As Christians,we should be concerned with our attitude with the world around us,with what is expected of us. But sometimes our “holier than thou” gets in the way. As members of a church we should be concerned about how we interpret and carry out the command of Jesus when He says
“Go make disciples of all the world, ,baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”.
George Barna an observer and researcher on church ministry, says that before we step out in our evangelistic efforts (and this applies to each of us as well as the corporate thrust) :
1- We need to pray for those who have not known Christ, or who have not accepted the invitation to give their life to Him.
2- In talking to people in those categories, we must first love them, keeping in mind that they are all children of God.
3- Gently ask them if they have a church home. Get them talking about their experience with church
in their life. (four out of five “unchurched ” were formally involved in a church and in the words of many were “driven away” by some negative experience.
4-Confront that negative experience or experiences. Don’t try to explain it away, especially because we may not know all the circumstances. Do show them that you want them to have a good experience.
5-Share your walk with Christ and your experience with the local church. Mention the activities in your church they might be interested in. In your walk with Christ it is important to give them context as to your coming to a saving Grace in Jesus Christ.
David Brainerd once shared his burden for the lost when he said “I cared not or how I lived, or what hardships I went through, so that I could but gain souls for Christ. While I was asleep, I dreamed of those things and when I awoke the first thing I thought of was this great work”
Bill Bright, who authored the video “Jesus” said in his approach to saving the lost through the years “I am a rather reserved person and I don’t always find it easy to witness. But I have made it my practice–and I urge you to do the same–assume that when you are alone with another person for more than a few minutes, you are there by divine appointment to explain the love and forgiveness he or she can know through their faith in Jesus Christ.
No, we are not like the Apostle Paul or Bill Bright, “I cannot witness the way they did”. You are right, God has made each of us unique and so God has given us each unique abilities to witness.
Jesus used three parables to Illustrate what we should do about the lost. The first: a shepherd lost one of his sheep and he left the 99 until he found the lost sheep. He rejoiced with his fellow shepherds. Next, he told about a woman who lost a valuable coin in her house. She cleaned and swept the house until she found it. Then she called all her friends together to celebrate finding the coin. The third parable is about the Lost son who went to the far country. He kept watch and when he saw the son return he had a celebration.
If you notice that the father did not go to the far country to find his son, he made a warm inviting home for him to return to. So in one way we search and another way we attract. We want to have a warm inviting place for new people to come and experience the love of Christ with those in the local church.
At this point I should stop with this blog. There is so much more we can address when it comes to bringing the lost to Christ. Perhaps in another blog I will continue my thought process. All I can say now is: share the love of Christ; shine your light in the world. Amen.
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