When evangelism "takes too long"

Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” Luke 13.20-21

Why is it taking so long??

When my wife Jo is out for dinner, the kids and I like to have a pizza party at home. I’ll cook and prep everything from scratch, and the kids help by (messily) spreading on the sauce, scattering some toppings, and then watching me do the rest while they eat about half the shredded cheese that was supposed to go on the pizza. 

Abby likes watching me prep the dough the day before. I mix together flour, water, salt, some olive oil, a pinch of sugar for better browning, and yeast (message me if you want the recipe!) In anticipation she watches it all come together in a messy, sticky bundle. Before I even finish washing my hands, she asks,

“Is it ready yet?”
“Not yet, the dough needs to rise” 

Later that evening she might spot the glass bowl sitting on the kitchen counter. The dough is rounder now, with a more even color and texture as the yeast begins their work. 

“Is it ready now?”
“Not yet, the dough needs to proof. And plus you’re going to bed soon”

The next morning, the dough is a big, puffy pillow. I take it out of the container to do a quick stretch-and-fold. Abby spots me. 

“Can we have pizza now??”
“Not yet, it still needs more time”

In frustration, she exclaims, “Why is it taking so long?”

When evangelism "takes too long"

My church recently held an evangelism campaign where we encouraged our members to pray persistently for two of their non-Christian friends and then invite them to church on Sunday to hear the gospel. 

All year long we've been reminding each other to persevere. But all year long I've been wondering how my members would feel if they get a tepid response from their friends. What if their friends don’t want to come to church? What if they're busy or uninterested? 

I’m positive that every Christian eventually at some point experiences rejection in evangelism. Would they become discouraged? Would they blame themselves and think it's something they did wrong? Would they blame the church and proclaim that the program doesn't work?

In one of the shortest parables he ever told, Jesus once compared the way that his kingdom works to the way that yeast works through dough. It might take longer than you'd like and its work might be invisible to you, but when it’s good and ready you will see a magical transformation that turns dry, inedible flour into rich, chewy, hearty bread that nourishes the body. 

In the same way, God’s work in people’s hearts is often invisible and takes longer than we expect, but in his timing he takes dead sinners with hearts of stone and turns them into his loving, grateful children of faith. 

The Apostle Paul reminds us that the work of turning people to repentance is God’s responsibility, not ours (1 Corinthians 3.6-7). And for this reason we must pray, and we must have faith, and we must be patient and persistent in our prayers and evangelism, not losing heart but having full trust in the invisible work of the Holy Spirit. 

When we accept that changing people's hearts is out of our control, we should experience freedom and relief. If I don't see fruit in my evangelism, it's not because I failed to measure up, God is at work in his timing. And if I can accept that, then I can joyfully and confidently keep praying and inviting. I have reason to persevere!

Fifty conversations

The Church-planting organization REACH Australia once did some research and found that on average it takes fifty conversations for a non-Christian to get to a point where they consider becoming a Christian. I’m sure in your experience, not many visitors decide to become a follower of Jesus after their first church visit. It takes time for them to get to know the church, digest the gospel, and truly understand it. Maybe when you explained the gospel to your friend he wasn't ready to hear it. But that doesn't mean it was pointless. Perhaps the gospel took root in his heart, but it will be some months or years before it comes into full bloom. 

How long does it take to have fifty conversations with someone? A few months? A few years? 

When I was in high school, a pastoral mentor of mine shared with me that it took almost thirty years of praying for his father before his father decided to follow Jesus. For years he would go to church on and off, never really committing. Then one day, during a holiday tour of Israel (what is it with retired Chinese people and holiday tours of Israel?) as they were walking along the banks of the Jordan river, he asked his son, “so is this where Jesus got baptized?” His son replied yes. “Well I’d like you to baptize me here then.” He was almost 80. 

We must develop a long-term perspective. We have reason to keep praying and persisting, to keep the conversation going. We know that when they say, "no thank you" it's not the end of the story. There's more going on invisibly. The yeast may be working after all. It's not taking too long. It's going just the way he wants it to.