Jesus
asked them a question: "What do you think about the Christ?" Matthew 22:42
I was reading an article this last week that ask: Have
you ever been moved to write a letter to someone who was making some bad
decisions in life and needed a good dose of "talking to"? The author
knew a man who felt compelled to write one of those letters not too long ago. A
business acquaintance of his was getting dangerously close to walking away from
his wife and family, and the author’s friend wanted to be a voice of godly
perspective in this man's life. But instead of filling his letter with direct
warnings and admonishments, he simply asked his friend a series of questions.
With each one, he took his friend farther out in years. He asked him things
like, "What do you want your life to look like at the end?" and
"How do you expect your children to eulogize you?" Rational
evangelism of the gospel truth takes the perspective of outing people into the
shoes of both personal self-imagery and project likely consequences in
emotional word pictures of our action and inactions when taken to the final
analysis of the situation. The author asks: If you feel bottled up and
ineffective as a Christian witness, is it possible that it is because you think
you need to know everything?
Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me
in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all
the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have
commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the
age.” Amen.
The author asks: Is it any
coincidence that the greatest Christian witness of all time--Jesus Christ
Himself--so often responded to people's questions by asking them questions in
return? So in the most important question of life: Where will you spend
eternity?, why not ask people that you know, who do not know the Savior of the
world and Lord of all, a few open ended thought-provoking questions that create the
care and reasoning that dives below the superficial daily existence to the
heart and soul of the matter in open and honest conversation. Who do you think
Jesus Christ is?
Most people do not know that they already stand condemned before God because of their sins against Him. Almost everybody is unaware of the reality that they already stand in judgment before a "just and holy" Almighty Creator because of their sin and therefore need a Savior. Who has not heard the phase: Nobody's perfect.", but how many have heard the verse: "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."? How many know that we all are sinners in the eyes of the Lord and need a Savior to forgive our sins and redeem us, because we are all truly lost? A couple simple questions are: If Christ doesn't pay the penalty for your sins, then who will? If you were to die right now and God were to ask you what right you have to heaven and eternal life, how would you answer Him? The author of this article states that when you ask open and caring questions of your neighbors and others in your life, you can open true lines of dialogue. Don't feel the need to do all the talking. The doors you open by getting others to wrestle with God--and not argue with you--are usually the widest ones for people to walk through. The real matter is between the unbeliever and God. We are just the caring friend being a concerned, compassionate voice to bring a godly perspective in their life, because we care about their eternal destiny, and that is what’s really important.
John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not
send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through
Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who
does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. “
Most people do not know that they already stand condemned before God because of their sins against Him. Almost everybody is unaware of the reality that they already stand in judgment before a "just and holy" Almighty Creator because of their sin and therefore need a Savior. Who has not heard the phase: Nobody's perfect.", but how many have heard the verse: "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."? How many know that we all are sinners in the eyes of the Lord and need a Savior to forgive our sins and redeem us, because we are all truly lost? A couple simple questions are: If Christ doesn't pay the penalty for your sins, then who will? If you were to die right now and God were to ask you what right you have to heaven and eternal life, how would you answer Him? The author of this article states that when you ask open and caring questions of your neighbors and others in your life, you can open true lines of dialogue. Don't feel the need to do all the talking. The doors you open by getting others to wrestle with God--and not argue with you--are usually the widest ones for people to walk through. The real matter is between the unbeliever and God. We are just the caring friend being a concerned, compassionate voice to bring a godly perspective in their life, because we care about their eternal destiny, and that is what’s really important.
Romans 1:16
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to
salvation for everyone who believes.”
In Christ, Brian
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