THE PANGS AND PEARLS OF OUTREACH

I heard about this church once that taught you weren’t suppose to tell anyone you were a Christian. There logic was, according to the source I heard it from, translated into the concept that telling people you were a Christian made it a form of working for one’s salvation.

It did make me wonder how in the world they ever managed to get anyone to come to their church if they never told anyone? But since I have no way to contact this church I don’t imagine I’ll ever find out.

The concept of outreach certainly has an important role in the Christianity. Jesus did command those who followed him to go out and make disciples. But the one thing that never seems to get balanced with that is that Christ is the Lord of the Harvest. And that it is the Holy Spirit who truly affects change in people’s lives. We can be the catalyst or tool used of God to influence or inspire someone, but it is still God’s spirit that must be present for the person to truly accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.

For we understand that to be a Christian means we are chosen by God. And even though we may not fully understand the ways of the Lord, the fact remains he doesn’t call everyone.

That doesn’t mean we don’t have a responsibility to share the gospel, but it does mean that the Lord is the one who ultimately touches the life and should be given the credit. I don’t know that such a view always is emphasized by those who focus on outreach to the degree that it truly applies to the issue of evangelism.

The amazing thing is the way this subject like so many in Christian produces such incredible extremes. For some they make it sound as if you risk your own salvation if you don’t beat down the doors of everyone you know and force them to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.

In other cases I’ve experienced the situation where the attitude was more, “I got my ticket for heaven and that is all that counts.” Outreach in such situations always seems to either be non-existent or half hearted at best. Yet what dumbfounds me is to be in such climate and be told what a loving and caring church these same people felt they are as a congregation.

I think to me the most important aspect of being a Christian and follower of our Lord is that we embrace how we truly have a personal relationship with Jesus. And that means accepting that it is his right to deal with each of us as persons and not treat us all exactly the same.

Thus it shouldn’t in my view translate into any of us thinking that outreach should equate into each of us being expect to share our faith in the same exact way. Some are called as evangelist. And even those who aren’t have different personalities that impact how we relate to others.

To that end, I don’t think what counts are how many souls we wish to claim we brought to Christ. For in reality isn’t it truly God who does the saving? What is important is even if we are shy or quiet and reserve that we don’t fail to be obedient and share our faith when God opens the right door. That becomes a willingness of the heart to hear when his spirit is telling us is a given situation that he wants to use us as a vessel to bring his truth to someone. Hopefully we can remember what God cares about and respond as he desires when the occasion comes.