How to “win” souls for Christ
Michael Spencer, The Internet Monk, writes:
“I wish those two guys in American Dream lived in my neighborhood. I wish the Queer Eye guys were down the street. I wish I had a hundred chances a year to do what I think Jesus would do: befriend them, listen to them, hang with them, talk on the porch, point them to God, talk about faith and make the Gospel plain. Then- no matter what they did with it- I’d still be their friend, even if they wrote me off as a Christian who hated them because I wouldn’t agree with them about homosexuality. If they rejected the Gospel, and told me I was a hater, I’d do my best to show that wasn’t true.
In the end, I’d do what Jesus said to do in this discipleship business: leave the truth to do its work under the power of the Spirit, like a seed in soil. What kind of soil is out of my control. But since I’m a sexual sinner, and a religious sinner, and a self-righteous Pharisee at times, and the Gospel is at work in me, I believe it can be at work in other people, too.
If I didn’t believe that Jesus was right, and that Jesus called me to love all kinds of people, I’d simply fall into a kind of natural prejudice and ridicule homosexuals for being different than me. My rural Kentucky culture encourages that, and thinks it’s acceptable. Jesus teaches me that it’s not acceptable, however, and tells me to be a servant to those who differ with me in things like politics, economics, or sexual behavior. They have a judge, and that’s not my job.”
I’ve been reading his essays this month. I highly recommend his site. As a post-evangelical who found a home in the confessional Lutheran church, his words ring true for me. How do you “win” souls for Christ? You don’t. God accomplishes that through proclamation of His Word through the working of the Holy Spirit. I consider it my job to get to know all my neighbors, listen to them, help them, point them to God’s Word, and then continue being their neighbor.
