Our world is a mess. People are born disconnected from their Maker. They are ignorant of the Savior, Jesus Christ. And until they come to faith, they don’t have access to the Spirit’s wisdom and power. People need to be converted, born again, regenerated, brought back into a relationship with their God.

How does that happen? By believers sharing the powerful message of the gospel with unbelievers. Does a successful conversion depend on the skill of the proclaimer? Nope. The power inheres in the Word of God. But here’s the thing: though he could of course do all this proclaiming himself, God has chosen to depend on his believers to engage with unbelievers and bring them the message. He will wait and wait some more for us to speak.

This great honor and heavy expectation rests especially on leaders in God’s church. In fact, to spur his prophet Jeremiah to get into motion, he told him that he should fear God even more than rejection: “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them” (Jeremiah 1:17).

What are you and your congregation doing to engage people in your community? Don’t be afraid of people. When you speak words from the Bible, people are hearing not your thoughts but God’s. Let him take care of the converting.

You just take care of the talking.