Why Our Friends Won’t Stop, Look And Listen??
The saying goes on like this:-
“The strongest argument for Christianity is a Christian, as well as the strongest argument against Christianity, is also a Christian.”
It is the kind of gospel defense that a believer provides to the people of this world that determines how readily they will begin to open themselves up to the truth of Christianity. Many times, we Christians have failed to prove what we are proclaiming in the name of Jesus…We preach about the unconditional love of God but we show favoritism and partiality towards the more privileged ones in society. We preach about the mercies of God, but many times we are late to forgive our offenders.
We preach about the supernatural power of God, but our messages are not backed up by the mighty demonstrations of the Holy Spirit. We preach about the unspeakable peace and joy of Christ, but no wonder we live a life with long faces and burdened by the cares and worries of this world. Many times we cannot properly articulate and emphasize the essential ingredients of the gospel message…
We are not able to convince our listeners about the reality of Christ’s resurrection, which the sum and substance of Christian faith. In our attempt to use logical reasoning and rationalizing the biblical facts, we have tried to use our mental faculties to validate our claims instead of preaching the gospel in the power of the Holy spirit…
We are forgetting the fact that it is not by intellectual might, oratorical skills, technical expertise, social connections, or financial strengths but by the spirit of the Lord of Hosts, we need to do our witnessing and evangelism…
These are quite some reasons why we see our companions turning their ears deaf towards what we are willing to share. This is because the life of many Christians today is just superficially similar to Christ and their efforts to reach out to the lost becomes stunted and poor due to the counter-productive lifestyle they are leading before the watching world…
When Christians are not able to walk like the replica of Christ, how will the outsiders be able to acknowledge the presence of Christ in this world? 20 to 30 years back, a preacher used to deliver the message that:- “Jesus is the son of the living God. He is the only Saviour. If you believe in him, you will receive eternal life.”
Many people would heed to their instructions and turn towards the Lord. But in this post-modern age, people are not easily captivated by words. Our verbal eloquence and clever rhetorics don’t leave a lasting effect on their hearts and minds. They need a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ through the manifestations of his Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church of Thessalonians that:- Our gospel didn’t come to you simply with words, but with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction.
Suppose we are also passionate about making a significant difference in the lives of the people who live in our sphere of influence. In that case, we have to follow the methodology of the Apostles…Pray for the revival fire to burn in this land again. Amen!!