Why It Is Hard For Us To Explain the Gospel To Others

  I don't know about you, but when I read the New Testament accounts of Peter, Paul, and others who shared the Gospel and evangelized the world back then, I am encouraged, yet puzzled. I see good results (good result meaning that God is at work), and yet I have always wondered why it is so hard for us to communicate the Gospel message to others.
   Before I explain what I am thinking, I want to make clear that anything we do, any act of grace, can only truly be done by Christians who are empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Bible is clear that salvation is totally an act of God, and the grace He imparts to people, but also as we serve Him, we need His power to enable us to preach the Gospel. Forget it if God's presence isn't with us. Moses refused to go unless God's presence was with him. The story goes like this; God was angry with the Israelites because of their rebellion against Him, yet He promised Abraham that He would bring the people into the land. God was going to use an angel to lead them, yet, He was not going to go with them because if He did, He would destroy them. Moses was leading the people and he plead with God to bring them into the land and he told God that he would not go up unless God's presence was with him. God heard his prayer. And God said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”  And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.  For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” Ex. 33:14-16
  But, besides that main factor, here is what we need to learn and why. Why is it that we struggle to talk about the Gospel with others (besides fear of man issues)? We can take care of fear of man issues by looking at our hearts.
  People who lived in the New Testament days were familiar with the Gospel, not only because it was the talk of the town, but, even more importantly, they had the background information that made it so the Gospel made sense to people. For example, one of the jobs of the priest was to offer animal sacrifices for the people. The lamb in particular, was used as an atonement for sin. Although these people were familiar with the concept of sin, it still takes the work of the Holy Spirit to help a person understand his or her own sin.
   People learn well from illustrations. Fathers in Israel were to offer a lamb as a sacrifice for sins. I don't know what this looked like, but, the lamb had to be one that didn't have any blemishes on it. In a sense, it had to be a 'perfect' lamb. In the Passover event, the Israelites were instructed to take a lamb and cut it up, and then place the blood of the lamb on the posts of the door. Every house that followed this instruction was spared from death by the Death Angel who passed over the houses that night. Any house that did not follow this instruction, was not spared, and someone died in each of those homes.
   There were many visual things that helped the Israelites to learn about salvation. By the time Jesus came to earth, when He was called 'The Lamb of God' people understood what that meant. In short, people understood that sin was not allowed in God's presence, and that something was necessary to cover that sin. Today in America, we don't have a clue about needing an atonement for sin. When we are taught the Gospel, basically, we are taught that Jesus died for our sins. But what does that mean to an average American today? Not a whole lot. First of all, the concept of sin is invisible to us. But someone can explain it to us and maybe that will help. Then we mentally understand the connection of committing a sin, and God punishing sin. Then we can mentally understand the message of the Gospel, but we could still be missing the heart of the Gospel. Unless we see our sin as a violation of who God is, and we see how far away and blind we are because of our sin, we still could miss it. The Gospel message isn't just a formula for us to follow in order to get into heaven. God created us to have a relationship with Him, and because of the fall of Adam, we have been born blind, selfish, wicked, and deceived. Most Americans don't have a clue of this. But most have a deep hidden knowledge that Jesus died for us, but they are altogether not really sure why.
   In America, it's kind of like telling the end of the story without telling the rest of the story, from the beginning. In the Old Testament, God gave visual activities for the Israelites to follow that explained their sinful condition and need for a Savior. When Jesus came, people understood the whole story now, and it was the talk of the town. Today we have lost the gist of the story, although we have the ending, and we miss the meaning of the story in its context. That is why I believe it is hard for us to communicate the Gospel with people today.
   Even Jewish people today have lost the meaning of the Passover. I asked a Jewish woman about Passover a couple of years ago. I asked her if they go somewhere to get a lamb to slaughter. She said that they don't. They just go to the grocery store and get a chicken and celebrate the Passover with that.
  I guess the key for all of us is to learn as much from the Bible as we can. We need to understand the whole context of the Bible story, not just the ending. When we do, and when it becomes precious to us, then we will have more to say, and a better explanation of the Gospel as we talk to people. Something to think about. Feel free to comment. But please, no bad language or name calling.

 

Three People, Now in Eternity, Who Heard The Gospel

   I was at a planning meeting for The Conversation, and we were going over some details and recollections. It was brought to my attention that three people have passed away, who were in our class.  For those of you not familiar with The Conversation, it is a class that invites people who are interested in learning the basics of the Christian faith. Years ago, the class had a different name, which I can't remember.
   In the Conversation, the guests who registered come in and are seated at designated tables. Then we get in line to eat a meal (yes, we offer a free meal every week!). After that, there is a short message on an aspect of the Gospel (a different one each week). Then we talk about the message and draw the people out. There is no doubt that when one finishes the class, the Gospel has been clearly presented.
   J.R. was an older man, invited by his son and daughter in law to The Conversation. He was hardened to the Gospel, but came for the free meal. I got to know him a little, because he was in the group I was in at the beginning. J.R. continued to come to The Conversation as it was offered each year. He still didn't get the Gospel though, but he did begin to come to church with his son and daughter in law, along with their family. I saw J.R. at the beginning of the fourth Conversation meeting. He told me that he would come, and maybe he would 'get it' this time. After that particular Conversation classes were over, another class was offered for those who wanted to continue to learn. J.R. started going to the classes. He never made it to the third class because he was in the hospital with a heart attack. He never made it to the fourth class because he passed away. J.R. came to know the Lord before he died. He came to Christ and had a radical conversion. God's word took effect in his heart before it was too late. God had mercy on him.
   The next person was a lady I will call 'D'. I had heard about 'D' before and perhaps she had come to The Conversation already. She was an Atheist, and made it known during the discussions at the table. 'D' heard the Gospel but still believed it was a fairy tale. I do remember bringing in my 'Evidence Bible' (from Living Waters) and I believe she looked interested in it. For some reason, whenever I bring this Bible places, people notice and take an interest. I missed a meeting one night but had heard that 'D' was arguing with one of the other guests at the table. I don't know what that was about, but I believe she only came to one more Conversation class. She seemed to feel bad about what she had done and indicated that she didn't belong there. I heard that 'D' had passed away recently. She seemed kind of young (probably in her 50's) to have died, but perhaps she had health problems. I don't know where 'D' is in eternity, but my deep hope is that the words that she heard from The Conversation stuck with her and that she repented and placed her trust in the Lord. It may have been God's way of working in her heart and reaching this Atheistic woman. I hope to see her in heaven.
  The other lady who died, was a surprise to me. She was at the table during the last Conversation we had. She had recently come to know the Lord, and was hungry to learn more. She was very outspoken too, about what she believed in and what God was doing in her life. She joined the church a couple of years ago, and was recently baptized. Then I heard that she had passed away a couple of weeks ago. One of the things she had told our pastors, was that throughout her life, everyone assumed that she was a Christian. No one asked her the deep questions that needed to be asked. It wasn't until then that she received the Lord and was born again. I was sad to hear about her passing away, but relieved to know that she is with the Lord now.
   I wrote all this to just simply say, that those of us who know the Lord need to be faithful in preaching the Gospel. We need to be filled with compassion for lost people. Our love for God is revealed by how we love others. No one is guaranteed another day. What if J.R.'s son and daughter in law never invited him to the Conversation? What if no one asked the lady who attended our last Conversation, the hard questions? "Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." Colossians 4:5,6 ESV

Reaching Muslims With The Gospel

   Every person on earth needs to hear the Gospel. Some people are hard to reach because of the presuppositions they already have. But, in spite of presuppositions, some people really do want to hear the Gospel.
   I have heard from evangelists/apologists that in order to reach people, or certain people groups, you have to learn to think like they do. For example, if you want to reach the Jehovah's Witnesses, you have to be able to think like a JW. It takes time to learn what they believe in in order to figure out how they think, but it is helpful to know, so that this group can be reached with the Gospel.
  One such group that seems hard to reach is the Muslim group. Most of us do not really understand Islam, and we see a group of people who do terrible acts toward others in the name of Islam, and we assume that all Muslims are like that. Most Muslims just want to be a peaceful people living peacefully with others in society. There is a handful of them though, who would not only want to spread Islam, but want to control the world. It is political as well as spiritual. There is definitely a spiritual presence behind Islam, and it is not the True and Living God of the Bible.
  But how are these people going to be reached? I thought of a small idea this morning on how we can learn to think like a Muslim, not in order to become one, but so we know how they are thinking and will be able to better reason with them.
   Without trying to sound like I approve of Islam, I found a page on FB that is called, 'Best Religion Islam'. I went to the page and read some of the posts. They were quite interesting. They gave insight on how Muslims think. I didn't 'like' the page, because I didn't want to give the appearance of approving it, but I think it would be good to visit it periodically to learn what it is they actually do believe in.
   One more thought on this; A couple of years ago, I was doing genealogical research at our local LDS church (where the genealogy library is located). I would go in maybe, once a week. They had volunteers working there. They were mainly women, and they were not allowed to make converts out of the people who came to visit the library, but I used to listen to them talk to each other. To listen to them you would have thought they were true believers in Jesus Christ. They talked about their relationship with God and what He was doing in their lives. I just thought it was interesting to note that deception can run deep. Here are people who believe they are true believers in Jesus Christ, yet, they have a different understanding of who He is. We have to be very discerning in working with people.

Let's Give Them Hope!

    I found it! The answer to the question I have been asking for a long time. What is it that seems wrong in so much of evangelism that is done today? Well, I think I have narrowed it down to this one answer; many of our messages to the lost do not provide hope. We are good at telling people how bad they are. Maybe we aren’t as tactful as we should be, but people can hear what their sin is from us. But do we just leave it at that and put people down because of their sin? Do we want them to come to Christ and be rescued, or is this a good opportunity for us to talk down to someone to make us look more powerful? I know I am being blunt, and I know I have been guilty of doing these things as well.

  I think of the Armstrongs, who preach on college campuses on the East Coast. When I hear them talk (preach?), I have to wonder if they are part of Westboro. (see blog on Westboro Why Westboro is Wrong). Their methods, so many times like ours, use humiliation and don’t offer hope to the lost person. What is the point of preaching the Gospel if you don’t offer hope for the person to repent and come to Christ? When Jesus died, a serious price was made for people to be reconciled back to God. If we don’t offer that in our messages, part of the Gospel call is missing.

   I think people almost always throw the baby out with the bath water. That’s what gets us into trouble. We see tons of people in churches today, who are false converts. I think we are going to one side of the spectrum to make sure that the people we talk to don’t end up being false converts. As a result, we just leave people in their sins! We are so afraid that they are going to pretend to get saved, that we don’t help them to turn to God! I understand this dilemma and I too don’t want to make false converts and mislead people about their own salvation. But, while there are those out there who would try to take advantage of God’s mercy, there really are those who are looking for hope. If we tell them of the perfect standard they have to meet, but have failed, and we leave the message with that, what will their reactions be? One reaction is, they will try to do better at being a good person, then eventually they will become disillusioned with Christianity because it doesn’t work. The others will think that God is a hard taskmaster and will end up being disillusioned about who God is and what He is like. Is it any wonder that people are hesitant about listening to the Gospel? The Gospel is a hard message to preach. It is hard for a person to receive the truths in it, let alone respond to it. Let’s make it easy for people to want to approach us without feeling condemned while they are around us. Let’s offer them the whole Gospel, and give them the hope they may be looking for.

"You Are Not Qualified" Among Other Lies

  I was recently thinking of one of the reasons I would not do evangelism in my earlier years. It was a voice that told me that I was stepping into territory I didn't belong in. It told me I was not qualified to share the Gospel with people. You had to be at a certain level with the Lord and I obviously was not there, and, according to the voice, I probably would never be there.
   Have you ever had thoughts like that? Maybe they came through a friend or family member? Perhaps someone told you that you were a hypocrite. If so, you probably retreated back and assumed that you shouldn't ever bring up subjects having to do with God, church, the Bible, etc. because you are not there yet.
   Let me tell you right now. If you have placed your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior (the One who made atonement for your sin and reconciled you to God), and you are born again into God's family, there is no level that you will ever have to reach in order to qualify to do evangelism. The only qualification a person needs to have is their relationship to God through the Cross of Jesus Christ. This principle applies to all areas of ministry as well as evangelism.
   One day, I should write a book, after I compile all the lies of the Enemy that I have heard people tell me, or that I have heard myself. How many times do we listen to this voice? I believe that as we are discipled in the Lord, and as we grow spiritually, we will learn to hear God's voice more clearly (the voice of Truth) and dispel the voice of the Enemy (the Father of Lies).
   But perhaps you really don't know the Lord yet. Have you personally come to the place where you have repented of your sins and turned to the Lord to save you? Have you trusted in Jesus Christ as the only way that you can go to heaven? If not, go to http://test4gp.wordpress.com or http://thegospelconversation.blogspot.com for more information on that.
   If you do know the Lord, you have the privilege to share the Gospel with people. God gave us a command to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. When those lies come to you about not being worthy or at a certain level spiritually, remember that the devil hates the fact that you have the Gospel. Since he can't take it away from you, he can prevent you from giving it to others. Don't listen to his voice anymore.
  One more word. It does help tremendously to have training and equipping to do evangelism (see Ephesians 4). We are always learning when it comes to doing the work of evangelism. As we grow in sanctification, we are being changed, and when that happens, we are more graced to share the Gospel with others. Look for ways to grow spiritually. Become part of a good, Bible-believing church. Study the Bible. Grow in grace and humility, and develop compassion (2 Cor. 5:14). A good resource for evangelism is www.livingwaters.com
   Evangelism is something we grow in as we practice it. It is not a matter of reaching a certain level and then becoming 'qualified'. We will stumble, at times. We will make mistakes. But we will get better with practice.
   Above all, pray for God to help you in this area. Pray for boldness. Pray for compassion. Pray for wisdom. We can only share the Gospel effectively when we have the power of God in us to do so. (Acts 1:8). But this is God's design, and we can be free to 'go for it' in love for the lost and for God's name.

The Unstoppable Gospel is Being Stopped By People in High Places

 This story is told in light of other situations going on that indicate the response of the kingdom of Darkness to the Gospel message, specifically when people are publicly communicating it. Yesterday, we were told that Facebook and Youtube blocked the coming movie called 'Unstoppable' starring Kirk Cameron. My guess is that someone was angry because the Gospel message is being communicated in some way in the movie, and that person probably clicked on 'report as spam' options on both Youtube and Facebook. I think there are more Christians giving out tracts and standing up for the Gospel, thus, the opposition begins. We should be surprised if there isn't opposition. We would have to wonder if we are really preaching or communicating the Gospel if that were the case.

   OK it happened again. I know this will be happening more and more as more Christians pass out tracts and share the Gospel with people. Unless this is in my imagination, this really happened at a neighborhood grocery store that I used to frequent, of all places. I saw a group of young men and they were nearing the store. I usually don't give tracts out at this point unless someone asks for one, but I couldn't resist because I knew they would be open. There were 4 guys and I started talking to them explaining what the tract was and then they headed toward the entrance when I heard a woman telling them something they were allowed to be doing (I think she was hollering at them because of the tracts). I didn't understand but there were two store workers and the young men didn't put up with whatever she was saying. I believe she was talking about the tracts and telling them that they weren't allowed to have them on store property. I just walked toward the car and Looked back and saw the man and woman that worked at the store looking toward me. I thought for sure they would come after me but they didn't. Then, I heard a young man yelling 'God bless you lady' but I didn't see who it was. 
I am writing this to say the same things that I wrote in a blog this morning. Don't be surprised when authorities come after you and stop you from giving out tracts, as if you are doing some kind of criminal offense. These people are reacting against the kingdom of Light and they will oppose it. They are uncomfortable around the light and they will do whatever they have the power to do in order to stop it. Don't let this discourage you. 

 I am reminded here of something my mom used to tell me. When we got a cut, she wanted to put peroxide on the cut, but told us that it would sting. Also, if there were infection, not only would it sting, but, there would be bubbles on the wound because of the reaction of the peroxide to the cut. I think of the effects of the Gospel and liken them to the peroxide on the wound. It stings. It makes bubbles when there is really an infection. The Gospel stings and bubbles up when people hear it and people react to it. 

  Months ago, I offered a tract to an older woman, and told her what it was, and she was so irate, I believe she went into the store and told on me, for when I was coming out of the store, I was stopped by someone who worked in customer service and he told me to not pass tracts out anymore at the store. This store is right across the street from the one I was at today. People are buckling up to protect themselves from hearing the Gospel. But.....and this is important.... God is at work in the tracts you give out. That is why the kingdom of Darkness is reacting. I have had good Gospel conversations at both of these stores and God is definitely at work. And Satan will be there to oppose God's work to keep people in bondage. Don't give up sharing the Gospel. Just pray for the people who get into trouble because you gave them a tract. And pray for the lights to come on in the hearts of those who work at these stores.

Another Video With A Gospel Card Trick- The 10 Commandments

Here is another video of a Gospel card trick. This one allows me to go through the 10 Commandments. When I get a little more skilled on doing this, I can make the video longer and with more explanation. This video is made with small children in mind. I briefly went through the 10 Commandments, but would like to expand on them more in the future.
I am going to post the video on the side, because I am trying to figure out the formatting for it, and I am not that computer savvy yet. One day, with all this technical education, I might be able to tackle it.
   If I can figure out how to get it on Youtube, that is the destination I am shooting for. The video was taken from someone else's camera so I don't have access to the original video.
   I have to give credit for the card trick to a Youtube put out by 'Scamschool'. It is a fool-proof trick and if done properly, it will work every time.