The Confident Witness (10)
…it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ… 2 Corinthians 10.14
Take the initiative
Neither Jesus nor Paul waited to be asked when it came to reaching out to others with the Good News of the Kingdom.
Paul was extremely assertive, everywhere he went in his Personal Mission Field. He wasn’t pushy, though. We see him sitting in the synagogue, politely listening and ready to speak when asked. We observe him in the marketplaces, striking up conversations with people, asking questions, sharing his testimony, and inviting people to consider the teaching of Scripture. We even see him entertaining people in his rented home, discussing the things of Christ with great boldness and persuasive power.
He wasn’t pushy, but he wasn’t reluctant, either. Jesus said that He had come to seek the lost (Lk. 19.10), and Paul determined that he would seek them as well. He knew that lost people are captive to the lie—that God either doesn’t exist or doesn’t matter—and looking for happiness everywhere but in God. They’re not likely to take the initiative with us in trying to find God. Paul followed the teaching of the Psalms in believing that lost people are not seeking the Lord (cf. Rom. 3.10, 11). We can be nice and friendly all we want, and we should be. But if we think this alone is going to provoke people to seek the Lord, we’ve got another thing coming. We need to seek the lost to proclaim the Lord to them, and when we do, we’ll find more joy and power—more confidence and consistency—in being witnesses for the Lord. Because the Lord meets us in every act of obedience, providing the power we need to carry through on what the Spirit is guiding us to do. And that includes seeking lost people to bring them the Good News of Jesus and His Kingdom.
Seeking the lost
So what does this involve, this seeking the lost?
Seeking the lost begins in earnest and consistent prayer. Keep your Personal Mission Field in mind, first thing in the morning and throughout the day. Get in the habit of praying for the people to whom the Lord is sending you. Pray that they will be moved by the goodness and blessings of God which He sends them each day; that the Spirit of God will strive with and woo them by all the various means at His disposal (Gen. 6.3); that they’ll come to see the emptiness of their lives and begin to desire something more. Pray for opportunities to come alongside them, and even open doors to begin a conversation about the Lord.
The more we seek the Lord on behalf of the lost people in our Personal Mission Field, the more confidence we’ll have in seeking them.
Next, take the time in your Personal Mission Field to get to know people, and to take a real interest in them. Learn their names. See what you can find out about their families, backgrounds, interests, work, and the like. Offer to pray for them. Practice good listening skills and try to affirm whatever you can about their lives. People are hungry for someone to treat them like they really matter. This is what Jesus and Paul did, and it’s what we should be doing as well.Don’t be reluctant to ask people questions about their spiritual lives. Do they go to church? What is their view of God? Do they think religion can make a difference in people’s lives? Do they ever wonder about spiritual things, and what awaits us after we die? These are not offensive questions; in fact, you’ll be surprised, as you ask them, to find that many people are quite open to responding.
Of course, as we have seen, some lost people will not take kindly to your raising such questions. But if they become angry or upset because you do, this is nothing other than what we might expect.
Be ready
Next, make sure you are ready to explain the hope that is within you (1 Pet. 3.15). If you are consistent in reaching out to people, taking sincere interest in them and praying for them, caring for, helping, and encouraging them as you can, and initiating conversations about all kinds of things, sooner or later some of the people in your Personal Mission Field are going to wonder why you’re so different from everyone else in their lives. They might even ask, “Why do you care, when no one else seems to?”
Such a question is just a version of what Peter said we should expect as people begin to experience the hope we have in Jesus Christ. So we need to be ready. Make sure you know the Gospel and can explain it to others, and that your own experience of the Gospel is sufficiently real to allow you to share from your life about the difference believing in Jesus Christ can make.
It can help us to be ready and confident witnesses if we will talk about the Lord with fellow Christians, sharing our experiences of Him, talking about what we’re learning, and helping one another to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. We all have believers in our Personal Mission Field, and they need to hear the Gospel and be encouraged in it as well, just as we do. If we can work on being more consistent with our believing friends, we might find that we’re more prepared to bear witness to the lost people to whom the Lord sends us.
Praying out loud as part of our prayer time can also help us in being ready to bear witness to Jesus.
Seek out Christian friends to help strengthen you as a witness for Christ; seek the Lord on behalf of the people in your Personal Mission Field; then go confidently into your assigned area of ministry to seek the lost with the Good News of Jesus and His Kingdom.
For reflection or discussion
1. Do you agree that believers should be seeking the lost in their Personal Mission Field? Why or why not?2. How do the examples of Jesus and Paul encourage you about this matter of seeking the lost?3. What is your strategy for beginning to seek the lost in your Personal Mission Field? Should you have such a strategy (cf. Ps. 90.12, 16, 17)?
Next steps—Preparation: Suppose someone asked you for a reason for the hope that is within you. What would you say? Write out a brief presentation of the Gospel that you might use in such a situation.
T. M. Moore
Give thanks
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Knowing Jesus
Being confident witnesses begins in our relationship with Jesus, in knowing Him. Two books can help you grow in Jesus. To Know Him is a brief and lively exposition of Philippians 3.7-11 and explains what Paul means by this. You can order your copy by clicking here. Be Thou My Vision offers 28 daily meditations on Jesus, drawing on Scripture and writings from the period of the Celtic Revival. Order your copy by clicking here.
Thank you.
Many of you are faithful and generous in praying for and supporting Crosfigell and The Fellowship of Ailbe. Thank you. I encourage all our readers to seek the Lord about becoming a supporter of The Fellowship of Ailbe. It’s easy to give to The Fellowship of Ailbe, and all gifts are, of course, tax-deductible. You can click here to donate online through credit card or PayPal or Anedot, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
