“We speak for Christ and
sincerely ask you to make peace with God. – 2Cor 5:20 (CEV)
Why do we evangelise? Why do we make every
available effort to reach out to the lost? Unfortunately, the Pulpit – in our
typical penchant of creating false paradigms just to ‘motivate’ our members to
do God’s work – have built up wrong motivations and reasons for going out.
One of these is the devious application of Eze
33:7,8 to claim that if members do not evangelise, the blood of the sinners
would be placed on their heads!
Another is to take the pecuniary approach: we
tell them that only if they take God’s business seriously, will God take care
of theirs! These manipulative ways of making God’s people work will only lead
to works that have no eternal value as they are predicated on wrong motives.
The last, probably most innocuous, reason we
give for evangelism is that “It’s God’s
heartbeat”. While this is true (“the Lord is not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance”, 2Pe 3:9); it makes one wonder
if it‘s ONLY the Lord that wants those lost souls to be saved.
It’s as though we’re saying, “If not that God
wants those people saved, I would have just sat down at home and watch TV all
day”.
No, Beloved, that shouldn’t be our mindset or
motivation. We, too, want to see them saved. They are our brothers
and our sisters. Yes, they may be belligerent, provocative and even insulting;
but it’s only because the god of this world has blinded their minds, lest the
light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them (2Co 4:4).
Evangelism should no longer be seen as “the
LORD’s work”? No, it is OUR work. “For we are labourers together with God”
(1Co 3:9). Our hearts go out for them just as God’s; we love them just as God
does. If He is not willing that any should perish, WE TOO are not willing that
any should perish. Like our Elder Brother, Jesus, our meat is to do the will of Him that sent us, and to finish His work.
(Joh 4:34).
Are you hungry?
More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.
GREG ELKAN
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