Years ago when I was not in
full-time ministry, I tried my hand at door-to-door sales to make ends
meet. I didn’t do well, partly because I
was honest (a rare thing among door-to-door salesmen), and partly because I
didn’t believe in my products. Among
other things, I tried to sell cemetery spaces and frozen meat off the back of a
pickup truck. I remember my manager
telling me one problem that I was having.
“You’re trying to sell meat.
Don’t sell the meat—sell the sizzle.”
Instead of talking about boring cuts of meat, Jeff meant that I needed
to make them hungry by painting a word picture of sizzling meat on the grill on
a lazy Sunday afternoon. I needed them
to think more of the juiciness of the steak than the number of ounces in the
package. More people will buy when you
sell the sizzle instead of the meat.
Unfortunately, too often when people
try to share their faith it’s like I tried to sell cuts of meat. They tell people all about the fine points of
their theology, rather than making them hungry for Jesus. In Acts 8, we read about Deacon Philip, who
knew how to make people hungry for the Savior.
As persecution in Jerusalem scattered the young church, Philip went to
Samaria and began proclaiming the message of salvation.
The crowds with one accord were giving
attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs
which he was performing. For in the
case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming
out of them shouting
with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were
healed. So there was much rejoicing in that city (Acts 8:6-8).[i]
The citizens of Samaria were already hungry for salvation,
even though they didn’t yet know the source of their help. The Samaritan religion was sort of a mixture
of Judaism and ancient Canaanite paganism.
As such, the people were vulnerable to the deception of traveling
magicians and charlatans. One such man,
called Simon the Sorcerer, seemed to employ real occultic power rather than
simple sleight of hand. He held all the
people of the city under his spell. But
the power of Philip’s testimony was greater than the sorcerer’s showmanship,
and the crowd abandoned their idols and turned to Jesus instead. “Even
Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip,
and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was
constantly amazed (Acts 8:13).”
Philip’s audience received the Lord because they were
hungry for spiritual things, and He knew how to direct their hunger toward
Jesus. He knew how to feed them on the
Bread of Life. He didn’t need to be a
theologian in order to tell them about Jesus—He simply needed to show them the
power of God in his life, and to help them see God’s power in theirs. Philip didn’t need to be an apostle or some
spiritual master. He simply needed to
make himself a servant (which is what the word “deacon” means). He didn’t need to be a great evangelist like
Peter—he simply needed to be faithful.
Christian speaker Leighton Ford writes:
I was speaking at an open-air crusade in
Halifax, Nova Scotia. Billy Graham was to speak the next night and had arrived
a day early. He came incognito and sat on the grass at the rear of the crowd.
Because he was wearing a hat and dark glasses, no one recognized him.
Directly in front of him sat an elderly
gentleman who seemed to be listening intently to my presentation. When I
invited people to come forward as an open sign of commitment, Billy decided to
do a little personal evangelism. He tapped the man on the shoulder and asked,
"Would you like to accept Christ? I'll be glad to walk down with you if
you want to." The old man looked him up and down, thought it over for a
moment, and then said, "Naw, I think I'll just wait till the big gun comes
tomorrow night." Billy and I have had several good chuckles over that
incident. Unfortunately, it underlines how, in the minds of many people,
evangelism is the task of the "Big Guns," not the "little
shots."[ii]
Unfortunately, in the
minds of too many people who would like to share their faith but yet are
afraid, evangelism seems to be the task of the “Big Guns”. Because they’re not Billy Grahams or Peters,
they keep silent, thinking that their audience can’t possibly learn anything
from them. Peter’s preaching led
thousands to Christ. According to his
staff, more than 3.2 million people have responded to Billy Graham’s
invitations.[iii] But you don’t have to be a Peter or a Billy
Graham in order to make a difference for Jesus.
All you need is to be like Philip—to make yourself a servant and a
vessel for the Holy Spirit to use.
Because of people like Philip, the Gospel message
spread beyond the original apostles, and beyond the limits of Jerusalem. Because of people like Philip, the Gospel
spread like wildfire. Bruce L. Shelley
writes, “It is easy to determine when something
is aflame. It ignites other material. Any fire that does not spread will
eventually go out. A church without evangelism is a contradiction in terms,
just as a fire that does not burn is a contradiction.”[iv] Does the Gospel burn within you? If it’s alive, then it does. I pray that it will spread. I pray that you’ll be like Philip, that
you’ll make yourself a servant, and that through you the Holy Spirit will not
only do wonders, but lead many people to the grace of God.
[i]
All scriptures taken from the NASB.
[ii]
Lieghton
Ford, Good News is for Sharing, 1977, David C. Cook Publishing Co.,
p. 67. http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/e/evangelism.htm.
May 14, 2015.
[iii]
Patten, David.
“Rev. Billy Graham Prepared ‘Perhaps…My Last Message.” Newsmax.
Saturday, 05 Oct 2013. http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Graham-evangelist-final-message/2013/10/05/id/529474/.
[iv]
Shelley, Bruce L.
Christian Theology in Plain Language. Thomas Nelson, Inc. 1985.
Pg. 162.
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