PERSONAL EVANGELISM SERIES
by D. Stuart Briscoe
THE EXCUSES
A most wonderful aspect of per sonal evangelism is that it can be done by anyone. When we talk like this, some people aren’t too happy about it. Right away excuses come to mind. We are either convicted by such statements or we try to fight against them. If you have been making an excuse, I have some good news for you. In all probability your excuse is not a new one. No doubt it was made by someone in the Scriptures. One of the interesting things about reading the Bible is that it gives us the mistakes great men have made. Take Moses for instance. When God told him to talk to Pharaoh he began looking for a way out. He said, “They will nc>t believe_jne, nor harken unto my voice; for they wiltsay, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.” Isn’t that an excuse we make in these days ? We say, “I can’t talk to anyone be cause he would never believe. I know him. Why, the person about whom I’m thinking is an unbeliever.” Remember this, however, the only people who can become believers are unbelievers. Thereforef/if you know someone who is an unbeliever, he is automatically a potential believer. How do you know he won’t believe ?(,If God tells you to go and speak to someone, whether he is a believer or not isn’t your concern. While you can’t make someone believe, you can tell them the good news. .Your responsibility is to do just that./ The second excuse Moses made was that they wouldn’t harken to his voice. I used to make this excuse with re gard to some of the tough young teen agers that we have in our part of the world. One day the Lord told me to talk to about a thousand of them. I discovered to my utter amazement that under their ragged, long hair and shabby exteriors, there were in quiring minds. Hearts longed to know the reality of life. All the time, how ever, I had been saying that they
wouldn’t listen to me. My problem was that I just hadn’t gotten to them. Be ware of making that mistake! The third excuse Moses came up with was, “They will say the Lord has not appeared unto me.” Moses felt the people would not accept the fact that God had revealed Himself to him. It is this way today. People want some thing they can handle and see, so that they can rationalize everything. If the Lord tells you to speak don’t you worry about what others may or may not think. God specializes in taking the foolish things to confound the wise. Thetitord has carefully chosen people sometimes who don’t know all the answers for this very reason. Moses continued as he complained, “0 my Lord, I am not eloquent.” May I ask you, when did God say anything about eloquence ? This was another feeble excuse. Some people seem to think that if they are going to be witnesses then they have to speak in old-fashioned English, the King James variety. They feel that to be success ful they must get all their “thees” and “thous” in the proper place. The voice has to take on a pious tone, too. Don’t
Carolyn Lam ers of Crescent City, California, points out a Campus activity to Allse Crawford of Fontana, California. In the background are two other California girls, Ellen Seger, Baldwin Park, and Vivian Stanley, Los Alamitos,picturedat one of theentrances to Biola's newWomen's Residence Hall.
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