REFLECTION

In John 1:35-50, we see a chain reaction of connection. A day after baptizing Jesus, John the Baptist sees Him walking by and proclaims, “Look, the Lamb of God!” (v. 36). In the very next verse, two of John’s disciples hear this and immediately follow Jesus. Their decision wasn’t random. It was built on trust—trust in John, his integrity, and his insight. Scripture doesn’t detail the shared stories of John and his disciples. There is no record of their conversations or moments of intimacy, but the swiftness of their response points to a deeply rooted relationship.

They followed Jesus because they trusted the man who pointed to Him.

Verse 40 reveals that one of these two disciples was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. After encountering Christ, Andrew’s f irst action was to find his brother and declare, “We have found the Messiah.” Again, trust and intimacy are at the heart of this moment. Andrew leads Simon not with fear or incentive, but with love and conviction. His words carry weight because of the brotherhood they already share.

That kind of influence should shape our understanding of evangelism. Too often, modern approaches are sterile or transactional. We hand out books. We recite rehearsed Bible studies. We rely on fear—talking about hell, demons, and inadequacy—or on the promise of blessings: prosperity, healing, and favor. But both approaches miss the mark. Fear cannot sustain a relationship with God, and love that’s rooted in gain is not love at all.

Perfect love casts out fear. True faith cannot be bought.

What drew the disciples to Christ wasn’t manipulation or reward: it was relationship, love, trust, and proximity. And if we take that seriously, we’ll recognize that salvation isn’t a message to be shouted at strangers, it’s a journey best walked alongside those we know and love. 

When we look back at Eden, Eve’s influence on Adam was immense because of their commitment to one another. But her trust was misplaced. The Creation narrative tells us she gave the serpent her ear, despite him never proving himself worthy of it. And yet she followed his words, and brought Adam along.

This should challenge us. In ministry, we often expect people to commit to Christ after a single encounter or two. But trust takes time. Depth takes consistency. Baptism after one week might feel like success, but without a true relationship, it rarely lasts. Worse, the mindset of quick, unsubstantiated conversions can excuse us from the harder mission: to live lives that bear fruit and to be the ongoing, faithful presence of Christ in someone’s life.

Christ modeled relational evangelism throughout His entire ministry. For three years, He walked closely with the disciples before ever sending them out on their own. He lived among them, shared in their daily joys and struggles, and formed deep, personal bonds with them. Perhaps it was the conviction that Jesus was the Messiah that first compelled them to follow Him, but it was their love for Him as a person and their intimacy with Him that sustained their commitment. That love gave them the strength to endure lives of rejection, persecution, and, for many, even death as martyrs.

The greatest evidence of our ministry and evangelism should not be how many people we baptize in churches or foreign lands. Instead, it should be reflected in the lives of those within our inner circle—those who, because of our consistent actions and character, are not turned away from God but drawn closer to Him.