Evangelism

The past several days at work has landed me the chance to speak with a Muslim and an atheist for upwards of 12 hours about matters of faith.

I spoke with the Muslim co-worker for about 6 hours alone and then we were joined on our project by the atheist for another 6 hours or so.

We talked about all sorts of things and I prayerfully tried to maintain a few things in the conversation...

1 - Christ and the Gospel

2 - Scripture References

3 - Humility

4 - Clarity

In our conversations I constantly tried to steer the topic back to our need for salvation and God's rescue plan in Christ.  I stressed that salvation was by grace thru faith and not of works.  I tried to point back to the Bible for the foundation of my points at every turn.  I tried to remain sympathetic, humble, and always ready to either give a clear answer or be honest about not knowing - while vowing to get the answer for them.

This is common at work.  We have Muslims, Atheists, 7th Day Adventists, Charismaniacs, Catholics, and all manner of in-between faiths.  We used to have a Bhuddist, she quit...the only major religion we are missing is Hindu.

Yet, despite the frequency of these conversations and regardless of my attempts to lovingly interact with these individuals - I have seen no progress in anyone coming to trust Christ.

Why?

I understand that God is ultimately the one who draws people and we are simply called upon to preach the Word.  I understand that some people plant seeds and others water them...we aren't always there when a plant blooms.  I get the fact that most people don't have personal experience in being a major player for bringing others to know Jesus...however...

I know people who have "brought" dozens of people to Christ.  I know youth leaders who can claim to have been instrumental in seeing others come to faith multiple times a year for year upon year.

Why don't I see that kind of break-thru?  Constructive criticism welcome.