There is a great and monstrous valley that must be crossed in the Christian faith to become an “effective evangelist”. Those of you who know me know that I like that word “effective evangelism”; I believe there is not a higher achievement. In my kind of world many goals are very tempting and alluring but this one goal seems to be the hardest to achieve. Evangelism depends on my actions but all the while it depends upon how well I can depend upon God.
The other night I had one of my best friends over; He is a true exmple of a lover of God and thankfully he is now the worship leader at his church. Just recently he has been being brought over the chasm from legalism to liberation. He shared many of his newly acquired thoughts about the way he perceived others, we spoke long and hard about this beutiful part of the path that he was entering. Christ came and lived with and was friendly towards the sinners and tax collectors, he won them over by his love and they followed Him. How many times have you loved a sinner enough to have them even want to be in the same room with you.
Legalism towards others and towards yourself is like a contagious disease. When you in your faith look on others like they are different you hinder them and you hinder yourself. Jesus says, “With the judgement you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you”. Most people naturally look at this scripture as in the future, you will be held to the extent of the law you held to others and God on judgement day will sentence you accordingly. That may be true, but I believe the present interpretation is more important. That if you hold your friend in judgement now looking down on them now, then God will hold back the liberty you would be getting. In other words God wants you to show his love and mercy to all, so in turn he can give you more of His love and mercy.
Earlier I shared that this is the great valley to cross to becoming an “effective evangelist”, I believe that the teaching of Christ climaxing in Matthew 7:1 is a founding doctrine of the true faith. The problem is that it seems to be the most eluding doctrine to hold under our belts, because we in our selves are not capable of walking in it. The truth is that to truly be the children God created us to be we must be full of the spirit of the Father. He is the one whose love sent Christ to the earth, He is the one capable of seeing what the world needs to hear. He is the one that is trying to win the heart of Christ’s bride.
Today revisit the sermon on the mount camp out in Matthew 5:1-11 then read Matthew 7:1-5 and pray that the lord would open your eyes to the importance of this teaching.
May you see Gods patience in the people in your life that you would much rather write off. May you have the patience to see that somehow God is working in that relative who seems to show no sign of repentance. May he give you an abundant blessing as your heart opens to receiving forgiveness.
In Jesus Name
Collision of Kingdoms 