Paul was willing to do whatever it takes, without being rude and obnoxious, and within God’s will, to win people to Jesus.
Through the years we have taught many different techniques to try to win people to Jesus: Continuing Witness Training (CWT); Evangelism Explosion (EE); Share Jesus Without Fear; The Roman Road; The Four Spiritual Laws, and more recently FAITH.
But too often our efforts to win people become an evangelistic mugging—we learn a new technique then we beat people over the head with it.
Or our efforts are no more like evangelistic ambushes—take a survey, ask innocuous questions until THE QUESTION about how to get to heaven. Or we invite non-Christians to an event and make them sit through 46 verses of “Just As I Am” until they finally give up.
Well Paul had an evangelism strategy. I would call it, Whatever It Takes. Paul had one burning desire—to win people to Jesus. That was his passion. He lived for only that. In his desire to win people he realized that he had to be relevant to the people he was trying to win.
Look at what he says: 1 Corinthians 9:19 - 23 (NIV) 19Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
What was his technique? To build relationships! Paul had been raised a strict Jew, keeping all the Levitical laws and oral traditions of the Fathers, believing this was the way of salvation.
But when he met Christ he had been set free from the rules and regulations the Jews believed made a person right with God. But in order to win people over to Jesus he made himself a servant to all men.
When he was trying to reach religious Jews he went along with their customs and rules as long as nothing violated his walk with Christ, though he knew that he, himself, was not under the law.
When trying to reach non-Jews (Gentiles) he went along with their customs and life-styles, again, just as long as they were not violating the law of Christ. In other words, he lived as a Gentile when he was with them in order to be accepted and win them to Christ. And remember, he never compromised the Gospel.
When he was with Christians who had not grown and matured in their faith, he went along with their petty rules and regulations. He refrained from doing some things that were perfectly legitimate
For instance, he knew that meat offered to false gods in sacrifice was just meat, and it was okay to eat it. But he refrained if it would bother a weaker Christian.
He conformed to their ideas and opinions just to have an open door to help them grow in Christ. He would not dare to do anything that would cause them to stumble in their faith.
The key to everything is what he said in the last part of v. 22: I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. He declared that he was willing to go to the extremes if necessary in order to build relationships and reach people for Christ.
My prayer for our church is that we would have a willingness to do whatever it takes to reach our community with Jesus. Are we willing to go to the extremes?
Care must be taken to not compromise the Gospel; but equal care must be taken not to make our way of doing church the Gospel. To that end we have to think and strategize like missionaries.
Today we begin the week of prayer for the Annie Armstrong Week of Prayer and Easter offering. This offering goes to the ministries of more than 5000 missionaries in the U. S. But our missionaries had to learn the best way to reach people—relationships.
Early in the missions movement missionaries tried to get the people to dress like them—which was usually European/ American style—and to do church services like they were used to doing in America and to sing the same kind of music.
They set everything into the context of what they were used to. The missionaries thought everyone had to become like them to become a Christian. You know what? It didn’t work. It was not relevant to the people they were trying to reach.
This kind of thinking cropped up very early in the church—my style is the only right way. In Galatia, some Christian Jews were telling Gentiles that before they could become Christians they had to observe Jewish rules and regulations.
In other words, first you had to become a Jew by circumcision, observe Jewish rules and regulations, eat only kosher foods, and so on. Then, when you did all that you could also believe in Jesus Christ and become a Christian.
Thank God that missionaries today have a better understanding. Churches are established in the context and culture of the countries they are in—and we have to be willing to do the same. Why should our church think like a missionary?
Because we are as much in a mission field as are our missionaries in other places. How can we as a church think and strategize like a missionary?
It is a fact that it is easier to minister to our kind of people. Remember when the Dolly the sheep was cloned? There was such a big uproar about it.
I don’t know why! We Christians have been doing the same thing for years. We often try to clone people to be like us in the church and it sometimes take precedence over winning people to Jesus.
Jesus said that He came to seek and to save the lost. He didn’t say they all had to look like us, dress like us, wear their hair like us, live in the same kind of homes like us. Jesus simply said, “Come unto me all you who are weary…”
But some of you still haven’t figured out that we are literally surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people who desperately need our Savior, and they’re not going to come to our church simply because we are here. How can we reach them?
We must think like a missionary. We must think outside the box. How can we touch their lives? What can we do to show we genuinely care? How will they know Jesus loves them if we don’t love them?
Jesus told us in the Great Commission Matthew 28:19 (NIV) 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations….
What does this mean? Well it’s not another witnessing method—it’s a Christian life style. It is showing people we care. It is letting others see Jesus through us.
It is introducing lost people to Jesus through relationships. Very simply put, when Jesus told us to make disciples He was telling us to introduce the lost to Jesus Christ. Wow! What a revolutionary concept! And, my friends, this is the heart and soul of what a church should be. And it happens one on one, friend to friend.
The New Testament doesn’t tell us how to do church? There’s a reason for this. It’s because, God in His infinite wisdom knows that we are all different. Differences in cultures; differences in societies; even our neighborhoods are different.
One culture or society is not right or wrong anymore than any other culture or society. Stop complaining about how bad society is. God placed us here at this time and in this place. And within our culture we are simply called to introduce people to Jesus.
So make relationship and introduce people to Jesus Christ—this is why you are here!
Many people, even in Albuquerque, don’t even know who Jesus is, other than as a profanity. We are so cloistered in our little Christian communities that we don’t even realize that most of the people around us are suspicious about what goes on here.
They don’t know who Jesus is, they don’t know about Him. They don’t know what the church is about. Most think the church is boring and irrelevant. In fact, most Americans don’t think about the church at all. (Mission Statement)
One of the things we have together agreed on is our mission statement . Let’s read it together.
Notice how it begins: “Del Norte Baptist Church is a united body of believers.” The church is the body of believers. To be a member of this church you have to be a believer in Christ. Our faith in Jesus Christ is the only reason we are here.
Jesus Christ is our Savior. He is our Lord. We have given our lives to Him. We know He is the answer to the problems of life.
We talk to Him daily and include Him in our decisions. We have entrusted our lives and our future to Him. We know that when we die we will go from this life to a new life in heaven. This relationship to Jesus is what unites us.
Being united in faith gives purpose to who and what we are: to grow and mature—to learn as much about Him as possible, and be obedient to His teachings.
And we want others to have this same Savior. We want to share Him with our community. So how can we let our community know about Him?
A relevant church is not apathetic, it is dynamic. A relevant church is not filled with pew potatoes, but with go-getters. It connects others with Jesus. Out of our worship of Jesus Christ flows everything else we do—and the very first thing we must do is to make sure we are relevant.
Now I don’t know what this mission statement says to you. It is posted it in every department and classroom. But it says to me that we are absolutely committed as a church to continue growing, maturing in our faith, and, as a result, doing whatever it takes to reach our community for Christ.
But a mission statement is simply words on paper, until it drives everything we do. As long as it remains a statement of belief rather than a plan of action, we will be comfortable with the status quo.
Some of you are quite comfortable with your Sunday School class. You are not making any effort to grow or make new relationships, or touch people’s lives with Jesus.
Jesus didn’t save us to sit, soak and sour. He has given us our marching orders—to go and make disciples—and it is up to us to figure out how to best do this in our culture.
The challenge is to…
Our challenge is to get ready to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as we have never done before.
God is more concerned about your availability than your abilities. He absolutely abhors a “can’t-do” attitude.
Be like Paul—willing to sacrifice your personal wants and desires in order to make relationships with others and introduce them to Jesus.