But I shared the gospel.....

What is the purpose of going out to share Jesus?
Today, Tony & I went out on the streets and I went up and sat with a dude that was asking for money on the streets. He isn't your normal street person and I had never seen him before. He was fairly well dressed and so this made me curious and led me to go and talk with him. I went and started asking him about his situation, and talked with him for a little bit, then I went into the gospel with him. I was thinking, "great, this is my opportunity to share with this guy". I was so focused on sharing the gospel with this guy, I wasn't reading him very well. He does have unique circumstances, meaning that he was panhandling just to get home and he had all his stuff taken a few weeks ago while sleeping in public (a very normal occurance here in Montreal), and he has 68 dollars saved up for a bus ticket hom from panhandling every day.
Anyways, I shared a lot with him, and in the middle of one of what I was saying at one point, he politely interupted me and said, "I just want to go home man". I knew that he understood that he was a big sinner, just like you and me, but he wasn't ready for the ninety-nine reasons why he should become a Christian. So, I just stopped talking and started asking him questions about him.
I felt foolish!!!! I thought "But I shared the gospel.... that's what I'm here for" But maybe I was just supposed to listen to him and sit with him on the streets.
He had a one-track mind on getting home.... But he did listen and took some literature about how to trust in Jesus.
So, I went and told tony about Adam's circumstance and Tony offered to give him a ride to the highway so that he could hitch-hike home, which is way cheaper than taking a bus. Adam said he would think about it tonight and that he could take his money that he had saved and buy some used clothes (one bag of clothes for 6 bucks!!!), and then hitch a ride home. He really liked the idea and is gonna call us tomorrow morning to let us know.....
So, when I came back to the church, I was sitting and wondering why I felt like it was so hard to share and why I felt that I had forced the gospel.... and it was because I had! I am learning that it isn't my job to just go and bang out the four points of salvation and my campaign slogans for Jesus.... It's really about loving people and listening to them, and sharing with them because you know that they are able to hear it or need to hear it. My friend needed to hear it of course, but maybe not today. Maybe today he needed someone to listen to him and care about him. He did say that "people aren't usually this nice". May he see Jesus and His love for him. He needs someone to love him. And Jesus loves him! And me! And you!
Let's live out Jesus, and give a reason for why we are so different and be willing to share Jesus and His wonderful plan by word of mouth, but also sometimes just by action, and be willing to listen intently to the Spirit's leading!
Pray for me for wisdom in how to share, and when to be quiet!

Relying on Him.
Dwight