More and more, I find myself
bumping into Christians who say things like, “If we show them the
power of Jesus, they will get saved!” Or, “If you have
enough of the Holy Spirit, people will get saved,” and “If you
make Jesus attractive enough, they will believe in Him.”
Will they? Do miracles
cause people to fall on their knees in repentance? Does an
attractive, loving Jesus cause people to want to become Christian?
These statements may be true
in some aspects but are they truth? When I evangelize, my heart's
burden is to pour the love of Jesus into the lost. I so desire that
they see, feel and understand His love and I think, “If they can
only experience His great love for them, then surely they will want
Him in their lives,” but is that true?
Where were all the people
who were physically healed during the three years of Jesus ministry
when He was crucified? Where were they? Why weren't they there,
protesting, “No! Don't crucify him!” Where were the people who
saw bread and fish multiplied from 5 loaves and 2 fish? Where were they when they were
shouting, “Crucify Him!” Why were there only 120 believers in
the upper room waiting for the Holy Spirit to come, when thousands
were touched by Jesus?
We (in the church) today,
think we are so free but we are STILL talking about methods. We are
still putting Jesus into a box.
We've had waves of methods
for evangelism. The circuit riders with tent revivals; the anointed
men of God such as Spurgeon, Wesley and Billy Graham. We've done
friendship evangelism and now we are talking about what I term,
“power evangelism” which says if we can do enough miracles, they
will be saved.
We are always being told
that we are “doing it wrong,” and if someone sees a salvation,
they package it and say, “This is the way to do it.”
Bethel Church and Todd White
are teaching power evangelism – so the whole Christian world flocks
to them and wants to be just like them.
“This way is right. That
way is wrong...”
Did we ever stop to think
that there is no right way?
What happened to abiding and
walking with Jesus and allowing Him to guide us in each and every
situation? Will we ever stop flocking to methodology and just look
to Jesus and the Counselor, Guide who LIVES
INSIDE?
If we are walking close to
Jesus, He may have us come alongside someone in friendship evangelism
one day and the next day use us on the street to do
“power-evangelism.” He may challenge us one day to preach fire,
hell and brimstone on the street and the next day, give food to the
poor. Our God is a God of diversity and He is never locked
inside of a method. He alone knows each individual intimately and He
alone knows what will reach each person with His love.
We should be teaching
ABIDING, not methodology. If we are all abiding in Jesus, falling in
love with Him each day, and getting to know Him more and more, He
will be our guide in evangelism.
“When the Spirit of Truth
comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His
own but will tell you what He has heard. He will tell you about the
future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever He receives
from Me. All that belongs to the father is mine; this is why I said,
'The Spirit will TELL YOU WHATEVER HE RECIEVES FROM ME.'” John
16:12-15
What glorious words! We
don't need prophets to tell us how to evangelise or how to live. We
have the glorious counselor and teacher
living right inside of us!
I fear that
many Christians feel inadequate or not as powerful or spiritual as
say, Todd White. I think Todd White is wonderful and I am not
rapping him, I am just saying that the Lord works individually with
all of us. I am also saying that I wish Christians would stop
criticizing other's methods of evangelism. I fear that many
criticize methods because they are afraid that a hell and fire street
preacher will make all Christians look angry and intolerant. As
well, the average Christian wants everyone to have “happy”
feelings for God. “This Christian culture of positivity depicts a
God who is so enamored by us that judgement is contrary to his
nature. John Burton
(http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/50630-is-it-time-for-hell-fire-preaching-again)
Is it true that
we can present Jesus as so irresistible that sinners will repent? I
don't believe so. Judas Iscariot is a prime example. He lived with
Jesus as close as any man could. He saw (and felt) His love, he saw
the miracles and he heard the teaching, yet he let sin have the upper
hand in his life. Judas did not choose Jesus, he chose sin.
Take the words
of Jesus, “You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow
gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for THE
MANY WHO CHOOSE THAT WAY. But the gateway to life is very narrow and
the road is difficult and only a few ever find it.” Matthew
7:13-14.
Jesus made it
very plain that many more would go to hell than to heaven. Sadly the
soul of man is “the most deceitful of all things and desperately
wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” Jeremiah 17:9
In conclusion,
let's stop claiming we know the “right” way to evangelize. Even
if we don't agree with another's method, let's encourage our
brother's and sisters. Which is worse, a brother who sits and
watches TV every night or a brother who stands on a corner compelling
the lost to escape the fires of hell? If you believe the brother who
speaks honestly about hell is worse than the TV watcher, I would
suggest you need to “examine yourself to see if your faith is
genuine.” 2 Corinthians 13:5. Also, if you are a successful
evangelist, please don't assume that your method is the right one or
the only way to evangelize. It's okay to teach your method of
evangelism but it's not okay to criticize your fellow brother's and
sister's.
We need to
accept the sad truth that many, many people simply do not want to bow
their knee to Jesus and make Him their Lord. It is hard to
comprehend for those of us who love Jesus, why all the world does not
love Him but they simply don't. Loving Him costs a lot. We have to
die to our flesh, we have to accept His payment for our sins and we
have to put Jesus on the throne of our lives and many are not willing
to give up their throne.
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