“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” (Ephesians 4:11-16 ESV) The whole “bring a friend to church” thing with the mission of “getting them saved” is very strange to me. Pastors preaching sermons for the sake of evangelism isn’t the original purpose of biblical teaching. Those blessed with the gift of discernment, as it pertains to the Word of God, should be teaching fellow Christians and equipping them, as best they can by the Spirit’s prompting, to share the Gospel with non-Christians (evangelism), while simultaneously avoiding false doctrines and heresies and working ever towards building up the body of Christ (discipleship), as well as working towards the continual development of our own spiritual maturity that comes from knowing Him (sanctification). The act of bearing witness to the Christ should NOT fall on the head of one individual person within a church. Christian, don’t try and “take the easy way out” and simply invite someone to church to hear some sermon and think that you’ve done your part. Talk about the Gospel without shame. What’s the worst that can happen to you? Ridicule? Mockery? Contempt? Death? Surely our Lord and Savior faced all of this, plus some, in our place. Should we not take the risk of a fate we already deserve if it means that God is further glorified? …To avoid the possible risk of further clarification, let me add that it’s not a bad thing to invite unbelievers to church. What I submit to you all is that if that is all you’re doing, and you’re not actively seeking to serve as a witness to your friends and discuss matters of the Spirit with them, it may very well be in vain. We can take comfort that God is sovereign in the method of salvation, but we must also recognize that we have been given a job to do. So let’s not shirk from our heavenly mandate, and work towards this call for the glory of God alone.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 13:58:25 +0000
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