to do for Him? Just a handful of options for ministry include:
- *Serving food to homeless individuals
- *Praying
- *Handing out tracts
- *Visiting jails, nursing homes, or children’s homes
- *Doing Bible clubs or teaching Sunday school
- *Giving money for these or other opportunities
- *Going as a missionary, either short or long term
- *Donating time, skills, or supplies to advance God’s Kingdom
- 3. Time is short. Elections have specified dates. Once we got involved, we knew we had only about two months to get the word out to as many people as possible that this was the best candidate for this slot. With spiritual matters, however, we don’t know the “deadline.” Each second, 4.3 people step into eternity, finding themselves in an unending Hell or an unending Heaven. When will your neighbor, your coworker, or the cashier step into eternity? When will you step into eternity, no longer having opportunity to share Jesus with them? Our family was pretty much full time into this campaign. What would it be like if every true believer put their full focus on helping people understand that they need to be rescued and how they can be rescued?
- 4. Know the Person and what He stands for. Before I met this candidate, I started hearing some of where he stood on certain issues and concerns. He had a fresh perspective, not mere politically acceptable rhetoric. I knew that even if I were to find something with which I disagreed, he was clearly running this race out of obedience to the Lord and to sincerely serve the people. When I started going door to door, I did not know this man’s perspective on every possible topic; some things he shared were not even of interest to me. But I could still invest my wholehearted support and share a couple of reasons I would vote for him and encourage my audience to vote for him as well. If a question were to come up that I could not answer, I knew where to direct the person who was asking.
Sharing our faith can be done simply. Just share what you know or appreciate about Jesus. What has He done for you? And if you don’t know an answer, direct them to the Lord or His Word. Get to know Him better! Get into His Word more so you can more effectively answer questions and more easily direct people to passages that address their needs or questions. - 5. Look for the right audience. For the campaign, we were put in touch with Primary voters of the candidate’s party. Many of them responded positively. Often, we were not able to talk with a voter directly; and occasionally, we were met with opposition.
As we seek to share the Gospel, let us follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Whether people are receptive, complacent, or antagonistic, we are sowing seed. He knows whom to reach and how. He also knows what He wants to do in our lives through each of those encounters. He may desire to have us experience the joy of harvest; or to remind us that we need to trust and obey Him and “be about our Father’s business”; or to share in the fellowship of His sufferings and learn to “rejoice and be exceeding glad”.
And remember that God is a loving Father Who delights to give us good gifts! Our candidate of choice learned and consistently reminds people that when you begin (running for office or whatever else), you may not feel ready and you likely will not in yourself be ready! But each step of the journey prepares you for the next.
As you take steps of obedience to the Lord, you find that the task is easier than you thought, that the interactions are easier than you feared. He encourages you to keep going and strengthens you when you come to hard situations. - 6. Stay the course. This particular candidate was seen as an impossibility by mainstream media and most people in the political realm. Yet he “stayed the course,” and so did the volunteers for his campaign. He remained true to his commitment to not take money from PACs or lobbyists. He didn’t even accept offers from the other candidates. The manpower was volunteer. He disregarded rumors that he was dropping out of the race. He completed what the Lord asked of him, which was to run for a given office.
Jesus is already the Victor, having voluntarily laid down His perfect life, rising from the dead the third day, showing Himself to His closest followers and countless others after that, ascending to the Father, and continuing to reveal Himself to people throughout history including today! Jesus was ridiculed by the leaders who feared losing influence among the people. He was unjustly tried, beaten, and condemned. Through it all, He remained faithfully obedient to His Father, continuing to touch the lives of common people. Today each person has been separated from the Father because we are born into sin and break God’s Law. But Jesus, Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, invites us to what the Father has always wanted–a fully restored relationship.
Jesus did this all voluntarily, and He asks us to volunteer to join Him. He doesn’t need the endorsement of anyone, approval of the media, “dark” money, or man-made schemes to get things to work out. He is God, and He has already won! As good as this earthly candidate was, Jesus is infinitely better! His “cause” is the rescue and redemption of all mankind!
Do you believe that Jesus is the only Way to be reconciled to God? Do you believe in “the cause”? What role can you play? What is God prompting you to do? Say “Yes” to God and take the steps He asks you to take.
Written By: Sarah Bedford
“A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9) We thought we were going to a large event to pass out tracts. But the Lord had something much different in mind for us!
A local suburb advertised a “Christmas in July” event for Saturday, July 25, concluding with a movie at sunset. Why not hand out tracts, saying, “It’s Christmas in July! This is for you!” On Saturday morning, we prayed together specifically for this opportunity to share the Gospel, not only through tracts, but also, Lord willing, through conversational interactions as well.
As the day progressed, we noticed the manifestation of spiritual warfare in various ways. The Lord reminded us to pray, rejoice, and speak positively toward one another. In the afternoon, we selected and counted out tracts. The event was scheduled to begin at 6:00, but it was at least 6:15 by the time we were ready to leave. Once we were on our way to the “battlefield,” we took turns choosing songs as we drove to this park for the first time.
As we drove around the park, we didn’t see people or food trucks. Had the event been cancelled due to heat? Were people just waiting for the movie before coming? Was the advertisement in error? We prayed some as we retraced our “steps” a bit. Then Charity pointed out that if we didn’t find the event, we could spend the whole time praying, which could reach more people than giving tracts to some of the attendees.
We stopped at a playground and enjoyed some unexpected family time. A young couple approached from the walking trail, so Elijah handed each of them a tract, and we inquired about the event. The young man wasn’t aware of it but suggested it might be at the YMCA (no wonder there were so many cars parked there) or at the smaller park on the other side of it.
We took a few family pictures and then started a game of “Tag.” Right after the first person got tagged, a couple of young families showed up! Anna approached them and offered the newest animal cards by Jobe Martin. Soon other families began showing up. We continued playing, but we also conversed with the other parents and children. Every family there received animal cards (which explain a special feature the Creator built into the animal pictured on each card). The interactions were positive and pleasant.
As we left the park that evening, we debriefed. Here are some of our observations:
- First, He gave us a bit of relaxing family time. Our youngest two have not gotten many playground opportunities, so this was a good family experience. It reminded us of the early days of our family, when we would use such opportunities for what we called “playground evangelism”.
- We were looking for something “big.” God led us to something “small.” He wanted us to say “Yes” to going to this event, but He used us in a different manner than we expected. God’s ways are so much higher than our ways! (Is. 55:9) We were somewhat disappointed at first to not do what we thought we had prepared for. But we were able to get a little bit of refreshment. If we had been at the ‘big event,” we could easily have been focused merely on getting tracts into the hands of people. Instead, we were already enjoying ourselves, and when people began showing up, we had a sense of “Yay! People are here [for us to share tracts with]!”
- Earlier in the day, as we selected tracts to take, someone reminded us of the animal cards we had from Jobe Martin. They are easy to hand to adults as well as children. When we got out of the car at the playground, a few of us went ahead and took tracts with us, even though the park was empty. The animal cards were neatly boxed, making them easy to carry and safe from damage.
- Jeffrey noticed how perfect God’s timing is. If we had arrived at the park earlier (which we had intended), we may have finished our time at the playground and decided to leave. We could have missed all those interactions. Every family that showed up received animal cards, and one mom received a Ten Commandments coin. Jeff talked with one father about witnessing experiences. The man inquired, “Are you the ones passing these out? These are awesome!” They had a good talk. The interesting thing was, Anna had felt strongly that the animal tracts were the ones she should start with. And it turned out that they were just the perfect thing to pass out at the park! God knew!
- Most of the families there had some claim to Christianity. The Lord used us to bless and encourage them. We, too, were encouraged to meet other believers. Mary and Jeffrey remarked that although we “know” that there are believers in Edmond, it’s nice to actually meet some of them and to know that if we one day face persecution, there are other believers nearby.
- The Lord also led us when it was time to leave. Most of these young families began leaving the park. Not just the playground, but actually heading home. We were grateful, as we had silently prayed that these young children would not be exposed to the scheduled movie! Jeff also felt at that time that we should head home ourselves. Anna piped up, “I was just thinking the same thing.”
- God has been recently teaching us about things that go with this evening’s “events”! 🙂
We may recognize more in the days ahead from this evening. But realize that God already knows how, where, and when He wants to use you. He may lead you in a manner or to a result different than what you originally expected. He is sovereign. But He wants to use YOU! Be available and usable.
~ The Bedford family