Month: March 2016

During my first few months in Barrouallie it became apparent many children came to Bible club not because they were interested in Christ, but for the chance to get some of Mr. John’s juice (koolaid) or play one of my tablets.  Of course this is normal so I decided to look children who actually wanted to be there for the right reasons.  One of those kids was Adam (not is real name).

Adam showed a real interest in the teaching time and was always one of the best behaved kids there.  In fact we had to make a rule about how many times a person could get the peanut-butter sandwich reserved as a special reward each week so Adam couldn’t get it every day!  Over time I began to notice the Lord working on his heart and began to share the Gospel with Adam.

The interesting thing is when I asked Adam where he would go when he died he would immediately tell me”Hell” and there was a clear understanding of how to receive Christ.  Yet whenever I asked Adam if he wanted to accept Christ today or later his response was always “later.”

At first Adam’s saying later was frustrating, especially since he was so close to accepting Christ.  Part of me wanted to tell him that Jesus could come back today or he could die that afternoon destined for Hell.  I considered giving Adam ten reasons why he should accept Christ that moment or talking him into accepting Jesus.

But I didn’t do it because Salvation has to be a choice

Lots of the kids who come to Bible club tell me they are saved, but when I ask them to tell me about it they give some very interesting responses.

1. I prayed a prayer (that they cannot remember any of)
2. I told God I loved him
3. I talked with God
4. I decided I was going to be a good person

While I try not to question the Salvation of others, when someone cannot give a clear testimony of accepting Christ you start wondering if they really know Him at all.

While the children deserve some of the blame for this I believe the majority of it falls on those who shared the Gospel with them.  That boy or girl either a.) didn’t truly understand the gospel or b.) decided to pray a prayer because that’s what the person wanted them to do.  In both cases they were never truly saved in my opinion.

By placing pressure on Adam to accept Christ instead of allowing him to do it on his own I would have contradicted the character of Christ who knocks on the door of a lost persons heart instead of breaking it down (Revelation 3:20), and of God who gives us free-will desiring children who willingly choose Him instead of robots who are forced to obey.

Even worse I will try to do the Holy Spirits job of convicting his heart over sin with my human wisdom instead of God’s Word.  Yes my putting pressure on him may result in a conversion, but when asked why he accepted Christ Adam may say “because Mr. John wanted me to.”  Of course there is a place for us to encourage children like Adam to accept Jesus.  But this is done as we cooperate with the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

One warm afternoon Adam sat on my front porch and after weeks of being inches from the Gospel accepted Christ as His Lord and Savior.  Though it could have happened sooner I’m grateful the Lord kept me patient because the choice was his.

Last week I shared a story about sharing theGospel with people who came during a free medical-clinic run by a missions team in St. Vincent.  It was interesting how many of them had a basic knowledge of Scripture (knew what to say) but didn’t know what the right answer actually meant.  For instance when asked where they would go when they died people would quickly say “heaven” but when I asked why God would let them into Heaven a look of fear was their only response.

It’s easy to condemn that unsaved person for their lack of knowledge about God’s Word and they should be.  However at the same time Christians face some of the blame as well for sharing “tidbits instead of the Gospel.”  In other words much of our evangelism is done through out outreaches or events instead of one on one sharing.

Bill Faye in his book “Share Jesus Without Fear” explains giving out tidbits this way

A survey from the Institute of American Church Growth showed that 75 to 90 percent of new believers come to Christ through a friend or acquaintance who explains the good news on a one-to-one basis. Only 17 percent of all conversions come through what is called an “event”—a pastor giving his Sunday morning message, a Billy Graham crusade, or a Friendship Sunday. Yet, most churches denote the majority of their time, energy, and money to these kinds of events.

Please understand I’m all for outreach events because often that’s the only time the unsaved will visit a Church.  But I also agree with Bill Faye that a greater emphasis should be placed on Chrisitians sharing their own faith since it has a stronger affect.  And in the end events or evangelism programs can only give the foundational truths of the Gospel.

1. You are a sinner
2. Your sin separates you from God
3. There is nothing you can do to reach God in Heaven
4. Because we are in need God sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins
5. Through  blood of Christ and His resussurection we can be saved through Faith

Of course those foundational truths are a powerful thing but sadly it’s not possible to personally counsel or share with everyone in attendance so many of them go home with a clear knowledge of Scripture but a false interpretation of it.  Or in the worse case they will honestly admit not knowing what it means at all!

While living in a culture that can quote Romans 2:23 or 6:23 but doesn’t know what it truly means can be frustrating it’s also an incredible blessing.  Because the knowledge of Scripture is in their mind just waiting for someone to explain it! All it takes is a humble Christian willing to explain God’s truth in clear terms, and then get out of the way so that the Holy Spirit does the work. He does a better job anyways.

The other blessing of this knowledge is they already have the answer for our deepest questions…

1. Why is there so much violence and crime in the world? (Because we chose to rebel against God Romans 3:23)
2. Why can’t I find happiness?  (There is a gap (separation) between us and God)
3. If God is loving then why is there a Hell?  (He doesn’t want to but that’s the price that we chose Romans 6:23)

It’s an incredible blessing to see the light go off in someone’s eyes when they realize Heaven is a free gift, and they don’t have to earn it or work for it anymore, Salvation is accepted by faith in Christ.  Yet they need someone who will come explain it to them.

We live in a generation  that doesn’t understand Scritpure but that’s okay…because they live with a generation of Chrisitans that do.

If someone would have walked into my ninth grade classroom and was told by God “somebody here is going to be a missionary” they probably wouldn’t have picked me.  That’s because in those days I was extremely introverted and had the social life of  a large rock.  Even today I’m not an extrovert and recently found myself identifying with the first paragraph of author Sammy Rhodes in his book “Awkward: How Life’s Uncomfortable Moments Open the Door to Intimacy”

I’ve always considered myself an awkward person. I can’t tell you the first time I had this realization. It probably was a social situation that involved small talk. If I could have any superpower, it would be the ability to do small talk well, because anyone who does it well is a superhero as far as I’m concerned. I’m more like the Aquaman of small talk: people don’t remember much about me except that I’m weird.

That doesn’t mean of course that God cannot use introverts (people who have hard time starting conversations) but missionary definitely wouldn’t be on the list of things that God could use me as.  I mean honestly we know that all missionaries have to be.

• Fearless in the face of all danger
• Able to strike up a conversation with anyone, anywhere, at any time
• And of course never admit weakness

Now of course I’m laying it on pretty thick, but the fact is as a teenager I definitely didn’t fit the qualifications of being a missionary.  Which is why when the Lord started leading me to missions as a Sophomore in High School my initial response is “you’ve got to be kidding me!”  Yet no matter how many times I explained to God missionaries had to be swashbuckling extrovert types His calling just got stronger.  Finally following about a month of conviction I accepted the call to missions but still had my doubts that God can use an introvert as a missionary.

Now many years later I no longer have doubts, though I continue to be an introvert;

1. I’m still someone who prefers a night in reading a book to hanging out with others
2. I still struggle making eye contact when I talk
3. I still use the words um and uh roughly twenty-times when meeting someone
4. And I’ve yet to master the fine art of getting past the “how are you today?” stage of a conversation (you know what I’m talking about….”how are you today?” “good and you?” “yea good” followed by an awkward silence.

But you know what?  None of that matters because it isn’t my witty conversation starters or small talk that leads someone to Christ.  That’s the Holy Spirit’s job.  Mine is just to share God’s Truth.  Now yes its harder for an introvert to share the Gospel sometimes.  But its a comfort to know I can make myself look like the biggest buffoon in the world but still glorify God is the gospel is shared.

If winning people to the Lord is our job then the Lord probably wouldn’t choose introverts.  The role of missionary or evangelist would be reserved for the people who are tall with rippling muscles, perfect teeth, and a Harvard education.  But since our job is to simply share the truth He takes great joy in choosing the introverted teenager wearing “husky jeans.”

But then God does something amazing

He uses that introvert who as a teenager struggled making friends as a vessel for His power and Glory.

I’m not saying that evangelism is easy for introverts, but I am saying your lack of confidence is no excuse for not sharing the Gospel.  Because God doesn’t call us to be fearless extroverts, He just calls us to be willing