A peculiar anxiety haunts the well-meaning Christian, a restless sense that the weight of another’s soul has been placed upon his shoulders. He feels the burden of persuasion, the urgent need to find the right words, the right tone, the right moment—lest the opportunity slip away, lest he be found wanting in his duty.
Did the prophets of old persuade? Did Moses, by argument and eloquence, transform Pharaoh’s heart of stone? Did Elijah, by the force of his own conviction, turn Israel from their idols? No, the fire and the whisper, the pillar of cloud and the parted sea—these belonged to God. The prophet’s task was not to control the flame but to carry the message.
And what of our Lord Himself? Did He strive to convince Pilate, to plead with the rich young ruler, to wrest belief from those who scoffed? No, He told the truth, and some followed, and some walked away. For “no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them” (John 6:44).
Pilate asked, “What is truth?” but received no argument in reply. Even the great commission to “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19) presupposes that it is God, not man, who opens the eyes and softens the heart.
Paul himself, that great voice of the Gospel, did not preach with “wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5). If the greatest missionary who ever lived knew that faith must rest in God, how much more must we?
We are but heralds, crying in the wilderness, “Behold your King!” We are but messengers, sent with tidings of great joy. We are but tellers of a tale so glorious that, once spoken, it is no longer ours to control.
So do not weary yourself with striving. Do not measure success by response. Do not mistake the Spirit’s work for your own. Speak the truth, yes. Speak it boldly, clearly, and in love. But speak it with the understanding that once the words have left your lips, they belong to Him who alone gives life.
“So shall My word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” —Isaiah 55:11.
Rest, then, in this: It is not our job to convert.
It is not our job to save.
It is not our job to convict.
It is not our job to convince.
It is only our job to tell.
That is all.
And it is enough.
