MESSAGE #154: BE FAITHFUL, NOT FORCEFUL! ***Warning, Im about to step on some toes, bruise some egos, & might cause some dislike or ill feelings toward me*** Have you ever been the victim of high pressure sales tactics or harassed by telemarketers? I dont know about yall but I didnt like it at all. I dont need someone to convince me that I need to buy anything; not a car, not a time-share, and certainly not a church! When my car is on its last legs, giving me problems, and I can afford a payment, thats when its time for me to trade in my old Betsy, not when some fast talking, half-truth telling salesman tells me that I cant live without this new car! Now this isnt the case for all car salesmen, I have some that have been great to me over the years! Now, as for selling me a church...mmhhh; We shouldnt be pressuring folks about joining our churches, how great our service is, how wonderful our pastors are! No, friends, we should be in the business of Saving souls! We need to be talking about how wonderful our Lord and Savior is, how Magnificent HIS Word is. How Glorious Salvation will be and how we cant afford to live without HIM in our lives. Now of course we need a vehicle or a mechanism to save souls and to preach and teach the gospel. There are some wonderful men and women of God that are truly anointed and doing Gods work when it comes to leading their flocks. Their anointing will be so evident that no man nor woman has to convince any that he or she is a true man or woman of God. So let it not only be your words, you talking the talk, but allow those lost souls to see you walking the walk! By all means extend invites to fellowship and worship. By all means, open the doors of the church and extend the invitation to join your church. But first and foremost, save souls, change lives, and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. We should be growing the body of Christ by growing the church, but let us not deter or run fragile folks away with our high pressure tactics! There is no need to embarrass folks, call them out, nag, or pressure them to be apart of your 4 walls. Remember how Christ spread the gospel??? People began to flock to HIM, HE gave them the word, HE extended the invitation to discipleship, HE saved souls, HE changed lives, and most of all, HE walked the walk!!! # IF IT DONT FIT, DONT FORCE IT!
Posted on: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 13:16:13 +0000