I’ve been wondering lately (and since we arrived) about the best way to share the Good News of Jesus here in Santa Marta. Is it best to go out and share the gospel the first chance we get with someone, or is it better to cultivate a friendship first?
I would first say that we must allow God to guide us by his Holy Spirit to know when we should speak immediately of Christ. That being said, I’ve begun to realize that for many people in Santa Marta this method isn’t the best.
Why not? Well, they have been inoculated against the gospel to a large degree here. Most people think they know what the evangelical faith is, but they don’t. I can’t believe the number of new “evangelical” churches that are popping up. I think I see a new one every week or two. The problem is that many of these churches do not faithfully represent a biblical faith and muddy the perception of people. The sects have also confused the issue. For many, there is no difference between Adventists, Baptists, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. The average samario (person from Santa Marta) has a number of barriers to evangelical missionaries that don’t allow him or her to even open up enough to hear the gospel. Another problem is that it’s easy to get an audience because of the people’s friendliness, but that supposed openness is very superficial. They’ll listen for 10 minutes while you share the gospel, but very, very rarely will that presentation have any kind of lasting effect on people. For example, I can say that almost every new contact who has shown any continued interest in the gospel has been because someone has invested time in developing a relationship with that person. I don’t know how many times I’ve shared the gospel with taxi drivers (to give one example) who have shown interest. Many have vowed that they would go to our church, and not one of them has shown up.
Before we came to Santa Marta I had thought that it would be “easier” than in the U.S. or in Chia to see a new church formed. I now think it’s very similar. We need to spend a lot of time developing relationships with people. This last Sunday three friends came to the church service for the first time. How long had we been cultivating those friendships? I don’t have the exact dates, but I would guess between 6-8 months. These friends are much more likely to continue attending or perhaps to start a Bible study with us than people with whom we have had no contact.
Please pray that God would give us wisdom to use our time effectively for the advance of the gospel and the growth of Impacto Biblico here in Santa Marta.
