Last week I talked about Jesus helping you see your life in a new light. This week I want us to let Him show us how to see reaching others for Him in a new light.

Think for a moment how you generally assume people get into the family of God.

The way that people get into the family of God:

Start lost, get evangelized, get saved, follow in discipleship

Need: an event or an evangelist

Problem: Assume that this is THE way

Now, there is nothing necessarily wrong with the above process. However, the big problem with it is that we ASSUME it is the only way people come to Jesus! This locks us in, doesn’t it? It makes it very difficult (even impossible) for us to see a way that people could get saved without a special person (a minister, evangelist) in their lives. How is that person supposed to get into their lives?!

Perhaps looking at how Jesus led people to Himself might help us troubleshoot this challenge. For Jesus, the process was:

Start lost, receive discipleship, get challenged, get saved, and continue in discipleship

Need: time & love

Problem: obedience

Now that is a new way to look at it – discipling lost people! Jesus shared with and expected a response from people who had yet to declare a clear commitment to Him. He still shared (discipled) and still challenged (sent them on assignments) when they had yet to give their lives to Him. All it required was His time and His love. That is something that we all could give, isn’t it?

When we think about reaching the lost, do we just have evangelism in mind? Are we really only thinking about tracts, presentations, concerts, and preachers? Is it time to step back and look again? Maybe we will see that instead of needing some professional to reach our friends and family, all Jesus needs is us!

Something to think about,

Pastor John