GAS-STOP
WITNESS

Topics: Boldness; Evangelism; Shame; Witnessing

References: Matthew 28:19; Mark 8:38; 1 Corinthians 9:19–23; 2 Corinthians 5:13–17; 2 Timothy 1:1–14

As a youth pastor, I’d just entered a convenience store with Jeff to pay for the gas I’d put in the church van. It was apparent that the woman behind the counter had been crying. I looked at her and said, “Has anybody told you that Jesus really loves you?” Jeff freaked out, took off, and dove into the van.

I talked to the woman for the next few minutes. After she asked Christ to come into her heart, her whole face changed.

When I got into the van, Jeff said, “Don’t ever do that again!”

“Don’t do what?” I asked.

“Witness to people like that,” he replied. “Did you see how embarrassed that lady got?”

I responded, “Jeff, you got more embarrassed than she did. I prayed with her, and she received Christ.”

I took Jeff back into the store to meet the woman, now radiant with the love of God—a complete contradiction of what she had been just a few minutes before.

—Eastman Curtis, Raising Heaven-Bound Kids in a Hell-Bent World (Nelson, 2000)