What do you do when the fire won’t light? What do you do when sharing the gospel seems to be going nowhere? Is lack of results a reason to quit?

I wish I was better at lighting fires. Our family loves to host barbecues, and I bear the responsibility of lighting the communal fire. In America, I learned to be sure the wood for a bonfire is not frozen. In the humidity of Asia, I discovered that damp coals will embarrass you in front of your friends. I now have an assortment of lighters and accelerators. Even though I have experience, lighting a fire is still not really my thing.

In the early fall, our neighbor hosted a barbecue and invited our family. Finally, I could enjoy a barbecue without the hassle of lighting the coals. When I arrived, our hostess asked, “Can you light the fire for us?” And so, I keep on lighting fires.

I wish I was better at convincing people to believe on Christ. Oh, I can explain the way of salvation clearly. I can use Scripture to show how every person is a sinner destined for eternal punishment (Rom. 3:23; 6:23). I can explain how Jesus, the sinner’s substitute, took their punishment by dying on the cross and proved His victory over death in His resurrection (1 Cor. 15:3). I have informed countless unbelievers of these gospel facts, and they can even repeat them back to me in detail. However, changing hearts from hardened unbelief to joyful acceptance of the gift of salvation is out of my league. That’s a fire that is impossible for me to ignite.

Parable of the Pyromaniac

One of the most effective missionaries of the last century, James O. Fraser, experienced this difficulty in sharing the gospel among the Lisu along the China-Burma border. Fraser explained that attempting to lead people to Christ “is like a man going about in a dark, damp valley with a lighted match in his hand, seeking to ignite anything ignitable. But things are damp through and through and will not burn however much he tries. In other cases, God’s wind and sunshine have prepared beforehand. The valley is dry in places, and when the lighted match is applied—here a shrub, there a tree, here a few sticks, there a heap of leaves take fire and give light and warmth long after the kindling match and its bearer have passed on. And this is what God wants to see and what He will be inquired of us for: little patches of fire burning all over the world.”[1] The gospel is a fire that changes eternal destinies and transforms lives for the better.

So What Should I Do?

Keep lighting the fire by sharing the gospel. Give everyone a chance to hear, and among these listeners, you will eventually find those God has prepared.[2] See what God will do in people’s hearts with the sparks you lit.[3] Trust that God will do what only He can do. If we all faithfully preach the gospel, we too, like Fraser, will find “little patches of fire burning all over the world.”

[1] Mrs. Howard Taylor, Behind the Ranges: Fraser of Lisuland (London: Lutterworth Press and the China Inland Mission, 1944), 229.

[2] In the parable of the sower, Jesus made a similar point to what I am calling Fraser’s parable of the pyromaniac (Matthew 13:18-23).

[3] And pray for God to change hearts. For the brevity and focus of this post, I did not include this, but God has made prayer is a key ingredient in salvation of men and women (Matt 9:38; Lu. 18:1; Eph. 6:18-19; Col. 4:3).

Prayer was also a key focus of James Fraser. Read more about how prayer led to the salvation of hundreds of people in the mountains along the China-Burma border on Day 7 of my upcoming devotional, Daring Devotion: A 31-Day Journey with those who Lived God’s Promises.

Photo credit: Photo by Tirza van Dijk on Unsplash