The Awkward Evangelist in the Bible Belt

So I have a confession for you. I really do not like living in the Bible belt when it comes to evangelism. I really cannot stand it. It makes me cringe and cry out to God. I am a baby whining to move. My heart longs for international things. It has always been this way, I love hanging out in airports because it is the gateway to the world. Anyone can walk by from any place. It is quite amazing. I really desire strongly to move to Dubai because it is one of the most international places in the world. I cannot even begin to tell you how I cry and moan about this to God. Oh how blessed I am that He loves me just the way I am and is not taken back by this.

In fact I believe He has put that desire there. After all who in their right mind would really want to leave all this comfort in America and the hospitality of the Bible belt to move to the middle of the desert in the middle of a potential battle zone? A place where waring countries are close to one another, where pirates sail the gulf, and where terrorists live and organize nearby. Yet still it is not too much different from here if you can be sitting in a movie theater and be shot these days. Yet if it were my flesh crying out I think I would be saying no thank you I will gladly sit here at home drinking my Starbucks and watching So You Think You Can Dance.

So back to evangelism in the Bible belt. Oh it is so incredibly hard. There are lots of people here dying who do not know Christ. They are people who are attending church. They are the people who are following culture or tradition. Now before you begin to hate me for typing this, please understand I cannot know anyone's heart. I cannot know for certain if a person belongs to Christ or not. However, the Bible tells us we will know them by how they love and their fruit. These are observable things. I think they can give us a good gauge to go by.

Again, salvation is not about perfection either or works. It is about what Christ has done. It is letting Him be Lord of your life. It is about following Him. He molds us and changes us more and more like Him as we follow Him, as we behold Him and accept by faith what He has done for us. His beauty and Majesty should stir our hearts. It does stir the hearts of those who belong to Him. The mention of His name is lovely to others who love Him.

Now back to evangelism. I walk through my day with children in tow. Sometimes we reflect Christ and sometimes we do not. Again, it is not about perfection it is about receiving His free gift of salvation. We are all works in progress. Yet what I have found living here in the belt is that I think it is safe to say everyone has heard the message of the gospel. So when I talk about Jesus and what He means in my life it should resonate. Either with disdain or a sense of unity.

Yet here I hear things like I go to church, or I try to be good, or my brother's a pastor.  I am taken back. After talking further people are convinced this is enough. If they are nice and go to church they are safe. It is like talking to someone with a glaze over their eyes. They are blinded by something, they are veiled but believe they are safe in the gospel. I don't get it and my words fall to the ground. I try to tell them the truth but they cannot seem to hear.

So the point of my post, this is my frustration. My pastor has challenged us to pray for our city and reach our city for Christ. So I will go out and pray and speak. I am going to chronicle what happens here. I sadly have really just stopped talking to people because I have found it hopeless but I am seeing this is wrong and as long as God has us here in the belt I am to be a missionary where He has planted me. So there I said it. I have been wrong to see it as hopeless, Christ can reach anyone even those in the belt who don't think they need Him because they go to church.

Stay tuned....I am sure this adventure will be embarrassing to me yet holds some things beautiful for Him.