Christian Living

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Crowds on street corners heard spirit-filled preachers with rotten tomatoes—sometimes eggs—dripping down their clothes. People listened in awe as the blood, the cross, sin, heaven, hell sank into their soul. Christians gave from-the-heart testimonies. Passers-by stopped to listen—if only out of curiosity—and many were saved in the process.

That was twenty or thirty years ago. Why isn’t it happening today? Evangelism is talked about but rarely done. Formerly, almost every church had a plan, a program for reaching the unsaved. Now, few seem interested.

Strange, because our Lord spent so much time outside the temple. He didn’t spurn the company of tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners generally. Not for Him the safety and comfort of the temple. Before ascending He gave instruction to the disciples to “preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15.

We seem to have given up on the big, bad world outside the church. Christians generally have become inward-looking. Locked in a closet of picnics, barbecues, men’s breakfasts, women’s dinners. Sitting in conferences and seminars. None of which is going to derail the train to hell with so many aboard.

Evangelism is bottom of the average church’s priority list. The result? A godless society in most western cultures.

Life without God equals materialism, Getting rich is the major objective for many. It spells success. Wealth at 65 is the ambition. When money is gone, suicide is a likely option. Relationships are different too.

Millions of single mothers are supported by welfare because of easy divorce, or the father cannot be found.

The word “gay” (meaning joyous) featured in many popular songs of yesteryear. We all know today’s meaning.

Each night on the “hellevision” people are “entertained” with violence—bashings, car chases, shootings, stabbings. Once-banned four letter obscenities are common as flies in summer.

We huddle in the church and say “Oh, isn’t everything awful.” What then are Christians to do? We can change this world, but we must act.

Let’s begin at home. When our 14-year-old wants to watch the aforesaid violence, we say no. When our offspring wants the boy- or girl-friend to share a bedroom we must have the guts to say “Not under my roof!”

More than that, there has to be a revolution. A drastic change in our understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. We must tell the unsaved how to find life—the Jesus way.

We need new preaching from the pulpit. The Master’s call to evangelise must be echoed there. The sheep follow the local shepherd. Few pastors are willing to proclaim the gospel personally outside the church—so why should the congregation?

Many say we must pray. Yes, but we are today’s messengers—as the disciples were then. They are gone, with the Lord. We are given the voice, arms, legs to do the job now.

Can we read the words of Jesus and not have a heart for the lost? Can we picture millions going into the lake of fire? Do we want to do something about it? Can we envisage a new, changed, society around us? If so, we will have a different world.

[I'm not in "Private Messenger" so I can't read and reply to your emails sent there. You can reach me at saul2_au at yahoo dot com (You know the correct email format—I wrote it that way to confuse the web ‘spiders.’)

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