Sunday, April 29, 2012

I Said Something New

I said something new tonight. I often find myself saying the same things over and over again. Even though I like to think that what I tell people and what I ask people is spirit lead, people so often come up with the same comments, the same questions, week after week, my responses often end up being the same. But, tonight was different. I said something new, that I hadn't prepped for particularly and yet that I liked and I found effective. So, I thought I would share it with you here.

Someone new came by the street corner I usually go to in order to witness or do street preaching. We got to talking and when it seemed like we were running out of things to talk about regarding his questions or comments about the preaching, I told him something he wasn't expecting, but which made sense to him. People often say things like, "You can make the Bible say anything you want," but I don't believe that. Naturally, people can twist the scriptures; but we are all responsible for figuring out for ourselves what is true. None of us will be judged in the end based on what our pastors or other spiritual leaders believe. We are only going to be judged based on whether we did what we PERSONALLY knew to be right. I asked him if he reads the Bible on a regular basis. He said he does. I asked him how he reads it and I gave him some examples of different ways people might do that. He said he generally reads the things around what his pastor preached on the prior Sunday. So, I encouraged him to read the WHOLE Bible and ask himself two questions. First, what is the purpose of what he's reading? And second, what is he supposed to get out of what he's reading?

When we read the Bible, if we are to apply what we've read, we have to understand the context. One of the easiest ways to misinterpret the Bible is to pull something out of context. The thing that can be difficult is figuring out how NOT to pull things out of context! By that, I mean there are a lot of different ways to ask the two questions I posed to him. What's the purpose of the Bible as a whole? What's the purpose of the particular chapter I'm reading at any given time? What's the purpose of the book of the Bible that I happen to be reading? Those same variations on the question of the purpose of the material can be applied to "What am I supposed to get out of it?"

He had said that we were putting way too much emphasis on sin in our message. My response was, "If you haven't even read the whole Bible, how do you know what the proper emphasis should be?" More than 3/4 of the Bible is Old Testament, and yet more than a few people who call themselves Christians think it just doesn't even apply to them. All they pay attention to is the New Testament. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and for ever. God doesn't change, and many people still throw out the Old Testament all together. Rather than thinking that the purpose of the Bible (as a whole) is to just show us how overwhelmingly in love with us God is, I believe that the main purpose of the Bible is to show us how important it is that we stay as far away from sin as we can. The Bible tells us how really bad sin is and that it is a large part of God's love for us that he showed us a way back to him in spite of how really bad we've been by sinning. Then, also, it shows us that we don't need to keep on living that way any more.

There were numerous other things that we discussed, but the upshot of the whole conversation was that he really appreciated me and my friends and what we were doing and he said he would start reading the Bible differently now. He told me he'd start studying it more and really start thinking about the big picture rather than just thinking about the content of his pastor's sermons.

I've started praying differently lately, too. These are the common elements I've generally started asking for prior to going out to preach or witness to people. I ask that God send people with open hearts, ears and eyes to see, hear and understand the truth. I also ask that he give me the right words to say to people at the right times and in the right ways to the right people. I've been finding that he's answering those prayers. As I see that he answers my prayers, I believe I'm praying with more confidence. And, over time, I'm seeing him answer those kinds of prayers more and more. I find it overwhelmingly worth while and exciting to see people willing to reconsider their lives and their walk with Christ and the things they believe about God and the Bible. I see these things just about every week.

God's word does not return unto him void, but accomplishes that for which He intended it. Praise be to God and God bless all of you in your efforts to serve him!

4 comments:

  1. Have you been doing any evangelism lately? What have you been learning from it? What does success at evangelism mean to you? How have your efforts at evangelism been working? I'd love to read your comments about the above post or about your own experiences either in the comments here or through twitter at @DaveDerPunkt. God bless!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Okay, I went all-out and made a Blogger profile so I could comment here. Thanks for a great post! ;)

    I wholeheartedly agree with what you have said in this post. True evangelism, I believe, is more than just sharing Biblical facts (as important as that may be). True evangelism should lead people to desire and pursue an ever-closer connection with the God of Heaven for themselves.

    It sounds to me as if your efforts are being fruitful—praise God!

    Lately, my own evangelistic efforts have been mostly centered around everyday life. I am my children’s example, teacher, and guide. I help out at our church as I am physically able. I love working with children to lead them to Jesus. The fact of the matter, though, is that I love being wherever the Lord leads me.

    I feel that my work online on Facebook, Twitter, and on my blog at http://hastenhome.com is part of my evangelistic work, too. Just being a voice for God. I pray I represent Him rightly and consistently—and more and more fully.

    My “specialty” is Vacation Bible School. I have recently been the behind-the-scenes person. (In times past, I have been the up-front leader—I hope to do that more in the future.)

    That was a lot of "I", and I barely started to answer all your questions...You are welcome to visit my blog, if you would like to read about my journey and hear some of the lessons I've learned, too! Blessings! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow! That's awesome. Thanks for commenting. One of my reasons for doing the street preaching is that it fits into my schedule better than serving at a church during the day. Another is that I don't feel particularly gifted at dealing with children (I have three of my own, so I'm well aware of my shortcomings in that area ;-) I have looked at your blog, though, and will give your mailing list a try and sign up. Thanks again for the comment. I really appreciate it. God bless!

      Delete
    2. The Lord definitely gives us each different gifts. Together, His work will go forward as a perfect whole. There are always things we can learn from each other! God bless you, too.

      Delete