based on Ray Comfort’s book of the same title.
Stuart L. Brogden 10 Sep 05
Everyone has seen the bracelets bearing the four letters, WWJD. How many people wearing such baubles have taken the time to study the question? It’s not a matter of feeling your way through life, but in studying the Word of God to how you ought to make choices. WWJD is a valid question, but there are some issues about which we should ask, WDJD?
One area that seems to be confused in much of the church today is that of soul winning. Some folk practice “lifestyle evangelism”, making no mention of sin or the Lord; while others think evangelism is simply inviting a neighbor to church; and yet others think evangelism is a spiritual gift for a few.
As this is perhaps the reason you and I yet breathe, let’s take a quick look at WDJD in this area of personal evangelism. Happily, Ray Comfort has written a short, powerful book on this topic – looking into the scripture to see how Jesus, Paul, Peter, Jude, and few other early church leaders witnessed to folk.
One of the key guidelines the author points out in the lives of the Lord Jesus and several of these Apostles is that a humble heart seeking God is to be handled differently to an unrepentant, self-justifying sinner.
To a humble, repentant heart you present the love of Christ poured out on the cross. As Christ taught in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:18 – 23), the condition of the soil determines the outcome. Note that only in one soil the Word takes root and produces – the man who is contrite and broken over his sin, as David was in Psalm 51. Such men are few and far between.
But what about those untold millions who are unrepentant and self-justifying? Proverbs 20:6 and v 9 tell us that most men have a pretty high opinion of themselves. Most of the people you and I encounter think they are “OK with God” because they think, on balance, they do more good than bad. Proverbs 21:27 tells us those who are not in Christ cannot please God. So how does God say we should approach these?
Ray Comfort says, “With the Law we break the proud heart; with the gospel we heal the broken heart.” And “If we care about the lost, we will not hesitate to speak to them about sin, righteousness, and judgment … the way Jesus did.”
So what did Jesus do? In His “Sermon on the Mount”, in Matthew 5:17 – 20 He confirms the law and its high standard of righteousness. In verses 21 – 22, He equates anger with murder (the 6th Commandment); in 27 – 28, He shows how the 7th Commandment against adultery convicts the heart, not just the physical acts; in verses 33 – 37 Christ reveals the spiritual aspect of the 9th Commandment; and then declares, in verse 48, that we are to be “perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.” This word, perfect, does not mean mature – God does not mature. It means complete, perfect. And then, in Matthew 6:24, Christ preaches the 1st Commandment, exposing many as idolaters.
Who can justify himself before holy, righteous, perfect God given these standards on anger, lust, swearing, and perfection?
In Mark 10:17 – 22, the Lord used the law to expose the young rich man as an idolater. In John 5:45 – 47, Jesus confronts the Jews with the accusation of the Law of Moses. In Luke 16:13 – 17, He exposes the idolatry and covetousness of the Jewish church leaders with the law.
But Jews – who mostly recognized their obligations to the law – were not the only people convicted by the Law. Romans 3:19 and Galatians 3:22 – 25 show us that everybody is convicted by the law, our mouths are stopped – meaning we have no excuse – and that faith in Christ is the only escape.
If you look at the accounts of Jesus with Zacchaeus, Nicodemus, and Nathanael – you will see how the Lord dealt with humble hearts seeking the Truth, after the law had taught them of their sin. And in John 4, the Lord deliberately seeks out the woman at the well and, in verses 16 – 18, uses the law to gently confront her with her sin (violating the 7th Amendment) before offering her spiritual water – just as He did with the rich young man, but with totally different results.
While in each instance we reviewed, Jesus established a
rapport with the people He spoke with, I find nothing in Scripture that
endorses “lifestyle” or “relationship” evangelism. What I do find are repeated instances wherein Jesus and the
Apostles “scoped out” their audience and the preached repentance and commanded
belief for those who would be saved.
With our mouths, people will hear the convicting news of God’s
righteousness and the good news of the cross of Calvary. Yes, our lives should substantiate what we
say – so that Matthew 5:16 would be true for us – but a “good life” without the
proclamation of God’s Word saves nobody (Romans 10:12 – 17).
And is there anyone in your life more difficult for you to witness to than a close friend or family member? Yet it is these people we have the strongest chance for lifestyle or relationship evangelism to work. But the words are hard to say to these people and we know deep in our hearts that these lost loved ones need to hear the whole counsel of God. So we see the contradiction in lifestyle or relationship evangelism – we seek to grow close to someone so we will have earned the right to speak to them about Christ and then find it most difficult to speak about Christ to those we are close to.
Do what Jesus did – spend a few minutes diagnosing the person and then present the Word of God.
2 Corinthians 4:3 – 6 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”