Go Stand Over There

Acts 8:26-30

     Evangelism, if there is a word that strikes more fear into the heart of a Christian than evangelism I don't know what it is. It is the odd contradiction of our faith that the one thing we are called to do is the thing most of us fear the most. If only it was easier to share our faith.

     Philip was tired. It had been a long day and he just wanted to go home and relax. That's when he heard it, the unmistakable voice of God, "See that chariot over there? Go stand next to it." Well that's an odd thing to do, thought Philip, but he dutifully headed over to the chariot. When he got there he overheard the occupant reading the following passage, 

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,

    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
    Who can speak of his descendants?

    For his life was taken from the earth.”[b] 

So Philip asked him a simple question, "Do you understand what you are reading?" Thus began a long conversation started by a simple question, a long conversation that led to the conversion of one man. One man, but it led to so much more. You see that man worked in the royal court of Ethiopia. That man took his new found knowledge back with him and shared it with those around him. The result? Ethiopia became the home of one of the first Christian churches outside of Israel. All because Philip was standing in the right place at the right time. Evangelism isn't just shouting the gospel from the rooftops, it is more often asking a simple question at the right time. Yes, God calls people to preach and shout the message from the high places, but He also prompts us to just "be in the right place at the right time." So no need to fear the word evangelism, just go stand next to that chariot.