Okay so I admit, I have not seen the new release of the remade "Left Behind", though I am quite familiar with the original starring Mike Seaver, I mean Kirk Cameron. I also realize this movie is not specifically intended to be God's vehicle to spread the Gospel, we are! However if it brings up the conversation, I think that's great! I'm 100% for any opportunity to talk about Jesus with someone who is interested.
This got me to think what are the practical means by which we share the Gospel with others.
As I was a young teenager, the church was big on scaring you
into salvation. I think I was saved 5 or 6 times as a youth at a church. I’d
watch a short film about the end times or I’d hear a Youth Pastor (not you
Pastor Bill) share the Gospel like this:
“If
you were to leave this church tonight, and get hit by a bus, would you go to
heaven or hell? If you don’t know the answer to that question you must pray this prayer and you’ll be saved. Who
wants in?”
As a 13 year old, I prayed that salvation prayer (which I
still can’t find in scripture). I just did. It was free hell-fire-brimstone insurance, so why wouldn’t I? But
shortly after I got home and turned on MTV, I turned in my fire insurance
policy because everything was good to go now. I was home safely.
I wasn’t alone either. I’d see many of my friends get saved
again and again… and every time it was “for real” until the next time, when it
was “really for-real.”
I look back and see two things that were missing: I was
never explained God’s Love, only His wrath and judgment, and I was never fully
explained the Gospel.
Radical street ministers aren't much different. Their approach is not
one of love first; though many make the argument that holding up a large sign
with a condemning statement is showing love. I’d suggest they read about Truth
and Grace (read a previous blog here)…
What we can learn from this is that in order to spread the
Gospel, you have to extend love to others first. When was the last time you
gave up everything you thought was important in your life, just because some
stranger told you that you should? Probably never…
As Christians, why do we have this expectation that others
need to just “jump on board” with Jesus, without first being a representation
to them of who Jesus is.
Throughout the New Testament, Jesus demonstrated love time
and time again, and you know what? People followed Him! How about that!
Remember when He miraculously healed the Demon possessed man
in Mark 5,
“As
Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to
go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own
people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had
mercy on you.” Mark 5:18-19
Or stood up for an adulterous woman in John 8,
Jesus straightened up and asked
her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,”
she said “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and
leave your life of sin.” John 8:10-11
We can’t forget when He prayed for this cup to pass from Him
in Luke 22, but put God’s will before His own fears,
"Father,
if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be
done." Luke 22:42
Jesus was determined to do one thing, Love Everyone! Not
just certain people!
Everyone!
This tells me how bold Matthew 22:39 is when Jesus says “Love
your neighbor as yourself."
That neighbor is literally the family you sit with at your
church, the coach of your son’s football team, the homeless man who holds up a
sign asking for money on the street corner, the person who doesn’t want to hear
about your Jesus, and yes, even the guy holding the sign of condemnation.
We must be intentional about loving others.
If we are going to be real, and be effective in fulfilling the Great Commission of Matthew 28, we can’t be selective, because Jesus was not selective of whose sins He died for on the cross. He was perfect, and willingly became sin, so that we would not have to pay the price for our sins.
If we are going to be real, and be effective in fulfilling the Great Commission of Matthew 28, we can’t be selective, because Jesus was not selective of whose sins He died for on the cross. He was perfect, and willingly became sin, so that we would not have to pay the price for our sins.
I challenge you to go out and be intentional about loving others, then tell
them about the great things God has done in your life and can do in theirs. Don't try it the other way around. Love first, then see how receptive they are. It's a process and it will take time, so don't rush it. Get to know them. You may find they're not as close-minded as you thought...
Remember: Nobody wants what you have, unless they first see
Jesus in you.
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