Language barriers

I frequent local coffee shops and cafes on the days that I work remotely, and one recent afternoon found me at our neighborhood Panera. That morning I had a meeting with one of my pastors recapping Matthias Media’s recent evangelism conference, Evangelize 2024. My mind was again filled with ways to engage with the lost around me, and I was encouraged by my pastor’s enthusiasm and willingness to think about evangelism happenings in our church.

As I’m working in my booth, an older gentleman walks up to me, and without speaking, hands me a pen with a piece of paper attached to it. The paper says “Excuse me, I’m deaf and I’m selling this for my living. Pay any price in your heart and may God bless you.” On the other side is John 3:16 and the ASL alphabet.

As you can imagine, it was an awkward encounter. I smiled at him and spelled my name in ASL. He did the same and I learned his name was Von. I gave him some cash for the pen and I signed “thank you” to him. Then he moved on to the next table.

Out of curiosity I watched as he engaged with other people. One man sitting by himself politely said “No thank you.” As Von approached another table with a man and woman, the couple simply didn’t acknowledge Von’s existence. They completely ignored him. It was terrible to watch and I was struck by how rude they were to him. But Von quickly moved on, perhaps used to rejection, waved goodbye to me and left Panera.

I turned back to my work, back to my evangelism thoughts, but the interaction with Von was stuck in the front of my mind. I wondered if I did enough, if I was scammed, if I was generous enough, if I should have tried to say more, tried to communicate something specific on a piece of paper. As I processed my interaction and these following thoughts, I began to see a little more clearly how this applies to evangelism. I think a lot of Christians feel that awkward tension when we attempt to start a spiritual conversation with a non-Christian. Sometimes it’s not coming up with an initial conversation starter, but that a non-Christian says something that makes an easy segue to the gospel, yet we still fail to steer the conversation towards the gospel. I often find myself stumbling for what to say, for anything helpful to come out of my mouth. In this case, Von’s language barrier with me prevented us from having a lengthy conversation. I wanted to ask him if he was a Christian, if he believed what John 3:16 says, if he was part of a church family or if he’d like to be, why he needed money… all things I could have started with. But I barely know any sign language and it would have taken me all afternoon to spell things out letter by letter. 

Chances are, most of our evangelism opportunities won’t require ASL, but we will often still experience a variety of “language barriers.” Do you ever feel a little off in those unplanned interactions? How do you respond and how can we encourage each other to be prepared to respond well and not coldly ignore the unsaved people around us? Evangelism isn’t a one size fits all thing and there are many ways we can engage with the non-Christians around us but I have learned that I have to change my perspective and attentiveness as I go about my day.

Just like most things in the Christian faith, we need help and training. Evangelism is no different. I won’t share my faith with other people unless I genuinely start to prioritize gospel work in the everyday mundane things. There has to be a deep conviction, a genuine love for the lost around me and a walk that matches my talk. 

How did I get to this point? Of utmost, God allowed my growth and maturity, but also someone showed me and trained me with God’s word. Growing as a Christian means growing in evangelism. Do you agree? Are the Christians in your church getting the gospel in front of non-Christians? Even more specifically, does your church have a spot for non-Christians to investigate the claims of Jesus? To sit with the gospel and consider its implications? 

One thing I picked up from the evangelism conference (of several) was something Dave said: Being a Christian (or disciple-making disciple) doesn’t only mean becoming like Jesus (or being Christlike) it also means seeing like Jesus. Seeing the people in front of you as our Risen Lord does. They are lost and in need of good news. They are hurting and confused and don’t have a clear understanding of the God who made them. 

I’m convicted all over again as I reflect on my interaction with Von. It implores me to keep learning, to bring other Christians along with me as we grow in evangelism, to get past the pain point and get the gospel in front of people. Whether that’s through one-to-one interactions or in a small group environment with an evangelistic course letting the non-Christians consider Jesus. 

As God allows you to grow in your love for the lost, you can’t help but share, take risks, be more inviting, more bold. The gospel is what saves!!!

Be encouraged and challenged: God chose to embody the gospel in humans to carry it with flesh and blood to the unsaved. This means that we pray and we work. And friends, there is so much work to be done in Christ. 

 Lindsey

Are you ready to hear more from the conference? We'll be launching the sessions in weekly episodes on the Everyday Ministry podcast. Subscribe wherever you listen!