WINNING WHERE IT MATTERS
TAKING THE GREAT COMMISSION SERIOUSLY
If we’re not winning souls, we’re not winning!
Foundation Scriptures: Proverbs 11: 30 & Mark 16: 15-16
We begin a new series today, which I hope will ignite in you a new passion and energy to take up the Great Commission and play your part in preaching the gospel to every creature.
I’ll begin by stating what is probably obvious: winning souls is a good thing. Every Christian agrees that sharing the message of the gospel with others and helping them to come into a personal relationship with God and bringing people to a place where they are no longer destined for an eternity in the torments of hell is a good thing. We all agree that it is a good thing to preach the gospel and more than that, it is the right thing to do, indeed, it is our duty. We all understand that we have a godly obligation to tell people about Christ.
“If we’re not winning souls, we’re not winning!”
If I asked most believers to list their top-5 Christian duties I am certain that two things would feature high up on all lists: Firstly, the Great Commandment, Jesus’ command in Matthew 22: 35-40 that we love God with our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbours as ourselves and secondly, the Great Commission in Mark 16:15, in which Jesus tells us to go out into all the world and preach the gospel.
We all believe that sharing the message of the gospel is at the core of our faith; we profess it, sing about it, pray it and shout a hearty ‘Amen’ when the pastor preaches it, but sadly that is usually as far as it goes. We don’t do it. Our understanding of the importance of the Great Commission however is only one side of the equation. The other side of the equation is that people really do need Jesus. They need to be saved and if the truth be told, they want to be saved, they just don’t understand it as you and I do. In spite of all the apparent resistance to religion and spirituality and the rhetoric about the alleged irrelevance of faith, spiritual interest is at an all-time high in society. People are hungry and looking for the truth.
Let’s ask ourselves a few straight questions: Do we really genuinely care about people who aren’t saved? Are we convinced that everyone we know needs to be saved? Do we believe that they need the forgiveness, fellowship, leadership, hope and eternal life that Jesus offers? Do we believe that hell is real? Do we believe that people’s eternal destiny is sealed at death and they will go to hell if they do not receive Jesus before they die? To these questions, I hope that the answer for all believers is a resounding and undeniable ‘Yes’. If this is the case, the further question arises, namely: ‘Are we willing to do whatever it takes to bring the saving message of the gospel to the lost, to invest our time, prayers, energy and even our money to make sure that everyone we know makes it to heaven?’ Again, I hope the answer is ‘Yes’.
“Evangelism is the primary reason that God left us on this planet”
Mark 16: 15-16 is the Great Commission, where Jesus tells us “Go out into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”. It is not, you will notice, the great suggestion or the great opinion, but the Great Commission. It is not a covert assignment committed to a small elite group. This is the divine mandate, given to all churches of all ages. It is our assignment, our job description and if we’re not doing it, we’re not doing our job.
I believe that evangelism is the primary reason that God left us on this planet. If you think about it, almost everything else we do as Christians can be and will be done in heaven. We can worship, encourage each other and fellowship and pray – Jesus is praying for us right now! We cannot, however preach the gospel in heaven. It is only here and now that we can reach the lost for Christ and we must seize the opportunity. Jesus put it this way In John 9: 4 “I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is still day; the night is coming when no one can work”.
Sadly, this one primary assignment that Jesus left with us is the one that we have largely neglected. And that is exactly what the enemy wants. The devil recognises that every time we take the great commission seriously, he loses. He knows and understands that our assignment is to advance God’s Kingdom and diminish his so he works overtime to keep us busy – busy doing everything else in the world except win souls. This is one of the devil’s greatest strategies for keeping the church weak and ineffective. He works hard to keep us engrossed in the things that are of little or no eternal significance; anything, except winning souls.
Dream with me for a moment: Could you just imagine if 50% of this church became passionate about souls? What if just half of us, 1,500 of us went out of our way to invite our non-Christian friends to church or attended the next community outreach event? Just imagine the transformation that would take place in this community...
“God’s intention is for the whole church to take the whole gospel to the whole world”
You may have heard of the ‘Pareto Principle’ or the ‘80/20 rule’ which states that in every community 20% of the people are responsible for 80% of what happens there. In most organisations 20% of the people do 80% of the work, in churches this applies both to offerings and team activity. I think that the Pareto Principle should be called the ‘Pareto Travesty’ and the 80/20 rule should be called the ‘80/20 sin’. God did not intend for 20% of the church to win 80% of souls. God’s intention is that the whole church will take the whole gospel to the whole world. If you asked a pastor ‘Whose job it is to win souls?’ he is likely to tell you that it is the job of the congregation, explaining on the basis of Ephesians 4 that it is his job to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry and that shepherds can’t give birth to sheep, only sheep can do that. He or she would be quite right. If the same question were to be asked to a member of the congregation the answer would be markedly different and they would be likely to say that it is the pastor’s responsibility, they having the ‘gift and anointing to win souls’. I call this passing the soul-winning buck.
Let’s settle this right now – it’s everyone’s job to bring people to Christ; it is our collective responsibility. The truth is that if we’re not all doing it, they we’re all not doing it. If we’re not all winning then we’re all not winning. People come to Christ one life at a time and usually through the influence of other Christians who take the Great Commission seriously. So the more of us who take soul-winning seriously, the more souls we will collectively win. With regard to the Great Commission, there is no such thing as maintaining the status quo; no neutral position. We are either gaining or losing ground; we are either winning or losing souls. With every passing moment souls are either being ushered into heaven or they are being swept into hell.
“Each one can reach one”
If you were put in a room with 10 people and told that they had one hour to live, I am sure that you would not be willing to let any of them go to hell but would do everything in your power to get all 10 saved. Why? Because soul-winning and setting captives free is part of your dominion mandate. When David went after the Amalekites who had captured his wives and children, he was exercising his dominion mandate. When Jesus went to hell and snatched souls from the devil’s grip, He was exercising dominion; when He descended and then ascended and led captivity captive, He was exercising dominion. Each of those souls mattered enough to Jesus that He was willing to come and to lay down His life for them. The truth is that if you were the only person on earth that needed to be saved, Jesus would have come and died for you. Question: Is your soul more important or more precious than anyone else’s? Every soul that you snatch from the hell is an exercise of your dominion mandate.
Jesus said in John 20:21 “As the Father has sent me, I also send you”. The question now is will you go or not?
I close this message with a prayer “Lord, give us a passion for You and a compassion for the lost. Help us remember that everyone we encounter matters to You and help us really understand that if they don’t know You, they are lost and in desperate need of salvation. I pray that the lost will matter to us as they matter to You and that our hearts will be flooded with love for them, a love that moves us to action. I pray that we will each receive help from You to be a genuine friend to the lost and that the love that we show them will attract them to you, Jesus and your church.
Lord, give us the courage we need to clearly share the gospel with the lost. Give us wisdom so we know when to press on and when to step back. Lord we give ourselves to you. Use us! Make us effective as a carrier of Good News. Set our hearts on fire and let the fire spread to all that we touch. Make each of us soul winners in Jesus’ Name!”
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