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Ten Excuses To Avoid Spreading The Gospel and How To Combat Them
I believe that deep down inside, every human being is afraid of rejection to
some degree. Some more than others. And because of that fear, we Christians are pretty creative in our efforts to slither
out from under the most important duty that was given to us by the Lord
Himself
in Mark chapter sixteen: The Great Commission.
What used to stop me every time, at the last moment, just when I was about to open my mouth,
was when I saw myself stammering, stumbling over the words I had so carefully rehearsed like a drunk stumbling out of a bar. I’d sound ridiculous,
I knew. I saw myself running the person away from the Lord rather than to Him.
Even worse, I worried that the person would ask me a question that I didn’t have the answer for. So I clammed up. I kept the Lord a secret.
Since 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us that the Lord didn’t give us a spirit of timidity, our fears of telling others about the Lord are coming from the enemy. Below, I’ve listed
ten excuses that people use to avoid spreading the Gospel and ways to combat those excuses.
Excuse number one: I have no idea what to say.
Believe it or not, God will help us talk to others about Him. In Matthew 10:19-20, Jesus said: “Do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (NIV)
Excuse number two: I can't get anyone to believe in the Lord no matter how hard I try.
I'll be honest here.
Some people have been so sorely disappointed in the past
when their unrealistic expectations about witnessing failed to come to fruition
that they gave up on spreading the Gospel. Frankly, it's a pie in the sky
dream to expect someone to just fall to their knees and repent the instant that
we tell him or her about the Lord. Realistically, if someone gives us the time of
day, if someone listens to what we have to say about Jesus, we should expect
that person to want to think about what we've said
for a while. We need to be patient and let him or her think about all of the
ramifications of becoming a Christian, and be prepared to answer their
questions. In the meantime, we should pray that God will send someone else to water the seed
that we've just planted.
Excuse number three: I'm not very smart.
God gave the brains to everyone else.
Here’s what Job 32:8 has to say about that excuse: “But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.” Give God an ear and He’ll teach you all you need to know. God’s eyes are constantly roaming the earth, looking for anyone who is seeking His face. A lot of seeking His face is making a sincere effort to get to know Him intimately. The only way to do that is to study His Word and spend time with Him.
Excuse number four: I'm just a follower! God didn't make me to be a leader, let alone to preach the Good News to anyone!
You don’t have to go to seminary school or be standing up at the pulpit to proclaim the Good News to someone. In Mark 12:31, Jesus said that the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. How then are you going to love your neighbor as much as you love yourself if you don’t even make an effort to snatch him or her out of the fire? Even if you only manage to teach your children about Jesus and tell your friends about the Lord, you’re still producing good fruit for the Kingdom of Heaven.
Excuse number five: I'm damaged goods. I’ve sinned; I'm not as good as the people who grew up knowing and loving God.
Oh really? I don’t recall reading in the Bible that we have the right to decide whom God can and cannot use. Consider Saul who later became the apostle Paul. He persecuted the Christians before Jesus had a little talk with him on the way to Damascus. What about Simon of Samaria in Acts 8 who was a sorcerer until he heard about Jesus? After Moses killed a man, he fled Egypt and was later used by God in a big way.
Excuse number six: God doesn’t need me. He’ll find someone else to do whatever He has put on my heart to do.
Aha! This one was one of the devil’s favorites to use on me years ago and I fell for it every time. Just like the rest of us, when God called to Moses, Moses immediately said, "Here I am." However, when he heard what God wanted him to do, he tried to slither out from under his assignment by pleading with God to send someone else.
And what did God say to that? “What about your brother Aaron…” I like the way that the Lord encouraged Moses to participate by assigning the task of speaking to Aaron, and the working of the signs to Moses, which didn’t require any speaking.
Excuse number seven: I don't have confidence. Or, I have a speech impediment… Or I can't talk eloquently—
If it’s really that bad, type out your message and hand it out to people. In all honesty, I’m pretty shy around people I don’t know, but when faced with the prospect of giving God a lame excuse for why I chose not to witness to someone about Him, I’d rather stumble a bit over my words and feel my face become red.
"O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue," Moses protested to God.
I get a chuckle out of what God said next because not only was God not about to let Moses off the hook, but He made Moses painfully aware that his mouth belonged to Him by saying: “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." We can apply that promise to ourselves as well. God will always teach us what to say—provided that we’re willing to listen to Him that is.
Excuse number eight: I’ll do it later.
What if later never comes? People die every day and none of us have any way of knowing when our time is up. Trust me when I say this: it’s easier to risk losing a friend or family member because you cared enough to tell him or her about Christ than to live with the guilt of not talking to him or her about the Lord before he or she has died.
Excuse number nine: I don’t want to be judged.
Granted, no one likes to be judged. While the Bible says that we’re righteous in God’s eyes because we’ve been washed clean by the blood of Jesus, it also states quite plainly in Philippians 1that we Christians are a work in progress. Nowhere does it say that upon accepting salvation we become absolute perfection. Despite this, there are some Christians out there who think otherwise, but they’re in the wrong.
Excuse number ten: People will laugh at me when I try to talk to them about God.
In Luke 10, Jesus said that whoever rejects us over the Word of God rejects Him. If you get laughed at or teased over God’s Word, do what Jesus told the apostles to do: wipe their dust off your shoes.
Another thing, people certainly won’t be very derisive when they’ve been left behind after we’ve been raptured now will they! (Yes, I know it’s horrible to say, but it’s so true!)
What it all boils down to is this: When God asks us to do something, He isn’t asking us to hem haw around and beat around the bush with the request, or dump it off onto someone else’s lap. He’s asking us to do what He requires. God wants us to have enough faith In Him to do what He requires. He wants us to trust His Word like Noah did when he unquestioningly built the arc despite the fact that people were probably laughing at him.
Verses to read:
2 Corinthians 5:18-20
James 2:17-26
Every church is driven by something. Tradition,
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Rick Warren is a gifted author who helps people and churches reach their
maximum potential. 
