In John 4, we find the familiar story of the time Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well. Notice her response to their conversation (see vv. 1-30, 39-42).
“The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, ‘Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?'” (John 4:28-29).
She left her water jar behind, even though getting water was the purpose of her journey. Why? Because something significant had happened. When she spoke with Jesus, she drank from a well of water that was even greater than the water she came to fetch, and it satisfied her thirst.
Suddenly, she was on a mission. She told the men in the city what happened when she met this man, Jesus. She was one person who had one conversation—one encounter with Jesus—and she went out to be a spokesperson.
Never underestimate one conversation. You might walk away thinking, “Nothing’s going to come of this.” But I’ve talked with many people I never thought would come to Christ. Years later they told me they came to Christ because of that one conversation. The Lord will use the seeds you plant, the words you speak, and the truth that you sow.
I don’t know what your idea of successful evangelism is, but many would say, “If we fill stadiums with people, bring in bands, preach the gospel, and call people to Christ—that’s how we’ll win the world.” God does use that wonderful method to spread the gospel, and I’m all for it.
But Evangelism Explosion International published a report that changed my thinking a little bit. The report said that if you fill a stadium with fifty thousand people every night of the week for a year, for thirty-five straight years, and every night one thousand people come to Christ—the world will be less evangelized at the end of thirty-five years than the day you began.
You read that correctly. You’d be further behind with that style of evangelism, because of the exponential global birth rate.
The same report said that if you were the only Christian on Earth, and you led one other person to Christ, there would be two believers in year one. If you and the new believer each led one person to Christ, there would be four believers at the end of year two. By the end of thirty-five years, the whole world would be won to Christ. (Do the math. It’s amazing!)
Back to the woman at the well. Jesus went through Samaria, touched a woman’s heart, and that woman went on to share a life-changing message. That’s the power of a single conversation—a single witness. She was the catalyst.
“And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word” (vv. 39-41).
Never underestimate one conversation.
