Evangelism
Friday, November 30th, 2007
(cartoon via The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus)
One of the places where we desperately need Christ followers who walk the razor is evangelism.
I am reminded of the description John gives us of Jesus:
John 1:14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus modeled this for us: sharing God’s love in grace and truth.
A legalistic Christian can hit someone with the truth so hard that it hurts. A topic like hell can be wielded in such a way that the person doesn’t hear the message at all.
An ungodly Christian can avoid difficult topics like hell with their friends who are exploring Christianity because they don’t want to “hurt their feelings” or they feel the topic will be a turn-off.
Neither is the right way. Instead, we need to be bold enough to speak truth in a gracious way like Jesus did. And don’t ever forget that Jesus’ harshest words were for the “religious.”
Recently, I heard someone say that hell should torment the believer on earth as much as it torments unbelievers in the afterlife. He went on to say we should preach heaven to unbelievers and hell to believers. I kinda like that.