Your Spiritual Journey
The Right Approach
The Right Approach
My wife and I have been happily married for over 25 years. During that time, we’ve made plenty of big decisions together; from family planning and raising our two sons to home improvement and landscaping projects. These decisions sometimes take some real conversations and sometimes some convincing. Usually, the resolution relies on me remembering that she’s the brain and I’m the muscle, especially when there is any element of style. Many decisions in life are more complicated, though.
As Christians, Jesus tells us to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Mark 15:16. But is there a right way to do this? Is there a wrong way to do this? How can we know if one method will be more effective in one situation? To Christians, the story of salvation through Jesus is really exciting, but that zeal can backfire if we are not careful how we approach someone.
There are different ways to convince people to follow Jesus. We could coerce people into believing by telling them that if they don’t convert, they will suffer in eternal damnation in hell with no hope of relief. This is a pretty extreme tactic that may actually turn off more people than convince them to believe. We could use emotional persuasion by saying that if they want to spend eternity with loved ones, they must follow the path. We could even try to use logic by trying to convince them that it would be better to believe now and follow Jesus than to live for yourself only to find out that God is real when it is too late to do anything about your soul. Some of these efforts might work on some people, but are we really following Jesus’ example by employing these methods?
Probably the best way to share Jesus with others is by following His example through the practice of patience and love. Maybe just start with being a shining light in this dark world and be ready when a question is asked. Also, remember the parable of the farmer sowing seeds in Matthew 13:4-9 when Jesus explained that the seed (story of salvation) may not always fall in the fertile ground and grow. We have to accept that not everyone will accept Jesus and that we may be dropping seeds along the rocky path. But, when those seeds do find the right place, they will flourish and grow.
James Passmore
