Buff Scott Jr.
Junior
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2023
- Messages
- 334
- Reaction score
- 107
- Points
- 43
Reaching The Lost in The
Mainstream of Life
Mainstream of Life
An evangelist in NEPAL, whom I help support, and who receives and reads my weekly column, asked, “How can we keep witnessing for Jesus in a better way and in a timely manner? The usual way of sharing the Gospel has changed. Do we need to proclaim the Good News in a different way?”—Reuben.
Another reader pretty well “hit the nail on its head” when he observed, “The Gospels chronicle about 132 contacts Jesus had with ordinary people. Six were in the temple, four in the synagogues, and 122 were out with people in the mainstream of life.”—Fred.
The “mainstream of life?” That’s beautiful. This is where the “world” is located. This translates into doing ministry and evangelism by “accident,” not so much on purpose—and not so much by an organized effort. The former comes from the heart out, the latter from the teeth out, for it is usually done under compulsion because of it’s being a “church activity.” After all, we want to impress the pulpit ecclesiastic and appease the “chief priests and elders!”
The “world” is not located in our church structures. Hear it again: The “world” is not located in our church structures. The Lord said to get out and go, but as our dearly departed W. Carl Ketcherside once noted, “We have come in to stay.” The world will never be influenced as long as believers remain pew-addicted. The greatest mistake made along the way was when we began to construct church idols, in about 200 A. D. Since then, Christianity has deteriorated.
And on this subject, a dear sister in the Lord said it best. She is 20 years ahead of her time, and so very correct when she wrote the letter below. If you fail to read only sections of today’s column, I beg you to at least ingest and digest her remarks.
“Hello, Brother! Interesting that you should address this subject [organized religion]. We were just discussing it in our morning devotions. We were saying that believers cannot have simple, normal relationships with their neighbors and co-workers because the local church expects most of their spare time for their various organized projects and fellowships.
“Soul-winning is also organized as house-to-house visitation. These souls don’t know us personally, from any other salesperson. Why should they let us into their homes? And are we sure we want to actually enter all those homes? On the other hand, the folks we encounter naturally, in the course of ordinary daily living, will know our testimony is genuine. Those who meet us by divine appointment will see our witness is natural and not rehearsed.
“How can our neighbors feel free to drop in and visit us when we are always at ‘church’? The same is true for the family whose father neglects them for the ‘work of the Lord.’ Their Christian testimony is negatively spoken of because they neglect their duty to their family, neighbors, and friends while they fulfill the requirements the church makes of them.”—Karen.
Jesus is recorded to have had 132 contacts with ordinary people. Again, as the brother quoted above reveals, “Six were in the temple, four in the synagogues, and 122 were out with people in the mainstream of life.” This most certainly describes the best way to reach people with Heaven’s Good News. The lost are not usually found inside our church structures. Preaching to the saved is not the answer to evangelism. Evangelism is found in the mainstream of life.
Another reader pretty well “hit the nail on its head” when he observed, “The Gospels chronicle about 132 contacts Jesus had with ordinary people. Six were in the temple, four in the synagogues, and 122 were out with people in the mainstream of life.”—Fred.
The “mainstream of life?” That’s beautiful. This is where the “world” is located. This translates into doing ministry and evangelism by “accident,” not so much on purpose—and not so much by an organized effort. The former comes from the heart out, the latter from the teeth out, for it is usually done under compulsion because of it’s being a “church activity.” After all, we want to impress the pulpit ecclesiastic and appease the “chief priests and elders!”
The “world” is not located in our church structures. Hear it again: The “world” is not located in our church structures. The Lord said to get out and go, but as our dearly departed W. Carl Ketcherside once noted, “We have come in to stay.” The world will never be influenced as long as believers remain pew-addicted. The greatest mistake made along the way was when we began to construct church idols, in about 200 A. D. Since then, Christianity has deteriorated.
And on this subject, a dear sister in the Lord said it best. She is 20 years ahead of her time, and so very correct when she wrote the letter below. If you fail to read only sections of today’s column, I beg you to at least ingest and digest her remarks.
“Hello, Brother! Interesting that you should address this subject [organized religion]. We were just discussing it in our morning devotions. We were saying that believers cannot have simple, normal relationships with their neighbors and co-workers because the local church expects most of their spare time for their various organized projects and fellowships.
“Soul-winning is also organized as house-to-house visitation. These souls don’t know us personally, from any other salesperson. Why should they let us into their homes? And are we sure we want to actually enter all those homes? On the other hand, the folks we encounter naturally, in the course of ordinary daily living, will know our testimony is genuine. Those who meet us by divine appointment will see our witness is natural and not rehearsed.
“How can our neighbors feel free to drop in and visit us when we are always at ‘church’? The same is true for the family whose father neglects them for the ‘work of the Lord.’ Their Christian testimony is negatively spoken of because they neglect their duty to their family, neighbors, and friends while they fulfill the requirements the church makes of them.”—Karen.
Jesus is recorded to have had 132 contacts with ordinary people. Again, as the brother quoted above reveals, “Six were in the temple, four in the synagogues, and 122 were out with people in the mainstream of life.” This most certainly describes the best way to reach people with Heaven’s Good News. The lost are not usually found inside our church structures. Preaching to the saved is not the answer to evangelism. Evangelism is found in the mainstream of life.