The Great Dechurching—the largest religious shift in US history—provides Christ followers reason for concern. It offers a call to action as well. We can invite the dechurched to join us again. Thom Rainer’s concise work, I Will: Nine Traits of an Outwardly Focused Christian offers numerous suggestions.

When it comes to the topics of evangelism, reaching out to the dechurched and unchurched, and anything related to being an outwardly focused Christ follower many of us have excuses. Let’s consider excuses not to share Jesus or invite others to church from Chapter Five of I Will.

Five Excuses Not To Speak

Not my gift. Our most common excuse is to spiritualize. That’s not my spiritual gift; I’m not an evangelist. Though true that not all posses the spiritual gift of evangelism, all Christ followers are commanded to go and tell the Good News.

Not my job. If we don’t spiritualize, we excuse ourselves as amateurs. We’ve hired professionals—our pastors and staff. We don’t need to do the work of ministry; that’s their job. But it is our job to be ambassadors for Christ no matter our gifts.

Not enough time. Time is always a concern. You don’t understand how busy I am. I just don’t have time to share the Gospel. If you are too busy to tell others about Jesus and invite them to church, then we must ask: What are your priorities? It’s simple—be friendly and talk to people.

Not offend. Overreactions to opposing opinions are epidemic. I don’t want to impose my beliefs on others; I wouldn’t want to offend. If the Gospel is indeed Good News, then what are we afraid of? If the local church is THE hope of the world, then why not include everyone?

Not outgoing. If giftedness or other excuses don’t fit, then a good number of people default to personality. You don’t understand. I’m an introvert. I can’t talk to people. Sure you can! You talk to plenty of people every day. Now share the hope of Jesus and his church.

May we be so full of the Holy Spirit and so enabled by his presence in our life that we speak to others like Peter and John in Acts 4:19-20, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

The lost and dying of this world need Jesus. The dechurched and unchurched need Jesus. We can share his love. We can share the Gospel. We can invite people to church. Speak.

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