One of the most interesting findings I’ve discovered in Scripture is what the Bible says about the mind. It is fascinating and can be wrapped up in one sentence – What you dwell on with your mind is what you produce with your life. As someone once said, “You are not what you think you are. Instead, what you think – you are.”

Nowhere is that more true than when it comes to our mind as it relates to evangelism. Our mindset can fuel us to reach out to others in many creative ways, but it can also produce mental blocks that hold us back.

How can you tell if your mindset is holding you back from sharing the gospel? I think there are four key indicators.

Procrastination.

Our mind often tells us something we should do today can always be done tomorrow. We bring this mindset into evangelism by putting off talking to a particular non-Christian until another day, another week, another month, and sometimes even another year.

The fact is – it can be done tomorrow. But perhaps the time to do it is now, especially in light of the brevity of life. As Christ said about a person who felt he had years to enjoy his possessions, “But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” (Luke 12:20)

We do not know how many more days the unbeliever we wish to speak to has. But neither do we know how much time we have. I stayed in a home of a couple while speaking at their church for an evangelism training weekend. The husband got so excited about EvanTell’s training that he asked the Lord to use him to lead someone to Christ. Five days later he did just that – led a golfing friend to Jesus.

The next day the man, my host, died of a massive heart attack.

He did not realize that if he wanted to lead someone to Christ, he only had six days. We do not know how much time an unbeliever has, nor do we know how much time we have. Don’t surrender to the mental block of procrastination.

Assuming they would not be interested.

What you dwell on with your mind you produce with your life. So, we convince ourselves that it would be a waste of time to even talk to someone we feel is not interested in the gospel. The mental block may be because of something they said in the past or something they are doing in the present, so we deem them not interested.  But how do we know unless we approach the subject of spiritual things with them? Besides, even if they are not prepared to come to the Savior, just the fact that we approach them about their need could cause them to begin thinking in the right direction. Why not instead feed our minds with the truth contained in John 4:37, “One sows and another reaps.”

Distractions.

The late Dr. Dwight Pentecost once said, “It is not where the mind darts, it is where it dwells.” We’ll always have to deal with things that distract us from sharing the gospel, but the problem arises when we allow our minds to dwell on those things. What you dwell on with your mind you produce with your life. So we take time to fix something around the house that just distracted us instead of walking across our yard to build a friendship with a neighbor who is sitting in his lawn chair. We check emails on our cell phones instead of using the same phone to call a non-Christian friend who just received an unpleasant health diagnosis. We planned to invite an unbeliever to have lunch with us but got distracted by an item we could pick up at the hardware store over the noon hour that is presently on sale. There is absolutely no limit to the things that we can allow to distract us that become mental blocks in our outreach.

Convincing yourself that “I’m not good at sharing the gospel.”

What you dwell on with your mind you produce with your life. So, not being good at it, we don’t do it. First of all, we improve through experience and training, both of which are available today! Secondly, God honors obedience and teaches us as we go. Why not instead think, “I cannot wait to see how God is going to teach me as I share my faith with others.”

These are just four, but there are more. Take time now to think through them and address each one directly. Commit yourself to push these mental blocks aside instead of letting them push your witness aside.