Faith comes by Hearing
In my youth I worked with a tradesman who used to dismiss my preaching about ‘the one true church’ as ‘the idealism of the naïve.’ He would counter, “God has different kinds of fellowships for different kinds of people. If you like your worship loud, or soft, or liberal, or tight-laced, rich or poor, God has a church for you.” Of course, he didn’t believe his own words, this was just his way of shutting down the conversation. On more than one occasion he railed against the incompetence of the Pastors he had heard and the unfriendliness of churches he had visited. He never could find his ‘ideal’ fellowship. Looking back, I have been caused to conclude that too much preaching to the lost (evangelism) has been devoid of any real connection between Jesus and the day to day working of his church. If a sinner is hearing: “Believe in Jesus and go and join the church that suits your tastes,” then we shouldn’t be surprised when a soul does just that.Honest evangelists have wondered themselves if there is always a connection between what is being taught, and what is being heard.We cannot always account for what is being heard (there is a lot of confusion out there), but we can account for what we are saying.Since “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17), then you and I must make sure, as much as it depends on us, that the lost are being called by the ‘word of Christ.’It might well be time that we resurrect those old-time evangelism classes…Remember, Christianity is a taught religion. Peach the Word!John StaigerIf you have been blessed by this message, please feel free to: Like, Comment or Share it with your friends.
0 Comments