This is the second of two parts of the discussion for Lesson 4: The Son of God Amongst Us (26 July 2008). Click here to go to the first part of the discussion Christ’s Method Alone.
3. Invite them to ‘follow Christ’.
“…for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10
This was Jesus’ mission statement. Everything was geared towards succeeding in this mission.
As Doug Batchelor noted in his podcast this week, we might all have a job or profession, but our real work should be to further the gospel – to help God seek and save the lost. That’s the real job of all true Christians.
How can we do this in today’s cynical age? Following on from the first two points of this discussion, I think that once people know you are genuine and that your motives are only to help them, they will be in a much more receptive frame of mind to listen to the truth about Jesus.
The Holy Spirit has a huge role in this whole process. I think the Holy Spirit can prompt us as to the right time and the right words for the particular person we’re working with.
Jesus exemplified this in his approach with the woman at the well. (See John 4), and also in our previous lesson on Jesus’ female disciples. Jesus’ brief but well crafted discussion guided the lady through four key phases:
(1) The awakening of a desire for something better(vss. 7–15);
(2) The awakening of a conviction of personal need (vss. 16–20);
(3) The call for a decision to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah (vss. 21–26);
(4) The stimulus to action appropriate to the decision (vss. 26–30, 39–42).
Sabbath School Quarterly Study Guide p 62 (teachers’ ed)
We have to intentionally look for opportunities to move people into the next phase of commitment to God. People often struggle with the right balance. Many fall off the middle path into either a ‘bible bashing’ route that unnecessarily alienates, or on the other hand being too lax (too embarrassed?) to broach the subject of Jesus with those we mix with.
Realising that it is the Holy Spirit’s responsibility to work on the hearts of people puts things in perspective. Our job is to sensitively share the gospel – we don’t have to be stressed about the response people give. Sometimes the pathway to a changed heart can span decades.
Last week I was fortunate enough to be in a situation where a Jewish colleague was quizzing me about my beliefs. This led to another colleague, with whom I’ve spent time talking to in the past, opening up about her own spiritual journey which started with Buddhism but after disillusionment with the concept of ‘karma’, led into more of an agnosticism. She asked me what I thought the meaning of life was. I was able to (albeit somewhat clumsily) explain to her that I thought the meaning of life essentially revolved around ‘love’ and that God is the source of all love. We ended up having a fruitful discussion which I think has given her some things to think about. We are a long way from a commitment to Jesus, however my prayer is that we are able to return some stage soon to our discussions to take it to the next level. I need to be diligent to respond to the promptings of the Spirit as to the next steps here.
There are other things you can do to move a conversation towards a more spiritual flavour. For instance when asking work colleagues what they’re doing on the weekend, they will often ask the question back at you. This can lead to a response that includes mention of going to church on the weekend which at least highlights to people that you’re a Christian. Hopefully it can pave the way to further discussion.
How about you? In what situations do you find sharing the good news about God the easiest. What things do you find help?
Anyway that’s all for this week. See you again next time…!
