Thursday, 22 May 2014

IMPORTANT TIPS ON EVANGELISM (DISCIPLESHIP PART 3)

I hope you are excited enough to get started… knowing Jesus and welcoming the Holy Spirit. Your journey to evangelism is set. A couple of things to take note of.
The urgency
The way my article has been made might make it seem like discipleship is a thing you sit down and wait for up until you feel it in your heart that it is time. That we have all the time in the world to be doing anything else we want and deem important in our lives and keep some time for evangelism. You could not be more wrong.
Time is running out. Almost all the things that were prophesied about, signalling the end of times have come to pass. Prayers of you, you and things to do with you will not cut it anymore. You need to live a life that imitates Christ. He was more concerned about the salvation of people.  It is a very urgent matter as time is running out and the aim is not just to be a soldier in the army, but a general. And you are not going to get there by just sitting around. Every day, every given opportunity, tell someone about Christ.
Who needs to be saved?
Is it the poor man on the street?  Or the rich uncle that’s always drinking and messing up his family?  My thoughts;  start where you are. Start with the people around you; Family, friends. And yes, that man who touts for minibuses at your stage and curses at you every time you pass by. Literally everyone who is not saved should be your target.
Converts and disciples
This is the point Lewis made me read and take serious note of.
Be very careful not to make converts.
What are converts? Converts are the people who you explain the word of God to, and fully comprehend the need for them to repent. In the normal language, we would say they are the ones who now have received Jesus Christ as there Lord and saviour. This is good. Great! But this person at this very moment is a convert.
I will equate this to a new born baby. The joy you feel at just receiving a new born baby. When somebody just gets in the Lord, they are also just babies, no matter how grown in physical world they might be.
So like a new baby in the world is mothered or fathered (taken care of), so is a convert, or our spiritual baby supposed to be taken care of.
Love
The main ingredient would be love. You, as their guide, would teach them and guide them in all spiritual truths. Do not be worried you have all spiritual truth, some of which you have no idea about. (NIV) john 16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.  But your task should never end on making converts, because if not taken care of, they will die. They will return back to their sins. And sin leads to death.
I will expand on love. There is a reason why love is the utmost of them all (1 corinthians 13 vs 13).  Even in your evangelism, or any way you go about spreading the gospel, love will be the ultimate decider of your success. The opposite of course is true. Without love, you end up being frustrated, because the people you have converted will turn back to their ways most likely. You would have just made a convert.
People find it easy to relate to the person they have trusted to bring them to the Lord. And you have to be there for them, even if they don’t ask of it. They need a standing structure to grow, a family. The same way, a new born needs a family to take care of their needs.
You love them. You check up on them, on their spiritual progress as often as you can. You give them material that they would maybe not know where to find. Books to read, songs that will elevate their lives and many other ways the Holy Spirit leads you to (see one of the reasons why he must be there?).
Make them feel welcome in the lord, so that they feel no need to go back to their ways in the world. Remember:  (NIV) 1Co 13:4  Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

CROSS THE LINE
Do not smother them so much that they are concerned about a relationship with you than the master. The point is to help them through this journey. Render help and not hinder it. They should not feel like if they do something wrong, they will disappoint you. That should not be the reason they do not do something wrong. In your absence, they will sin. And you are not guaranteed to always be around.
Point them to the father. They are answerable to the father.
Which brings me to the purpose of all this. When not making converts, you are making disciples.
Like a new born baby, you handle everything of theirs and allow for their mistakes when they are young.  Eventually though, you have to give them room to grow. They should not remain babies for ever.  Firstly; you as a person need to be attending to other new babies in the kingdom. Secondly; the field is big and the harvesters are small in numbers. (KJV) Luke 10:2 therefore said he unto them, the harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few…  Having been made a disciple, they should also be able to make other more disciples from the world.
Never cease to grow yourself.
Just because you are now able to make disciples and people look up to you does not mean you have reached the IT point. If there is one thing you should never do, is cease to grow. Mary and Martha had been with the Lord for long, they knew ‘everything’ the Lord was capable of doing. To the point that when their brother passed on, they chastised the Lord for not having been there to stop it. They had no idea Jesus was very well capable of raising a dead man from the grave (JOHN 11-12).  It is a grave mistake to ever assume we have known everything about God, or to just relax our guard because we feel we have reached a point we know almost everything. If you have read the whole bible twice, or many more times, read it again! You will always find something that you missed every time you read; the Holy Spirit will whisper secrets. You need this for growth.
1 COR 9:27   
(NLT) I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
(AMP)  But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit].
(MSG)  I'm staying alert and in top condition. I'm not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.

STAY BLESSED. J

2 comments:

  1. i love the last verse,,,,especially in the MSG translation......I am not going to be caught napping! eish....

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