Back to yesterday and Monday we go.

Bill Hull’s book, Jesus Christ Disciplemaker, stirred a long-term memory of an evangelism encounter.

Hull wrote,

Witnessing (declaring the gospel to unbelievers) is a valuable and rewarding experience.  If a Christian knows this fact but does not practice it, it is no more than theory.  I can tell you that chocolate ice cream is delicious.  I can use my powers of persuasion, and even convince you of what I say.  But until you actually taste chocolate ice cream, you do not really know.  Many Christians don’t witness.  In their minds they realize the importance of witnessing, but they lack a heartfelt knowledge of its value.  Their knowledge is intellectual but not empirical (p. 91).

While reading that section of teaching the Holy Spirit jogged my memory.  He refreshed me in thinking of the reward in sharing the Gospel.

Again, I was in a restaurant in Oxford, Mississippi.  I had just introduced myself to a nationally known leader.   He was gracious enough to invite me to spend a few minutes with him and his guest at their table.  Taking advantage of the situation, I shared the Good News of Jesus Christ.  The statesman’s response was sincere.  Each time I pressed for a confession in Jesus Christ, He continued to express a belief in a “higher being”.  At least he was consistent, I thought.  Yet I cannot recall hearing him admit that Jesus Christ was the only way to heaven.

It is not for me to decide if someone is born-again.  Neither should it be your judgment.  No one should ever make the judgment of someone else’s salvation.  It is our responsibility to share the Gospel, and it is God’s job to do the saving.  Only the person hearing the Gospel knows whether or not they are truly saved.

Now back to the conversation in the local eatery in Oxford, Mississippi.

When I returned to the table where my friends were dining they inquired about the man’s identity.  I informed them that the gentleman was a United States Senator.  He was not a senator from the south, however.  This man was 1500 miles away from home.

The gentleman to whom I was witnessing was then a senator from the state of Delaware.  Today he serves as Vice-President of the United States.  His name is Joe Biden.

I am so thankful I participated in the “valuable and rewarding experience” of witnessing.  I knew him then as a national figure. There was no way for me to realize a quarter-century later that he would be Vice-President

I encourage you to share the gospel in every instance the Lord affords you.  Who knows, someday that person may become the Vice President of the United States.