Gulping Raw Eggs

November 9, 2009 at 1:26 am (Articles, Family, Friends & Ministry) (Abigail, April, conviction, eggs, eternal perspective, evangelism, evangelist, gospel, Great Commission, lost, make disciples, opportunities, pearls and diamonds, pearls and diamonds blog, pearlsanddiamonds.com, prayer, preach the word, salvation, sharing the gospel, witnessing)

Posted by Abigail

I had a friend who decided it would be healthy to eat several raw eggs a day.  The first one slid down his throat with a horrible gurgle that made him gag and retch.  But the next one was easier.  He only gagged.  The third one he swallowed quickly and managed to survive.  After that it grew easier and easier.  Then, one day, he stopped eating them.  Just stopped.  Something caught his attention and distracted him and he quit eating raw eggs.

A couple of years ago I prayed something like this:  “Lord, You know I’ve never been outgoing and I’m just not a gifted evangelist.  If I’m to marry, please be preparing a husband for me who has a passionate heart for evangelism—who will lead out in sharing Your truth and make up for my deficiency.”

In His own way of answering prayer before we ask, the Lord turned my request on its head.  He began giving me opportunities to share the gospel.  Not just little open-cracked doors, but people who flung open the door, reached out and grabbed me by my collar to drag the gospel out of me.  A worker stopped me on my way into Wal-mart with a simple, “What a cute skirt!”  I smiled, easily “Well, thanks.”  Her next question, “Are skirts a religion thing for you?”  There’s no escaping that one.  “Not exactly,” I admitted.  “But my dad prefers them, so I wear them to honor him and the Lord Jesus.  Do you believe in Jesus?”  Her questions were relentless.  And she was completely ignorant of the gospel.  Like I said, reached out and grabbed me by my collar.  A waitress in the Waffle house watched me pray with my friend and later commented, “Your headscarf is beautiful.”  Hesitation.  She wanted to ask more.  “I’ve never seen someone wear a scarf like that.  Do you always wear it?”  And I had to explain, “Well, actually, I just love the Lord Jesus and I just try to obey His word.  I wear a head covering while praying in obedience to His teaching about His authority structure—which leads back to His authority.  What do you believe about Jesus?”  Everywhere I went, people began talking to me; stopping me to ask me questions; commenting on this or that.  A Japanese girl approached me in the campus library asking for help connecting her laptop to the internet.  I knew the Lord was handing me another opportunity, but this time I chickened out and tried to stifle my conscience.  “I can never understand the Japanese students!  How could I explain something so foreign to her?”

After that day I realized what had happened and I began to pray for more opportunities to share the gospel.  The Lord showered them on me.  When I was alone in town I would go “fishing” in stores and small flea markets.  Soon it seemed every conversation turned toward Christ’s redemptive work on the cross.  It became almost second-nature.

For me, sharing the gospel was like eating raw eggs.  When the Lord flung open the doors and chided “Forget waiting for someone else to be obedient” I gagged and sputtered, feeling lost and embarrassed and confused.  But the Lord started taking over and it got easier and easier.  Then something happened:  I must have stopped asking for opportunities.  I began to hurry through stores and avoid eye-contact.  My heart wasn’t open to spontaneity and numerous eternal moments passed me by on their way to the check-out.

When my friend realized he’d stopped eating raw eggs, it took him a while to work up the courage to get started again.  And when he did, it was like the first time all over again.  The gagging, the wheezing, the disgust.  Almost worse because he had thought it would be easier this time.

Recently I was reminded of the reality of eternity—an eternity with or without God and His goodness.  Like coals that have lain silent, the burning embers of a passion for the lost are beginning to rekindle.  Again I see souls walking past me in stores, instead of clothes stretched over skeletons.  About a month ago, my friend, April, and I were at the fair, watching a booth for the Crisis pregnancy clinic at which we both volunteer.  After closing up for the evening, we wandered the carnival area, people-watching, our hearts and thoughts wandering the same direction: “fishing.”  The Lord had been working in her heart the same way, reminding her that His precious gospel was not something to be hoarded.  That night, as we sought to open up conversations, I felt like we were chugging raw eggs.  Gagging, gurgling, and choking.  Afterwards I felt horrible.  But the nagging reminder that eternity is just around the corner hovered over both of us.

A few weeks later, we were in the bathrooms at Wal-mart when we bumped into an acquaintance of April’s.  As they spoke, April accepted the heart-challenge the Lord was giving her and gave her friend a tract, expressing that she’d been convicted lately that she should express her love for friends by sharing with them her hope for eternity.  “That was horrible,” she sputtered afterwards.  “I said all the wrong things.”  But that wasn’t the point.  The point is that she was obedient, and as I watched her obedience, the Lord continued to stir in my heart.

Ladies, I’m extending a challenge to you.  Here at Pearls and Diamonds we seek to encourage young women in lives of obedient worship.  Oftentimes we highlight lifestyle, which is an important part of obedience.  We talk about marriage and submission and loving our families and dressing modestly.  Modern Christianity advocates “lifestyle” evangelism.  But lifestyle never saves anyone.  All too often, when I am talking with the young women who come to the pregnancy clinic I hear this message:  “Yes.  I should go to church.  I should be a better person.”  That is the gospel that our lifestyle preaches.  Unbelievers scour the world critically and see “lifestyles”—which they equate with salvation.  But for them to attempt reformation would be fruitless—they lack the empowerment for true obedience.  “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”  And “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”  The plea continues, “How shall they hear without a proclaimer?”

As I expressed in “Lest We Worship Godliness”, when I’m surrounded by positive peer-pressure, it’s almost easy to live a “holy lifestyle.”  It’s comfortable, for those of us raised in solid families, to talk about homemaking, grocery shopping, baby raising, home schooling and even theology.  Make no mistake, I am quick to agree that the value of woman’s position is preserved through the bearing of children—if they continue in faith and love with a pure heart.  But Paul said our good works are to adorn the gospel—lend it credibility for changing hearts and lives!  And it is the gospel that lends our lives credibility.  What was Christ’s last request before ascending to the Father?  He reminded all His disciples, men and women, of the authority that had been given to Him.  Then He said, literally, “As you go, therefore, make disciples…and I am with you always.”

“As you go…make disciples.”

As you go, open your heart to spontaneity.  Open your heart to purpose to share the only eternal possession you have—Christ.  Pray for openings—in spite of opposition.  The eggs get easier and easier to swallow—unless you stop.  Watch the souls around you traveling their weary way to hell and weep for them, mourn for them, catch hold of them and plead with them!  Do you remember what it is to be lost?  Sometimes I forget, but God’s word is sure to remind me: I was cut off from grace!  We were enemies of God.  Imagine your hope, your joy and your peace with God gone, then look into the eyes of that woman walking past you in the grocery store.  Forget excuses of wasting her time—the message you hoard is eternal!  Paul said he implored men to be reconciled to God!  Through God’s grace you hold the key to the narrow gate: Jesus Himself.

How shall they hear without a proclaimer?

Note:  I do not recommend eating raw eggs, ladies.  I do, however, recommend sharing the gospel.  🙂

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