I recently attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. For those who aren’t familiar, it is the largest (I believe) gathering of motorcycles in the world. It is also known be a huge draw for drunkenness and sexual perversion.
Believe it or not, it is also a place where the Church shows up. It is my mission field. I am drawn to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and so I do.
It was incredibly rewarding! I had no idea what to expect, so I went with nothing but a tent and a whole bunch of tracts. I went around handing them out and talking about Jesus with whomever would listen. Almost everyone took a tract, but I only had deep conversations with a few. Some were new to the gospel, some were committed skeptics, and some were even believers!
Interestingly, it seems that evangelism is as much to encourage believers as it is to warn unbelievers. I had deep conversations with fellow believers that I never met who bared their soul telling me of struggles they were having. I ended up being a light in a dark place as I encouraged them to seek Jesus and place their hope on Him.
You, too, can do this.
Let me encourage you Christians to consider doing something like this. Why? Because we are commanded to (Matthew 28:18-20) and because it is so rewarding (Philippians 1:18-26). However, it is the Spirit that moves us to this. We are too afraid without Him.
What can I do? I’m convinced that only by appreciation for what God has already done in you (as a believer) will you be willing to throw off all your fear and concern for what others might think. Only when we really start examining the magnitude of our sin will we begin to understand the hopelessness of our situation. It is then that we can start to appreciate the gift of salvation and what Jesus has actually done for us.
Christian, few churches will teach you this, so I suggest becoming a student of the Puritans. A great place to start is with John Owen’s “Mortification of Sin.” It will change you.
We are not of this world, so live for the King. You won’t regret it.