One thing I wish I knew before I started sharing my faith with those around me was: ‘It’s not about numbers it’s about people’.
Since I first became a Christian, my passion to share the good news of Jesus with those around me has grown from strength to strength and today I work for The Message Trust in a band called SoulBox and travel into schools around the UK to share the gospel with young people.
When I first joined SoulBox, I remember watching my bandmates preach the gospel and each time, multiple young people would respond and put their trust in Jesus – it was so exciting! And one day it was my turn! We went to a youth group to share the gospel with 20 young people, and I was so excited to see what God was going to do when I shared the gospel – just imagining the whole group of young people eagerly accepting Jesus into their lives then and there. After I finished speaking, I invited a response and one person put their hand up.
I waited… and waited… then I realised nobody else was going to respond that night, and I can’t lie, I was so disheartened and went home feeling really down.
I phoned my mentor that evening who eagerly asked me how it all went. I told her about the young person who responded she said ‘wow that’s amazing praise God! How great is that?’. She was so happy, and this really challenged me to praise God for saving the one.
My mentor went on to remind me of the parables Jesus shares in Luke 15. As I read this chapter, I began to see the reality of what was happening in Heaven as that one young person responded to the gospel; God and the angels were celebrating because something incredible had just happened! A young person who was once dead and lost had just come to life and been found in Jesus!
That night I learned that it’s not about numbers it’s about people. People who, like us at one point before knowing Jesus, find themselves dead and lost in their sin. This gospel is the good news that, in Jesus, we can be saved from sin. We can be brought into the fullness of life and hope that is found in Him!
Let’s be people who share the gospel knowing that it’s to bring people to the saving power of Christ. Let’s also celebrate like Heaven does whenever we see even just one precious person say yes to Jesus and come back home.
“there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” Luke 15:10.
Questions:
1- Are there any parts of me and my faith that I’ve replaced with numbers or arbitrary figures?
2- Do I have a mentor or someone in my life who will challenge me speak truth into my situation?
3- Do I celebrate and rejoice when i hear of just one person coming to faith?
Written by Sammy Jabangwe
Sammy is a preaching evangelist based in Manchester. She is a singer in the band SoulBox, a duo hybrid mix of rap-soul-pop, who perform to the 1s and 2s in schools and prisons but thrive in front of 1000s, writing and performing songs on the hope and love of Jesus.
