Many years ago I heard the following words from the world famous evangelist Billy Graham, “I believe that 95 percent of all Christians will never lead another person to Christ in their entire lifetime [sic].” Obviously, this was a subjective observation on Billy’s part, but it was nevertheless a very disturbing one. If it were only slightly true, it would still be very troubling.

As I recently pondered it again, I concluded that it was an even more shocking statement than the following words from a contemporary of the 19th century evangelist Charles Finney who stated: “…that [Finney’s] real converts are comparatively few. It is declared, even by him [Finney], that ‘the great bodies of them [his converts] are a disgrace to religion’.”

Now, it is not difficult to see how false converts are clearly the fruit of unbiblical methods and satanic deception – but what about the widespread existence of blood-bought, non-evangelistic, Christians? And why should this be such a deep concern? Because the Bible is not silent about the responsibility of every Christian to joyfully bear witness to God’s grace, every day: Psalm 96:2, “Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day” – i.e. Evangelism is to be the daily concern of every Christian; Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (The verb literally means: as you are going about [each day] make disciples – i.e. as a way of life); 1 Peter 2:9 reminds every believer that he is a member of, “…a chosen race, …that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

Sure, God has uniquely gifted us all. And yes, there are many ways you can engage in “true” evangelism. However, if Billy Graham is even half right, then there is much work to be done toward stimulating evangelistic concern and effort in all evangelical churches!

Specifically, there must be a revived wholesale effort toward convincing both their leadership and membership, that the whole church of Jesus Christ should be involved regularly in some form of concerted evangelistic outreach (Acts 8:1,4).

Let’s start with a simple, yet challenging evangelistic plan, that every believer should be able to grasp: First, he/she should actively pursue a “glad-obedient” walk with Jesus Christ, each day (Matthew 4:19); Second, he/she should regularly ask God to give you a heart for the “lost” (Romans 10:1-3); Third, he/she should diligently strive to speak the gospel to “one person, every day” (Acts 20:24); Fourth, he/she should constantly pray for “open doors” for the gospel (Colossians 4:2-4); and Fifth, he/she should prayerfully aim to win at least “one person to Christ, per year” (Proverbs 11:30; 1 Corinthians 9:19-23). Now, let’s ponder some “real” possibilities – by the grace of God: The USA has 300 million people – 60 million say that they are born-again.

If 10 percent of these believers are genuine, and they each lead one person to Christ per year; in ten years, we would have doubled the evangelical presence of our nation! And remember the hope-filled words of Paul: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one and each will receive his wages according to his labor. We are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building” (1 Corinthians 3:6-9; see also - Acts 13:48). I leave you with the inspiring words of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “Cling to the great truth of electing love and Divine sovereignty, but let not these bind you in fetters when, in the power of the Holy Ghost, you become fishers of men.”

Jerry Marcellino is pastor of Audubon Drive Bible Church in Laurel. He can be reached by e-mail at pastorjerry@audubonchurch.org.