Jessi Green is one of the Community Pastors at our Union Square Community. Jessi is passionate about sharing her faith and loves to equip people to minister to their communities through evangelism. Read her response to Justin’s message, “Second Star to the Right,” in the conversation below.
You’ve shared before with the church how you became a Christian. You had a personal revelation of God in your early 20s.
JG: Yes, I had believed in the existence of God but had no relationship with God. Not to be dramatic, but in my darkest hour, God really just showed up. I had an encounter with God in my apartment.
So it’s interesting that you yourself aren’t a Christian as a result of evangelism.
JG: That’s true.
Was there anyone in your life who planted seeds, so to speak, before you became a Christian?
JG: My parents, going to church with them growing up. I definitely think my salvation is a result of their prayers.
How long after you became a Christian did you discover your passion for evangelism?
JG: The next day. That’s the honest truth. As soon as I had the realization that there was actual hope and not the hope that the world offers, the whole parable of “A Treasure in a Field,” that’s what it was for me. I immediately told every person I knew. Sold all my stuff and quit my job.
What do you think is characteristic of New Yorkers or maybe part of the nature of our city that makes people more responsive to hearing about Jesus? Or less responsive?
JG: We have a pendulum swing of response. When I approach people, I will get a very intense response where they hate God and as a result hate me. Or immediate altar call on the street, life conversion. There’s no middle ground.
The kind of people who are drawn to live in this city are an all-or-nothing personality type. By nature they’re extreme people.
Even certain areas of Manhattan get different responses, which shows the different culture of different parts of the city. In the Financial District, people can’t be bothered, whereas in Union Square you’ll see full life transformation happen. But there’s a big need for discipleship, because they can believe a million different things in a week. They’re very open and accepting.
You have a real heart for Union Square.
JG: I think because of the searching spirit that’s in Union Square. In the natural, I see Union Square as a hub of all kinds of people, every kind of person. In regards to global missions, you feel like you’re doing that in Union Square—reaching every kind of culture, nature, profession, personality.
One of the things I loved about Justin’s message on Sunday was knowing your “Fist Pump Moment.” Is there some part of your story that either you share really frequently or that motivates you to reach out?
JG: Yes. My Fist Pump Moment would be when I personally got saved, my whole life just turned around. And at that time, I would have said that I had everything that the world would tell you that would make you happy: status, money. But there was still something missing.
I also like when Justin pointed out Christian’s reasons for copping out of evangelism. They were so true. But then also he said, “On the other side of your obedience, there’s a person waiting to know God.” I think it would be helpful to know what some of your most embarrassing evangelism moments are.
JG: There’s so many. I really like that Justin pointed out the “highlight reel.” I always tell people “Sometimes you have to approach and pray and encourage maybe 500 people before one person responds to you.” The response can’t be the goal. Obedience to God and your love and passion for God has to be a goal. If successful evangelism was based on how people responded to me, I would probably think I was the biggest loser and failure ever.
Last week, I was training two people on evangelism. That puts you in a more awkward and vulnerable spot. We were walking and God had given me a clear word: “Go into CVS. There’s a women with a dog in an aisle, and you’re supposed to pray with her.” That was specific, so in this training it could set the seed of doubt for these girls I was with.
Aisle by aisle, no woman, no dog. No woman. No dog. The second to last aisle, there’s a woman with a dog. Your spirit starts to feel like, “Yes! God’s about to do something so crazy!” We approached the woman. I said to her, “Hi. This may sound random, but I’m a pastor in the community. And I feel that God wanted me to encourage you.” She literally just looked at me, did not even respond, and just walked away.
I laughed, because I realized in that moment I would prefer someone to say, “I hate you!” than to not respond at all. It’s moments like that where you just have to laugh.
We really don’t know people’s full journey and their whole story. We just know how God wants us to use right now in this day in this moment. We don’t know what that woman is doing right now or what God is doing in her life.
Our job is to love God so much, that even if my approaching someone and doing that one thing in the moment won’t even affect someone for several years, I’m still obedient to him.
It ended up being a story of celebrating the win in a rejection.
Then we saw her 3 more times that day. And that was just awkward.
I know you have a heart for foreign missions too, does that spring from the same place as your love for evangelism?
JG: Yes and no. That’s kind of from the verse, “Go out into all the nations.” I don’t think God says anything by accident, and if he says to go out into all the nations…
To be honest, that’s why I like social media. In no other time in history could you go out into all the nations with your thumbs. I just recently spoke to someone and walked them through salvation and they live in Miami and we’ve never met face-to-face.
But with missions, actually visiting a place and having your feet on the ground, it gives you a bigger perspective on why this all really matters. I would say every time I’ve done a missions trip it’s benefited me more than anyone I’ve gone to serve.
It keeps your heart in check. Then you see what’s actually going on in the world. A little bit of a wake-up call.
What else keeps your heart in check with regard to sharing your faith?
JG: People are not projects. We lose the heart of evangelism when we have no honor for them… That’s not Jesus at all. Your evangelism checklist can’t be bigger than your love for people.
