In a recent interview with Charisma Media, evangelist Ray Comfort of Living Waters Publications opened up about the challenges and motivations behind evangelism, shedding light on why sharing faith remains crucial in today’s world. Despite his long-standing reputation for street preaching, Comfort revealed surprising personal struggles and shared practical advice for Christians facing similar hesitations.
Comfort candidly admitted his own reluctance toward evangelism, describing it as a daunting task. “I don’t like evangelism,” he confessed. “Every day when I go out to preach the gospel or go to witness, I’m going somewhere I don’t want to go to say something I don’t want to say to people who don’t want to hear it.” This raw honesty highlights a common sentiment among many Christians, making Comfort’s perspective all the more relatable.
Despite these feelings, Comfort emphasizes the moral imperative to evangelize, comparing the duty to that of a firefighter facing a burning building. “He’s not excited about climbing a 60-foot ladder with smoke and sirens and a screaming woman and screaming children,” Comfort explains. “But he’s a firefighter, so what he does is he ignores his fears and thinks about the fate of that woman and her children.”
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Comfort’s approach to evangelism involves seizing everyday opportunities and engaging with people in unexpected ways. One such tactic includes riding a bike equipped with a platform and accompanied by his sunglasses-wearing dog. “College students come up and say, ‘I love your dog! How does she wear sunglasses?'” Comfort shared.
Addressing common skepticisms, Comfort offered insights into dealing with questions about the existence of suffering and evil. “Every day 150,000 people die, all these are evidence that the Bible is true that we live in what’s called a fallen creation,” he said. Comfort pointed to the Christian hope in the face of suffering, that God’s creation and the promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ provide a meaningful answer to these profound questions.
For those hesitant to share their faith, Comfort offers practical advice, focusing on the universal human desire for purpose and eternal life. “Every Christian has this moral obligation,” he stated. “We’re like doctors with a cure to cancer. There’s a crime that we commit when we don’t save someone from drowning if someone’s drowning and you let them drown, you just walk away when there’s a rope right by your feet.”
Comfort’s passion for evangelism and his relatable struggles offer valuable lessons for Christians worldwide. His candidness about the challenges and his unwavering commitment to sharing the gospel serve as a compelling call to action. As Comfort puts it, “We have found the source of everlasting life, and in Christ, we have life. If they only knew what we had in Christ, they would ask of Him, and He’d give them living water.”
Comfort also revealed plans to send a team to evangelize during the upcoming Olympics in Paris. The initiative aims to leverage the global event’s massive audience to share the gospel with as many people as possible. Comfort’s team will distribute specially designed tracts, capitalizing on the memorabilia appeal during the Olympics.
“We’re taking advantage of this whole Olympics thing,” Comfort says of the unique opportunity to reach diverse crowds gathered for the games. The outreach effort shows Living Waters’ commitment to creative and impactful evangelism on an international stage.
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James Lasher is Staff Writer for Charisma Media.
