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This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Ben Poole and Gary Schick.
Ben Poole
So this morning, our question is a little bit different, but it's one that I know I have a passion for and I think you do too. And so we'll just get into it. This question is from a young man who recently shared with me his burden to reach our community for Christ, but he struggled with how best to go about doing it. If you were to advise him on how to proceed, what would you tell him? So Gary, let's think about that. What kind of advice can we give this person?
Gary Schick
And this one comes with a little conviction because you know, whatever we say, well, are you doing it? And if not, why not? Evangelism is kind of an interesting thing, because as evangelicals that is our business. That's what we're about is sharing the good news. And yet statistically, it's amazing how many "evangelical Christians" have never shared the gospel. Is it because we don't know what to say? Is it because we're afraid? What is it that holds us back? Is it maybe that we actually put too much on ourselves and not enough on what the Lord can do, or are we just waiting for the Lord to do it for us?
I guess I could say this: I'm really happy that in the last 15 years that I've been a part of this community, the one thing the pastors and churches have really come together on over and over again is a passion to do this - to do it individually, to do it together. Way, way, way back at the beginning of our time here, it was a really cool thing. Evangelists Bill Fay came into the Cougar Palace up at the college. Many churches in the community actually gave up Sunday morning service for this Sunday to come together for joint worship, where he trained us in a method of personal evangelism. I think he was quoting DL Moody when he once said, "If you don't like my method of evangelism, that's fine. What's yours?" You know, just go out and do it. That was great, and through the years whatever we've come together for, like Love In Action and most recently just bringing food to the Albertson's parking lot. The underlying component there is - in some practical, felt way - to let the love of God be known and hopefully open up a door to share the gospel. Now have all those occasions bore fruit? God only knows, but there is a passion in this community for that. Like all the other questions, this one's huge.
Ben Poole
Yeah.
Gary Schick
We could spend a week on this one, on different approaches, different methods. But if we were to boil the topic down, for myself, I would just share three things to our listeners today in terms of sharing the hope that is within us, salvation through faith in Christ. Number one: Pray. Yes, we are messengers of God's good news. We are sent out into the world just as the early apostles were. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" - that includes us. But Jesus first says, "Ask the Lord of the harvest to send and to equip and to prepare hearts." Ultimately it's not you or I, or anything we say that changes a life or saves a heart, it's the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
I had the coolest experience many years ago when I was a seminary student. A small group of us went over to Kenya in East Africa for eight weeks. And through translators we were sort of stumbling through the gospel. And did we see people come to Christ? Yes. But one of the coolest things was when somebody showed up and said, "You never spoke to me, but I saw you sharing the gospel. And I felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and I accepted Christ." We had never spoken to him, but others had planted the seed and we were reaping the harvest of what others had planted. And there was a great harvest that summer. That was messaged to us - yes, you are here being faithful, God's blessing it, but there is a very real sense that you've got nothing to do with it. This is all about God's work in the human heart.
Then number two: Make it felt. Love, develop, not just to get you saved, but develop sincere relationships with your neighbors and coworkers, and just love people where they are and be the fragrance of the gospel. And as Paul said, "To some we are the fragrance of life, to others who are rejecting it we are the fragrance of death. But whatever it is, be the fragrance of the gospel in people's lives." So are we producing those fruits of the Holy Spirit? Are we being Christ-like to our neighbors and to our community? And are we salt and light?
And then third: When the opportunity comes, speak up. And I think this is where a lot of people kind of check it off. "Yep. I can pray. I can do that. Yep, I can be kind and loving, so I'm going to do that." But boy, I don't know what to say. Well, and it's okay. Drag them to church, let them hear an evangelist. But you know, there are people that you may reach that I will never meet, or that you will have an inroad with because of a relationship that I will never have. So I'm kind of limiting things to three, but there's three things to note. Number one, know our need. We are all sinners. We have all fallen short of the glory of God. We all are separated from God by sin and we need a savior. Number two, know the gospel. Jesus is that savior, He is the sinless son of God. He died for our sins and He rose again. And number three, know how to respond. Receive Christ. Put your trust in Him. There's nothing magic about words in a prayer, but prayer is the way we talk to God and just acknowledge it. "Jesus. I need you to forgive my sin. I believe in you. I accept you as my Savior. My Lord, come into my heart and my life." It's not a specific set of words like God to say this it's a response. And then right back to number one - pray, pray, pray.
You know, statistically most people need to hear the gospel about seven times before they respond. So we shouldn't be discouraged. I know naturally we are, if we go out and share our faith, and we just kind of get a blank stare. Well, you might just be the first one along the way. Some people only need to hear it once, but there are some who aren't going to need to hear it seven times, they're going to need to hear it 70. At least be one of those times, Pray for God to be moving in hearts, and pray for God to be preparing your heart, pray that You will be salt and light and pray for opportunities.
Ben Poole
Yeah, that's good. And I definitely echo everything you just said as key things to consider, and I want to pivot to some practical things that we can do. There's churches coming together, handing out food. What I would say is don't feel like you have to reinvent the wheel, because our community and our churches are filled with ministries that are outreaching to the community for the gospel. If you're the one that asked us this question and you're going to a church regularly, go talk to your pastor or ministry leaders and ask, "Where can I use these gifts that I have with our body?. And if you're not part of a church, get in one and come visit. You can come to either of ours or any of the preachers that are on Ask The Pastor. Just pick a church that's a gospel preaching church, and get involved and see what you can do.
There's a point where we think these are large scale things - the food ministries, the food pantries, they're reaching large groups of people. But like you were alluding to, don't forget your neighbor, don't forget your coworker that you're with all day long, and the people you're around. Sometimes it's easy to think of reaching people on a bigger scale, maybe like in a church service setting, but there are people who don't necessarily come to church but would love to have a conversation. Most people that I talk to and have talked to who aren't Christian love to talk about what they believe in. And one thing I've struggled with - and probably still do - is that I want to spend more time trying to convince someone to come to Christ, and I struggle a lot with listening. And I think what people really need is for someone to listen to them. That is something that's hard because in your head you're thinking of arguments against everything they're saying, but we have to be careful when we're telling people about Jesus. What we're really doing is we're essentially dismantling their whole belief system, and that affects people emotionally and physically. And it's hard for people to learn what they believed isn't true. And so that goes back to when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is, "To love the Lord your God, with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself." And I think we need to reach people for Christ, whether it's in large settings or in an individual setting where, if this was me that was being talked to, how would I want someone to share that gospel with me? In my struggles, in my unbelief, in my belief of something else, how would I want someone to talk to me about that?
Our church motto or mission statement is very simple: Love God, Love People, Repeat. We've got to invest into our relationship with God. Like you were saying, pray, stay in the Word and then go love people, just like Jesus did. He didn't say, "I'm going to go love those people, but not these people." We've got to get away from that nonsense teaching. He got a lot of grief for the people He spent time with. And He said, "I came for the lost, I came for the sick" - they're the ones that need to be healed. And I think we as Christians need to have that same mindset.
Gary Schick
Yeah. And you brought out two things: one, the need of believers for a church body to be a part of. We'll have individual witness opportunities, but it is as the church that we do this. On the other hand, the longer we're in Christ the farther away from the non-Christian world we become. So while it's important to be a part of the church, it's also important to be in the world, but as the Scripture says not of the world. So there are evangelical Christians who are saying, "Well, I'd be willing to share but I don't know anybody who doesn't know Jesus." Well, maybe you need to go make some new friends. I mean, I'm not saying to go and start doing a bunch of sinful things to be like that. But hey, there's people who don't know Jesus everywhere we go. Just get to know people and accept them where they are. That's the other stereotype Christians have, that we're very judgmental. And we're going to come off that way because, you know, we have turned from a lot of that, but we also have to meet people where they are and say, "You know, I'm not there. I'm not telling you not to be there, but I'm inviting you to know someone who makes all the difference and will turn your life inside out, upside down in ways you never imagined." And those surface things that set us apart from the world - they're there, but they're not even the beginning of the real change that Jesus wants to make inside us.
Ben Poole
Well if you're listening and you are looking for ways to serve, I can openly invite you to pretty much any church in our community. The churches in our community really are making some moves for the kingdom of God here. So we would love to have you join up and get involved in different ministries around the community, see where your gifting is and come talk to us and we can get you plugged in somewhere for sure, because the church really needs people that are going to get out there and get to work for the kingdom of God. And it is not God's desire that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. So the way that's going to happen is through His church that He established.