Everyday Evangelism-Good People Who Believe In Jesus

Dealing With All Kinds of People-Good People Who Believe In Jesus

Tuesday, April 20th 2010, 4:17 PM 5 1

It seems to go in spells. For a while, I met a few Jewish people that I tried to share the Gospel with. Most of them didn't get it, at least while I was talking with them. Then for a while, I ran into quite a few Catholics, who were trusting in their Catholicism for their salvation. They didn't really want to talk either. Now I do talk to a lot of Catholics still, and some of them seem to understand the Gospel after talking with them. Catholics seem to be the predominant group of people I end up talking to. Then, for a while, I would run into people who were resistant because they believed that the Bible was written by men. So we worked through that time period (and I learned a lot, because of the study it required). But now I am running into people who, for the most part, think they are good people, and will listen to the Gospel. By the time I get finished, they already know the Gospel and claim to be believers already. On Saturday, I talked with a man named Eric. He was familiar with the 10 Commandments and claimed to do his best. I asked him if he were a 'good' person and he said he definitely was. So I took him through some of the Commandments. He readily admitted to breaking them. He understood that he was a sinner, and when I asked him what he thought God did so that he could be forgiven of his sins, he knew exactly what to say. He claimed to be a believer in the Lord. But how can that happen? He just told me he was a good person, even good enough for heaven. Before this conversation, I talked with a woman who came from the Caribbean. She was very kind to talk to. Another person who was evangelizing with us, was talking to the husband at the same time. We both got the same story. They were extremely nice people, but they were 'good' people. The woman had a religious upbringing (Catholic) and she did trust in God. But there again, something was missing. I didn't sense that she really understood the Gospel. She knew that Jesus had died for her, and said she trusted in Him. I don't remember who I asked, but I asked someone who was thinking like this if they were born again, and they said that they were. I feel like I am on tricky ground here. It's hard to figure out the next step when conversing with these people. It seems like if I encourage them to grow in the Lord, then I am assuming that they are truly saved, when they might not be. If I keep questioning them to probe so that they will see that they really aren't saved, it appears like I am judging them. They have all the right answers (not just 'yes' or 'no') but there doesn't seem to be the connection between their breaking the Commandments, and their seeing themselves as sinful. Anyone else notice this trend?