I couldn’t help it…I got emotional and choked up while the congregation was singing a hymn during the Sunday evening service at my home church when I was a college student. Richard, one of my spiritual mentors, was being ordained to the preaching ministry and we were singing “I Love to Tell the Story.” The opening words are, “I love to tell the story of unseen things above, of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love.”

The combination of those words, my friend being ordained, and my being a preacher deeply touched me. All I could do was cry.

In a recent online survey of our congregation, we asked “How often do you witness to lost persons, explaining to them what the Bible says about how a person can be saved?” Almost 58% answered “never” or “seldom.” Another 35% answered “occasionally,” with only seven percent saying they “often” witness. While I appreciate the honesty of those responding to the survey, it is apparent that we don’t love to tell the story of Jesus to lost people in our community.

We even struggle with inviting people to church. Only 8.7% of respondents said they did that “often,” with 57.4% saying they “never” or “seldom” invite someone.

It takes more than singing hymns and praise songs at church to be an evangelistic believer. Maybe all of us, me included, need to cry…not because our worship at church is meaningful and moving, but because people really are lost and going to hell. I’m not sure I can honestly say, “I love to tell the story” to lost people who need to hear it. Can you?

Pastor Steve Hogg