In lessons learned part 1 I shared the story of a local
person who grew up either untouched or unimpacted by the churches who represent
the Christians in our area. It should have served as a wake-up call to make you
wonder who are the lost people around you that God may want to call to himself
through you.
In today's lesson I will share the story of a bold person
who reached out and who can serve as perhaps a controversial but solid example
of tenacious witnessing. Now back to our story.
The individual I had spoken about entered adulthood and had
a rough go of it. Several poor decisions and the consequences of them took
their toll but this person found themselves in a sustainable situation. They
had a job and a place to live but still wondered about their purpose in life
and all the pain they had endured.
It was at that point that their landlord reached out and
invited them to worship. The individual flatly rejected the invitation. Now
it's at that point that our 21st century political correctness would inform us
that we have done our duty and we shouldn't be one of those pushy Christians.
Thankfully the landlord did not buy that lie but rather
stayed in tune with the Spirit and looked for other opportunities to invite
which they did. Make no mistake this was an irritation to the renter but when
they realized the invitations would continue they finally said “if I come one
time would you leave me alone” and the landlord said yes.
Please understand I believe the landlord was taking cues
from the Holy Spirit and not an attitude of being obnoxious. There is a very Fine
line between the two but I believe if we are going to make an impact in the
current culture we must walk that line very carefully and very prayerfully. And
so the individual consented to going to church but then was faced with the
primary question that I've heard so many people encounter with great fear: what
should I wear? They were assured casual attire would be fine and they committed
to attending.
I think I will stop
the story right there and ask us to consider deeply who we need to be bold with?
Is there someone the Lord brought to mind as you read part 1 now is he telling
you to be bold and even relentless in your pursuit of bringing them to Christ
which almost always involves bringing them into the church? In part 3 we will
talk in detail about what that means but for now I just want you to pray for
boldness and wisdom for who God wants you to pursue.
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