Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Evangelism Question


We sometimes hear, and I myself have said, that Christians must be good examples to win people to Christ.

I wonder if we are stretching that too far, or I wonder if we are being a bit dishonest to get our hearers to act with more consistently Christian character?

Does the Gospel have a power unto itself, independent of us, to reach out? To convince people of the truth of Christ?

We all know the bumpersticker theology of "Lord, save us from your followers."

Did I need to see excellent Christian witnesses? Is that what brought me to Christ? Why did they do it above and beyond terrible witnesses I saw?

Put another way, a repulsive math teacher I had did not make me doubt the transitive principle of arithmetic.

Have I put too much faith in the people around em who brought me to Christ? I hope not. I hope that I can say that their direct efforts took me to Christ who drew me to Himself by the truth and power of the Gospel.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Posted by at

2 comments:

  1. mecmNovember 2, 2011 at 7:26 AM

    Read this on a post about moms, raising children & Susannah Wesley. I think it also applies to your post:

    "We need to be so careful, as women, to not think that we are the ones who make or break our children. Yes, we have a responsibility, but ultimately the one who changes their hearts is God. If we put too much of the responsibility on ourselves...and the rules we set or don't set...we will set ourselves up for one of two things: 1) if our children do well (Like Susannah's did) we can run the risk of feeling prideful and not giving glory to God, feeling like we did it. 2) if our children stumble, we can blame ourselves and walk through life under condemnation. I don't think we are meant to do either. God works through parents, but we are not the ones who change their hearts . As good as some parents may be, it is not them who do the work! It is the Holy Spirit.

    I share this to encourage others to not carry the entire burden of responsibility on their shoulders, but to pray for God to pursue their children and stir up their hearts. He is our only hope!!!"

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aaron MansfieldNovember 7, 2011 at 8:34 PM

    Amen! I think of so many people who struggle about thinking we can control other people's behaviors and or outcomes in their lives. We really do have to totally give our kids to God

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)