Spiritual Viewpoints

by Rick Smith

Evangelism

A Holy Hunger?

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VIEWPOINTS
Thoughts To Encourage Godly Living
April 26, 2002

A HOLY HUNGER?

The way some “saved” people live, it’s no wonder there are so many skeptics. Who can blame an honest seeker for coming up empty when the finders have nothing to show? The truth is, people don’t want to see our dusty truths as much as they want to see our God.

Jesus was asked “Where is your father?” and he replied “You do not know me or my Father,…If you knew me, you would know my Father also” (John 8:19). Jesus’ answer is what we should be searching for. If we haven’t found Jesus, and therefore, God, in our lives, we need to lead the search party!

I’m afraid we aren’t offering the bread of life because too many of us are starving for it ourselves. Comfortable church assemblies and Cocoa Puff sermons haven’t answered man’s deepest longing — the need for a Savior. The best song leader, the finest Praise Team, or the most convincing preacher cannot take the place of the crucified Christ. What lost person cares if we can eloquently articulate the principles of interpretation? Seekers want to see the Holy Spirit living in us.

Are we looking for religion or spirituality? Many have plodded through decades of religion with its rules and regulations. We tell people the Old Testament law was fulfilled, and attempt to satisfy them with a New Testament law. That isn’t what they want or need. They want God. They want a Savior. They need Jesus and we give them a book. The Bible is inspired and important, but the emphasis should not be put on memorizing the genealogy, but rather on where the genealogy leads us. The preacher, Phillip, didn’t own a New Testament and was still able to begin in Isaiah and tell the Ethiopian about Jesus (Acts 8). Too many of us start in Acts, walk right past Jesus, and head straight for the water. We have to ask ourselves, “Are we trying to convert sinners to a plan or a man?” That begs the question, “To which have we been converted?”

Our church patter seems patented. We’ve got the “plan of salvation”, the “five steps”, the “five acts of worship” — where is Jesus? We sound more like parrots and mockingbirds than Spirit-led men and women. We’ve got the “spin”. We’re just missing Him.

Ask yourself, “What is the Lord doing in my life?” Am I really one beggar telling other beggars where to find bread, or am I one of the starving who has never known Jesus? Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). We need a holy hunger before we’ll ever be satisfied. And then we’ll share the Savior!

If They Only Knew

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Each week I stand up, speak up, then shut up. It’s called “preaching”. Sounds rather simple, but I promise you, there’s lots more to it than that.

I’m not talking about the preparation: studying, praying, meditating, typing notes, gathering useful Scripture, etc. One other thing goes into each message that I find difficult to explain.

One of the saddest moments of my life was the last time I said “goodbye” to my mother. She was well along in years, had poor health, and wasn’t expected to live much longer. Still, I told her “goodbye, until I see you the next time”. There was no next time in this life. How I wish I would have held her close one last time. If I only knew…if…if…then it was too late.

Each time I preach, I realize it may be the last message someone in attendance hears. It’s always been that way and always will. Too many times I lay awake thinking about someone who passed on before they accepted Jesus as Lord ~ and I preached the last message they heard. I understand that it’s not my responsibility to change a heart or touch a life, but oh my, it hurts so badly when I miss that chance.

God has given me opportunities that I hate to waste or miss. This very morning I preached, afterwards I said goodbye, see you later, and thought; I hope you know the Lord.

If they only knew what I was thinking. Jesus pleads, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

ECHOING CLICHES

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As we grow older and gain more wisdom our perspectives may change. Some folks don’t like change, others are intolerant, and all should be skeptical. We never want to accept falsehoods that undermine our spiritual foundation. So, when we learn something we’ve not previously comprehended, how do we present it to honest brethren in ways that will not shake them?

Although it’s comfortable to sit firmly on held beliefs, that feeling of security may become a painful cactus sticking us in the derriere. A fresh look may be more biblically sound than some old paths. After all, we must carefully heed the warning of Jesus, “Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition” (Matthew 15:6ff).

Our goal must be to lift up Christ, not echo clichés that have become traditional. For instance, our penchant for certain words can diminish Christ while lifting the Church higher than the cross. We seldom say someone believed on the Lord, or became a disciple of Jesus, or began to follow Christ. Instead, we parrot the cliches and say someone “became a member of the Church.” Preachers urge their congregations to “be faithful to the Church” and never “leave the Church,” or if they do, to “come back to the Church”. It’s as though the church died for Christ, not he for the church.

Can you see what I’m saying; do you understand? How many times have you heard someone say, “So and so fell away from the church?” Why didn’t they say “So and so fell away from the Lord”? Now you tell me ~ who did they fall away from, if not the Savior?

You may argue that it’s only a matter of semantics, but is it? Or, could it be a mindset that diminishes the headship of Christ, and elevates the church as an institution?

The church didn’t die for us, Jesus did. When we accepted Christ, we became part of HIS church. The church is made up of all the saved people on earth. Your congregation is a family of believers who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb.

The Apostle Paul puts this in proper perspective as it’s not a matter of word usage, it is a matter of spiritual understanding. “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (Ephesians 1:18-23).

When we recognize the church as a body of people called out of sin into salvation because of the sin offering of its Savior, our speech will then acknowledge us as having our first devotion to the Lord. Let’s be careful to acknowledge and lift up Jesus (Jn.12:32), so all people will be drawn to him!

A Holy Hunger

By

The way some “saved” people live, it’s no wonder there are so many skeptics. Who can blame an honest seeker for coming up empty when the finders have nothing to show? Truthfully,  people don’t want to see our dusty truths ~ they want to see our God.

Jesus was asked “Where is your father?” and he replied “You do not know me or my Father…If you knew me, you would know my Father also” (John 8:19). If we haven’t found Jesus, we certainly haven’t found God. This is where the search party must begin!

I’m afraid we aren’t offering the bread of life because too many of us are starving for it ourselves. Comfortable church assemblies and Cocoa Puff sermons haven’t answered man’s deepest longing ~ the need for a Savior. The best song leader and the most convincing preacher cannot take the place of a crucified Christ. What lost person cares if we can eloquently articulate the principles of interpretation? Seekers want to see the Lord living in us.

Are we looking for organized religion or true spirituality? Many have plodded too long through a life of tradition and rules. We tell people the Old Testament Law was fulfilled, and then attempt to satisfy them with a New Testament Law. That isn’t what they want or need. They want God. They want a Savior. They need Jesus but we can’t show him, so we hand them a book.

The Bible is inspired and points us to heaven, but the emphasis should not be put on memorizing the genealogy, but rather, where the genealogy leads us. The preacher, Phillip, didn’t own a New Testament and was able to begin in Isaiah and tell the Ethiopian about Jesus (Acts 8). Too many of us start in Acts, walk right past Jesus, and plunge headlong into the baptistry. We have to ask ourselves, “Are we trying to convert sinners to a plan or to the man?” That begs the question, “To which have we been converted?”

Our church patter seems patented. We’ve got the “plan of salvation”, the “five steps”, the “five acts of worship” – but where is Jesus? We sound more like parrots and mockingbirds than Spirit-led men and women. We’ve got the “spin”, but we’re missing Him.

Ask yourself, “What is the Lord doing in my life?” Am I really one beggar telling other beggars where to find bread, or am I one of the starving who has never known Jesus? Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). We need a Holy Hunger in order to be satisfied.
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Unlimited Permission To Copy.

God Chose You This Christmas

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God is not arbitrary about who he chooses to use.
God is looking for people to use. And if you’ll get usable, God will wear you out. You haven’t really lived until you experience being used by God to bless somebody else.

Some of you are saying, “God could never use me.” You’re wrong. Dead wrong! Not only can God use you, but he wants to use you.

Just look at Mary, the mother of Jesus. There are a lot of misconceptions about Mary. The Bible doesn’t say we’re to worship her. It doesn’t say she was perfect or sinless.

In fact, what is special about Mary was her plain ordinariness. God took an ordinary woman and used her in an extraordinary way. That’s what makes her special.

Mary had all kinds of fears, but she never let her fears control her. Instead, she modeled attributes you must have in your life in order for God to use you. If you’ll incorporate them into your life, you’ll find God using you in ways you can’t even imagine.

God uses people who want to do his will.
If you want to be used by God, you’ve got to want to do his will more than anything else. God has a custom plan for you, but it’s not automatic. You must choose to cooperate with God’s purpose for your life or you’ll miss it.

There are two attitudes that Mary showed that made it clear she wanted to be used by God. They’d also be good attributes for us to emulate.

• Enthusiasm. Shortly after an angel tells Mary that she will give birth to the Messiah, she sings, “Oh, how I praise the Lord. How I rejoice in God my Savior!” (Luke 1:46-47a NLT) Does that sound like someone who is just grinning and bearing it? Of course not! Nothing great is ever done without enthusiasm. God wants you to be an enthusiastic participant in his plan. You’ve got to get your get up to go. After all, you can’t follow a parked car!

• Humility. Then she says, “Thank you for thinking of your humble servant girl.” (Luke 1: 48) None of us deserves to be used by God. We’re all trophies of God’s grace. Mary understood this. God works in our lives and blesses us because he wants to, not because we deserve it. We show God we want to do his will when we are humble.

What do you want most in life? To get married? To be financially independent? To retire? You’ll need greater desires than those or you’ll miss the boat.

In fact there’s really only one place to start when discovering God’s purpose for your life. “The thing you should want most is God’s Kingdom and doing what God wants. Then all these other things you need will be given to you.” (Matt. 6:33 NCV) It starts with a desire.

Tell The Story

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If something made sharing your faith easier, you would try it, wouldn’t you? I’m sure some Christians have no problem telling the lost about Jesus. But I’m just as certain that others get tongue-tied or afraid. If evangelism, making disciples, being fishers of men, were as simple as some make it out to be, there wouldn’t be enough church buildings to hold all the saved.

Matthew wrote, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). If there were something, some principle, that would make the Great Commission easier to carry out, would you try it?

If you’re one of those who struggle when it comes to sharing Christ, if you stammer and stutter, your knees become rubber, and your tongue becomes dry, it’s okay. You’re not alone. If you renege on telling people your story of faith because you fear it won’t come out right, there’s something you need to know.

“You can’t tell the right people the wrong thing, and you can’t tell the wrong people the right thing.” It doesn’t matter how poorly you tell ythe-storyour story of faith. If you’re talking to the right person, one seeking God, they will listen! On the other hand, if you’re talking to people who have no interest in spiritual things, they won’t listen — no matter how well you present it.

We aren’t in the deciding business. That is, we don’t have to cull out the seekers from the shunners. We just have to tell the story of Jesus. Whether that story falls on receptive hearts or not, you will have planted a seed that someone else may water and from which God can reap the harvest. “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow” (1 Corinthians 3:7).

This isn’t the only principle that can make evangelism easier, but it works. If we share the story of Jesus, we’ll find those who are searching for the Savior.

Share your heart.