Evangelism is something all of us can do because it is far more than a gospel presentation – it begins with a conversation! I was working out in the gym just a couple of days ago and a young guy called Rhys who I often speak with walked over to me and said hello.

We began talking about the usual stuff that gets talked about in the gym – ‘how hot it is’, ‘how it seems like a lot of sweat and not much result’ etc etc. As we were talking I noticed that, as with most of the people in the gym I go to, Rhys had a tattoo that ran right across his chest. What was interesting about this tattoo was that it wasn’t a picture but a lot of words. You could see almost all of them with just one at either end hidden behind the vest he was wearing. What was even more interesting was that the words were Latin, not English words. I know enough Latin to have been able to work out the meaning of this tattoo’d inscription which said:

 ‘The angels of God protect me’.

As we talked I said to Rhys, ‘that’s an interesting tattoo that you have and I understand a little Latin so I know what it means, what led you to having those words tattoo’d on?’ The answer he gave was one that I hear so frequently from people. He said “Well I love God and faith and all that”. He then looked at me and said “I’m not religious or anything but I do believe in God and think that He will protect me from all the dark things in this world”.

I asked Rhys why he believed in God and if he had ever been to church. He told me that he had never been to church because he didn’t think he was really good enough to do that and wasn’t sure how going to church would help him to have more faith in God anyway. I began to explain to Rhys that church wasn’t a place for good people to go to but is in fact not a place but a group of people who had come to know that God loves them even though they are not good enough.

As I explained this to Rhys I observed that everything that I was saying to him just did not match up to what he ‘thought about religion’. I meet so many people like Rhys and I confess my heart breaks for them. How did we ever let it happen that people who want to love God think that they are not good enough to go to church?

I meet Rhys from time to time at the gym and I am praying that through the witness of who Jesus is making me and through the words that I say, Rhys will come to know the truth that ‘Christ Jesus died for SINNERS’.

As you live your life among people you will be surrounded by many who are just like Rhys – be praying that God will use you to help them see and discover the truth about Jesus.