Having grown up in a conservative church in the American south, the word evangelism recalls a vivid array of memories: door to door soul-winning, gospel tracts, stadium crusades. And while these methods — and the message they carry — may be lacking, I know people who through them have begun a lasting relationship with God.

Over the years a more robust gospel has come to fill my heart and mind. For that I’m thankful. But somewhere along the way, for various reasons, I have minimized the importance of sharing Jesus with others and complicated what it means to do so.

Reading this piece from Watchman Nee stirred within me a mixture of conviction and relief and joy. 

“What is necessary for a person to be saved?” he asks. ​“We are not required—in the first place—to believe, or to repent, or to be conscious of sin, or even to know that Christ died. We are required only to approach the Lord with an honest heart.” 

Nee doesn’t minimize the importance of Jesus’ work on the cross. Rather, he reframes the starting place for salvation. Jesus, he says, ​“moved among the people as their Friend before he became their Savior.”

He goes on, ​“I do believe in the necessity of His atonement… That appreciation must follow, but the main question is whether or not we have the Son, and not, first of all, whether or not we understand the whole plan of salvation. The first condition of salvation is not knowledge, but meeting Christ.”

What a needed reminder! We invite people first and foremost not to believe a particular set of theological points (as important as those are), but to come honestly and humbly before the Lord. 

As Thanksgiving approaches here in the US, may your eyes be open to overlooked blessings, and may you have the opportunity to point someone toward an encounter with Jesus.