Where's the Passion for Souls?
Even writing this post is convicting to me. My passion for seeing people born into the kingdom of God is at best intermittent. As I look around in my city and county, I can't find a church that demonstrates a real passion for seeing the lost come to Christ. Most of the churches are content to hold on to what they've got, or grow by "swapping sheep" with other churches and hope they can get some two-for-one deals along the way.
This week I led a conference session on "Sharing Your Faith" for a group of Sr. Adults. Amazingly, fifty people showed up and packed a room designed for about half that many. (even in our planning we don't expect people to be interested in learning how to share their faith) As we discussed how to tell our salvation stories, how to share the gospel using only one verse of scripture (John 3:16), and how to use the "Bridge to Life" illustration, there was a genuine sense of excitement in the room. Of course the "proof of the pudding is in the eating". It remains to be seen if even one of those in the conference will use these, or any other tools, to communicate the gospel.
We've expanded use of the so-called "social gospel" (doing random acts of kindness in the name of Jesus) while diminishing life-style evangelism. While there is nothing wrong with the social gospel, there is little evidence that it is making significant in-roads in our pagan society. We drift from one program to the other while ignoring the fact that the Great Commission is a call to a life-style, not a program. The literal translation for the first few words of that commission is "As you are going, make disciples". Rather than just complain about this trend, I'm seeking to implement some steps toward changing it.
This week I led a conference session on "Sharing Your Faith" for a group of Sr. Adults. Amazingly, fifty people showed up and packed a room designed for about half that many. (even in our planning we don't expect people to be interested in learning how to share their faith) As we discussed how to tell our salvation stories, how to share the gospel using only one verse of scripture (John 3:16), and how to use the "Bridge to Life" illustration, there was a genuine sense of excitement in the room. Of course the "proof of the pudding is in the eating". It remains to be seen if even one of those in the conference will use these, or any other tools, to communicate the gospel.
We've expanded use of the so-called "social gospel" (doing random acts of kindness in the name of Jesus) while diminishing life-style evangelism. While there is nothing wrong with the social gospel, there is little evidence that it is making significant in-roads in our pagan society. We drift from one program to the other while ignoring the fact that the Great Commission is a call to a life-style, not a program. The literal translation for the first few words of that commission is "As you are going, make disciples". Rather than just complain about this trend, I'm seeking to implement some steps toward changing it.
- As a leader in my church, I'm going to demonstrate life-style evangelism by making the gospel a part of my everyday conversation.
- I'm going to hammer on the fact that, as Leonard Ravenhill said, "A person with an experience is never at the mercy of a person with an argument."
- I'm going to challenge my people to use their story as their primary method of sharing the Good News of Jesus.
- I'm also going out of my way to equip them with several simple methods so that they will have more than one arrow in their quiver.
- I'm going to have someone tell their story from the pulpit or in their SS class every week.
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