And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." - Matthew 4:19
Everyone wants to know what their "calling" is. Everyone's calling is to be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. That is a good place to start, dwell, and grow when figuring out your purpose as a Christian.
I had the pleasure of going to my favorite fishing spot last night. It has been getting harder to get out and witness because my wife is pregnant and cannot watch my son by herself very often, thankfully I have been blessed with kind and loving parents who help watch him every Friday or Saturday night.
I unfortunately did not see the local Friday evangelism team out there from a local church, but there were crowds which I was thankful for. I started out by praying and expressing my humility to the Lord how I am not even fit to be a servant for His kingdom, but only by His loving grace. I will never understood why He chose to save me. The first group of people, I think it was about 3 guys and 3 girls, went really well. There is usually some joking around going on when we are going through the law and talking about the attributes of God, but the tone almost always changes immediately when we get to the question, "how do you think you would do on judgment day now that you have told me you are a liar, thief, blasphemer, adulterer at heart, and murderer at heart."
That is when people get defensive and start talking about how God is love and all forgiving. The court room scenario is excellent when it comes to this. I ask them what should happen in a court room, (everyone knows how it works). I ask, "what do you think would happen if you have murdered someone and are standing in front of the judge when it comes to your sentencing. You say that you are sorry and you really, really mean it. Now should the judge let you go because you asked for forgiveness or should he punish you for breaking the law? What would he do if he is really a good judge?" Everyone almost always agrees that a good, loving judge will punish them. I then ask what would they think if they had a million dollar fine they could never pay and someone walks up out of the blue and pays that fine for them. The usual response is, "I would love them, I would be thankful, I would think they are a pretty awesome person". That is when I explain to them the picture I am trying to paint.
God is so loving, holy, righteous, and just that He is our judge and will punish all sinners. It is not a popular message, but it is true. God does HATE. If you love babies then you hate it when they are killed, period. It is common sense. God is so loving that He HAS to hate sin. The Bible says the punishment for sin is death and that all liars will have their part in the lake of fire. Christ preaches more on hell in the New Testament than He does Heaven. Why? Because He is WARNING us of God's wrath! After I make sure they understand the seriousness of their sin we go back to the person that paid their fine. That person is Jesus Christ.
2,000 years ago Jesus Christ came, born of a virgin, fully God and fully man, never once sinned and willingly went to the cross where He suffered the wraith of man and God. He died on that cross and rose three days later FOREVER defeating death. The big thing when I ask everyone this next question is where there are a LOT of misconceptions. I ask, "the important thing is what does the Bible say you have to do to be saved"? We have already seen that saying your sorry will not save you. God is more righteous, good, and holier than a mere earthly judge." The responses I heard last night were, "be baptized, ask Jesus into your heart, give your life to Him, repent, or be born again-be baptized-and get the Holy Ghost".
The unfortunate thing is that no one understood the answers they were giving. I told them that the Bible says you must repent, which means a change of mind resulting in a turning of sin to Christ, AND TRUST in Christ alone for your salvation. I expressed that you have to turn from whatever sin or sins that you love more than God and turn to Christ. Being baptized, praying, asking for forgiveness and going to the right church CAN be good things in context, but they will not save you. The message of the gospel is repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone. He is the ONLY way.
I really believe there were many that understood the severity of their sin that night and even understood the message of the gospel, but many didn't want to BELIEVE it. I always get excited and nervous when I go to witness, but it is always accompanied by sorrow because I know some of the answers I will get, the rejections, and the ugliness that comes with it. Through out the night there were many individuals who would simply walk away. I talked to about a group of 10 "wanna be" gang looking guys who walked away silently once I asked them if they have ever lusted after someone. One person literally started to eat the gospel tract I gave them...
The saddest thing I heard though is when I asked a couple of groups of people if they were going to heaven and they said, "I believe I am going because I am good person AND I am a Christian." When they told me they deserved hell later in the conversation they could not tell me what they had to do to be saved and they did not know what the gospel was. After the conversation, they would say, "I am already a Christian so I am going to heaven." I am sorry, but no one can be a biblical born-again Christian unless they have repentance and trust in Jesus Christ. A born-again Christian WILL know what the gospel is, because that is message of HOW they were saved!
Another thing I heard that broke my heart is when I was talking to a girl and she told me that she was baptized once, but she started sinning more and she felt worse about herself. She believed that she would be saved and feel closer to God by being baptized. I explained to her and her friends what the purpose of baptism was and how being dunked into water will not save you. Thankfully, that was clarified for her. One individual from a local church requested that I go preach there because he said that one of his preachers said, "no one has balls anymore and will not talk about hell." First, I am wondering why a preacher would be talking like that, second, that is just a sad to hear.
Someone claimed they were a born-again Christian and church goer and then turned it around by saying they don't trust the Bible because it doesn't talk about dinosaurs. They were adamant on why doesn't the Bible talk about dinosaurs. I simply replied by saying, "because the Bible is God's word to us on how to be reconciled to Him. It is not a science book." Even though there are some instances in the book of Job to a dinosaur like creature, I didn't feel the need to bring it up. The position of dinosaurs in the Bible is one that really doesn't need a defense when it comes to the gospel. I also told her that the Bible doesn't talk about hippos either...that made her think.
A very touchy thing that I have been seeing with teenagers now is homosexuality. They have problems with the Bible because it is against being gay. Understand, that this has turned into a cultural thing. The media is making homosexuality more and more acceptable and that is how our youth today is seeing it unfortunately. I told this individual that God's plan for marriage is between a man and a woman. We can see the repercussions of homosexuality and fornication by the development of STDs, AIDS, and other things that have come from the perversion of God's plan for us. Homosexuality is sin and God hates it. I'm sorry, but I cannot and will not candy coat it.
Many people asked me why I was talking to them about God if I did not go to church. I simply replied, "because I am a Christian." Part of my whole being on this facebook and blogging thing is because I want people to realize that Christians are not supposed to simply sit by and watch while proclaiming the title of Christian. You are either going down the well or you are holding the rope for the person who is. God uses the message of the gospel to save and that message is spread by His followers, CHRISTIANS. Theology is an extremely important thing, but I am finding way too many people arguing and debating without doing what God commands us to do. Dividing the truth is biblical and great like I said, but if you do not have an acting passion to reach the lost then I would ask that you PLEASE examine yourself to see if you are in the faith.
There are many people who are out there that like to poke at evangelists about how they do reach the lost and how they don't agree with it. I call it the little red hen syndrome. They don't want to do any of the work and still claim that they are Christian. If you don't share your faith then please do not tell those who love the lost and actually get out and do it, how to do it. I have been seeing the same thing in some of my little posts lately. Everyone wants to put on their Christian hat when they don't agree with what I say when their profile or actions is evidently more worldly than Christian. All I can say to that is, examine yourself first, please.
Overall, it was a blessing to be able to do God's work as it always is. It is not always easy, but being a Christian is not easy work. Don't get me wrong. It is fun, rewarding, humbling, humiliating at times, but none of those things matter because it is all for God's glory. I am a wretched man simply trying to serve my Father because I do love Him with all my heart and I really do love people. That is something I could not have said and meant before He changed me.
Fortunately, I truly believe there are individuals who will think about our conversations last night. One person I talked to I had spoken with three times before. I told her it was not a coincidence. The person who ate the tract asked for another after our 20 minute conversation was over and they even took a Bible. I rarely carry one in my pocket anymore, but God surprised me when I felt convicted not putting it in my pocket that night. I'm glad I did. Hopefully she will eat it mentally rather than physically. : )
Please say a prayer for these individuals and other laborers out there who proclaim the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you so much for reading!
May God bless you and yours!
In Christ,
Joey Acker
