“I don’t care who it is, a Muslim, a Buddhist, an atheist…I can get them saved in ten minutes.” I was stunned when I heard someone tell me this! Really? This guy can get anyone saved in ten minutes? Much of what we’ve heard about evangelism has more in common with sales than Biblical evangelism.
I think what the guy who said this meant is that he could get anyone to do what he wanted them to do–get them to repeat words after him, or raise their hand at the right time, but these acts are no guarantee that someone got saved!
Many of us feel pressured in evangelism to get people saved as quickly as possible or else we’ve failed. So we rush them through our formula and our repeat-after-me Sinner’s Prayer then pronounce them saved. Job well done. Put another notch on your Bible and go get some more.
People in the Bible never seem pressured like this, nor do they employ the salesmanship approach. They merely proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul was accused by the Galatians of having a simplistic Gospel. The Galatians wanted others to follow the Old Covenant Law: circumcision, food laws, Sabbath keeping, etc. They accused Paul of watering down the demands. They felt he was a people-pleaser, saying whatever needed to be said to “get ‘em saved.”
Paul defended himself by pointing to all the people who were mad at him! “If so many people are mad at my message, how can you accuse me of preaching a people-pleasing message?”
Paul said that so many people were upset with him because of what he called, “the offence of the cross” (Galatians 5:11). The cross of Jesus Christ offends people. The world hears the Gospel of the Cross of Jesus Christ and sees it as a stumbling block and foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18-23).
Although I appreciate the salesman guy’s enthusiasm for wanting to save people, I think his approach is off!
If the Cross is foolishness and offensive, how exactly do you get “anyone” to accept it in ten minutes? If the Cross is so easily accepted by anyone, why has there always been persecution?
Many view persecution as a bad thing, as a sign we’re doing it wrong. We’re told to be more relevant, more up to date, and not so offensive. Yet when we do this, I fear we lose the Gospel of the Cross of Jesus Christ.
Why is the world so upset with Christianity? Why is the name of Christ the name people use as a curse? Why is there so much opposition to Biblical morality? Why so much hostility toward Christians? Is it because we’re failing? Are we doing it wrong?
Or is it because this is the response the Bible says you’ll get if you proclaim the cross of Jesus Christ?
Peter refers to Jesus Christ as “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence” (1 Peter 2:8). The world doesn’t like Jesus Christ, nor will it like His followers. “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13).
Persecution and rejection can be good things! They can be bright signs that the cross of Christ is being upheld.
Proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ; leave the sales pitches to the car dealers.
