Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Oct/96

Contributor - Kyla Ward

Title - Saved By.. Guilt?

Topic - Evangelism

'I'm really sorry that I couldn't make it to the park for the church picnic Sunday. I know that I must have really disappointed you. I'll just try harder next time."

'I'm feeling very guilty that I didn'tinvite anyone to Friend Day at church. I'm not even sure why I'm going if I'm just by myself-'

'I don' know what's wrong with me. I haven't been able to get any of my friends at school interested in God. I feel like a total failure."

At first it surprised me that, in my first six months on staff at our church in the area of evangelism, I had encountered every one of the above statements coming from individuals I thought I knew well. Now, as more than a year has passed, I am saddened by how frequently I encounter similar sentiments among God's people. There seems to be a general sense that God must have been crazy when He burdened us with the Great Commission. "How can we possibly carry out evangelism?'"If He knew how hard it was, rm sure He wouldn't have asked us to do such an impossible task.' Sadly, even those who do try to win their friends to Christ often are motivated by the guilt they will feel if they don't.

Well, the truth is God hasn't asked us to carry out an impossible task. If every time we hear the word " evangelism," it raises guilty hairs on the back of our necks, then we have missed the point. If the reason we want to "save' our friends and families is so that we can be rid of our guilt and. shame, then we are way off base. Unfortunately, many of us are way off base. I've been there, and I still struggle with some of those old ways.

Recently, I found myself in just such a struggle. I had organized a Diner's Club meeting for a Monday night. Diner's Club is a program in which Christians invite their non-believing friends to dinner, and they have the opportunity in a non-threatening atmosphere to connect with some other Christian people from the church. As the Monday evening approached, I had been unsuccessful in finding any friends who were interested in coming. On Saturday night, I got a phone call from a couple with whom my husband and. I had been slowly building a relationship. The week before, I had invited them for dinner Sunday night. They were calling to say that Sunday was no good for them, but would Monday night be okay. I was caught. What would I do? How would it look if the Staff Associate For Evangelism didn't show up for a program that she had organized?

Well I'm not sure how it looked. Thankfully God stepped in and reminded me that I shouldn't care how it looked. The only audience that I should care about reacting to my decision is an audience of One, That audience was decidedly in favour of me 'risking my reputation" at the Diner's Club and receiving the opportunity to deepen the new relationship. 'The 'guilt trap' had been set, but for once I didn't allow myself to be caught up in it. I made my decision based on what God said to me, not what I thought others might say about me.

The truth that every Christian needs to hear and understand today is that people are "saved by grace'-not guilt! We carry out ministry to our friends and families not so that we can impress other Christian friends, find some secret requirements, escape impending guilt, or impress God. Instead, we carry out ministry to our friends and families because they need it, because we can. We minister because we have been ministered to. Most importantly, we minister because God, by grace, is accomplishing His will through us.

Evangelism, for too long now, has been an area of ministry that is loaded with all kinds of guilt triggers. The truth is that our friends are saved by the grace of God, just as we are. Jesus said that 'no one comes to me unless the Father draws him.' Do we really understand the implications of that statement? Grace is the gift of God. God is the one who draws people to Himself. What do you and I have to do with that? Outside of what God chooses to do through us by grace, absolutely nothing!

"Oh sure," you say knowingly, .of course that is all true." My point is not that we recognize the truth in what Jesus taught us. My prayer is that we will understand and experience that truth in our ministry. This truth allows us to act in ways that Jesus would if He were in our place, regardless of what other Christians around us may think. It allows each of us to reflect on missed opportunities, and instead of feeling condemned, we feel corrected. It allows us to seek out an audience's opinion, as long as the audience is God. The truth also sets us free from the pride that twists us when God chooses, by grace, to carry out amazing ministry through our lives.

Our role in evangelism is not an impossible task at all. We are to be witnesses of what God is doing in our lives, ready to give a reason for the faith that we have in Christ Jesus. We are to make sure we do not get in the way, as our unbelieving friends follow the path that God is drawing them on. We are to pray diligently for God's will to be established in their lives. God is the one who draws all people to Himself-we are merely to keep that path clear and well marked.

Let us no longer allow evangelism to be an issue of guilt, but rather an issue of grace. God is passionately seeking unbelieving people and drawing them to Himself. Instead of feeling guilty because, perhaps, we haven't led all of our friends and family to the Lord yet, let us listen to what God has to say to us. Today, more than ever, I believe that God is saying that lost people matter to Him. As we seek God's heart, His passion for the lost quickly grows within us. That passion is a much better motivator than guilt!

When we understand and experience His grace, we will find great joy in sharing grace with those around us. Evangelism, like intercession, worship, study, service, and every other ministry, is not a chore through which we can earn favour with God. Evangelism is an exciting work in which God graciously allows us to have a part. That part may be huge, adventurous, small, or even unnoticed, but whatever it is, it should be done for an audience of One

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