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•Why so little fishing?

Why so little fishing?

As I look around me at the many different churches, I'm dissapointed by many different things, as maybe you are too. I'm really dissapointed with the attitude to our problems. Many will say that the church isn't perfect and you should just get used to it. I think that this is an excuse for not dealing with our problems. It is true that the church isn't perfect but one day it will be. Shouldn't we be aiming to be perfect instead of accepting the mess we're in as "normal"?

I am really dissapointed by the church's attitude to evangelism especially and I'm not prepared to accept it as "normal". God has given us a very important responsibility and I'm not prepared to ignore it. As a result I want to look at the command that we have been given and the reason why it is being largely ignored by the Western church. If we don't do something, the problem will not go away, it will get worse.

The Command to Go!

Mk 16:15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. (NIV)

As I look at the church and what we're not doing, I see that we treat this as a suggestion not a command. But it is a command!

All of you, Go and tell everyone you possibly can, all about Jesus, how they've sinned against him, that they need to repent and trust him to find forgiveness and follow Him.

"He said it to them" but that also means to us ...

Mtt 28:19,20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (NIV)

What they were told to do we are also told to do. Some think that it's only for sepcial people - what they mean is other people! Wrong, it's a command for every true Christian to fulfill. Not to do so is extreme selfishness. You keep the message of eternal life to yourself rather than risking being uncomfortable in having to share it.

So if this command is given to us why is there little or no vision for world mission?

How can there be a vision for the world if there is no vision for reaching the country we live in?

How can we hope to have a vision for reaching our country if we don't see the urgent need for preaching the gospel where ever we happen to be at any time?

How can we hope to see this happen when the church is in an apparent comotose state. Why? Because the leaders have no vision for preaching the gospel to everyone everywhere. They talk of us church planting but God talks of us preaching the gospel and making disciples, He'll do the church planting.

The church will not develop a vision for the preaching of the gospel in this way until it's leadership leads the way. The shepard, in Bible times, was one who led the sheep from in front not one who drove them from behind. Good shepherds lead by example. Our leaders must do the same. You can have as many seminars on evangelism as you like but the flock will follow their leaders. If the leaders don't have the vision and take the lead in evangelism the flock will not do it either. Where the leaders lead there the flock will follow. There are exceptions where the leaders are leading by example and the flock are following willingly but they are few and far between. Leaders are you willing to lead by example?

Even if you are not in leadership you can still be mightily used by God, if you are willing.

So why do we disobey this command to go?

Some may think that I'm putting them on a guilt trip at this point. Well if you don't preach the gospel much, that doesn't really surprise me because you are guilty. There are many excuses but this is a time for honesty if anything is going to change.

An evangelist friend of mine advised me not to try to encourage people to do evangelism. He told me that they will not do it because they don't love Jesus! So there is no point in trying to motivate them because they will only get upset with you. His advise was to just go and do it. Some may follow in time but don't expect many. There was indeed some wisdom in what he said to me but ...

According to Eph 4:11,12 the job of the evangelist is not to do all the evangelism while the church look on, rather it says that the responsibility of the evangelist is to equip the saints for the works of service. That means that the saints should be doing the work of evangelism and not the evangelist alone.

But how should people be motivated?

You could, indeed, have a heavy guilt trip laid on you to force you out to preach the gospel and some people might even go. But it would be nothing more than a legalistic exercise - no real life in it and having the potential to do more harm than good. The result of motivation by guilt can often be seen as Christians angrily raming the gospel down people's throats, being rude to people, etc. because they are just trying to fulfill their duty to preach the gospel. They have no real concern for the people they are trying to preach to and maybe no real desire to glorify God either. Many are guilty of not sharing their faith but that should not be their motivation for preaching the gospel. It should be motivation for repentance. A turning back to God.

We need to recognise where our real problem is and deal with it the right way.

We don't really love Jesus

The real problem with the lack of motivation is that we don't really love Jesus. If we did, our lives would be radically different and we would be shouting about him all over the place, nothing could keep us quiet. However, we seem to be more concerned with ourselves and what others think of us, than what they think of Jesus or what Jesus thinks of us. We love our comfort more than we love Jesus.

He said:

Jn 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. (NIV)

The problem is that, the last command he gave, the command to preach the gospel is greatly ignored and even dismissed by many of us (and if we're honest, many of his other commands too). In disobeying his command to preach the gospel (one of the most fundamental commands) we demonstrate that we do not really love him. If we really love him then it will be evident because we will do what he wants us to. Don't we need to love him so much more than we think we already do. And I'm not saying that I have it all together either, not by any means but I'm not content with the situation. I want to admit my sin and change. Do you?

Jn 14:23,24 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. (NIV)

It is a serious thing to ignore his teaching and yet we are so quick to make up excuses and even distort Scripture in order to feel better about not preaching the gospel. But if we obey him it will really enhance our relationship with him greatly. It's obvious, isn't it?! It says that the Father and the Son will come to the one who truly loves Jesus and that they will make their home with that person. Don't you want him to be at home with you?

If you love some one or some thing you tell everyone about it - it's natural. So is obedience to the one who saved us from our sin by giving his own life. If we really love him we will tell, everyone we can, all about him.

Mk 8:38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels." (NIV)

In truth many are just ashamed of the one who died for them to set them free from sin, death and hell. Many don't want to feel the rejection of those who think of Christians as weak, stupid and out of date. They put greater value on the opinions of other sinful and adulterous men than on the opinion of Jesus. What the world thinks of them has become more important than what Jesus thinks of them. These Christians are ashamed of Jesus and what Jesus says. Are you one of them?

We are called to Love Jesus with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.

In view of these verses and your activity or inactivity in preaching the gospel ask yourself the following questions.

Do I love Jesus?

If so, how much?

Am I ashamed of him and his word?

How does he feel about me?

Even though you may be guilty of disobedience, God still loves you and wants you to love him. While you are a failure for God, he has not failed you, his compassions never fail.

If you find yourself not loving God the way he disires and maybe even find yourself being ashamed of him and his word, then ...

You need to repent because disobedience to a command is sin.

You can't seriously rely on excuses for your reluctance or fear of preaching the gospel. You need to see your falling short of his command as sin. You have forsaken your first love and the correct response is to repent and turn back to God.

Rev 2:4,5 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. (NIV)

If you are guilty and can't admit that you have forsaken the one you loved as your first love, then you will not obey the command to go and preach (let alone some of his other commands). You will not do it because you refuse to love him. There are serious consequenses for refusing to repent of this sin.

You need to repent and fall in love with him all over again (don't we all!).

Here are some questions to consider:

Why was it that you first fell in love with Jesus?

Do you remember what he saved you from?

Do you remember the former emptiness?

Do you realise what your future was without the forgiveness that he died to give you?

He has not put you under law but under grace, do you realise this?

"Do the things you did at first" Jesus says. People who get saved often get very excited about their saviour. They tell everyone, all the time, about him because he means so much to them. They don't have to think very hard about what he has done for them. It is the young and excited Christian who does the greatest work of evangelism in the Western church today.

Many of these young, excited believers are told to calm down (their offending people you see) and that in time they will become like the rest of us...Respectable!...but in whose eyes? God forbid it! But unfortunately the majority of people getting saved are being reached through those whom the church is trying to silence. What sin!!! It is the young Christians who are setting the example to follow in evangelism not our pastors and other leaders. Our hearts must change, we must fall deeply in love with Jesus again.

Nothing else must matter to us like Jesus. When he has our hearts and all the rest of us, I'm convinced that evangelism will happen to a far greater degree than at present. That's not very difficult when you consider what is happening now.

The church that refuses to repent will die. If you refuse to repent you too will not prosper.

Pr 28:13 He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. (NIV)

God wants us to come to him and find mercy. Are you ready to confess and renounce your sin in this matter?

We talk a lot about revival in our land but how can it happen if we are a disobedient people. God will heal the land if his people will repent. It starts with you.

2Chron 7:14 If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (NIV)

If you are ready to repent than repent also for the sin of your church and your people, as Daniel did.

Dan 9:20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill-- (NIV)

How can we expect revival if we don't repent, mobilize as one man and bring the gospel to the people?

The following verse of Scripture is usually used for unbelievers to get saved but the context is the church, the disobedient church.

Consider what he says about those he loves and what he asks them to do. Consider also where he is and what he will do with the one who hears and obeys him....

Rev 3:19,20 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. (NIV)

Go and be a people of courage.

Courage is the ability to stand firm while facing opposition, hardship, danger or fear. It is not the absence of these things. This is what we are called to, a life of courage. God wants his people to be corageous not a bunch of wimps so he gave us his Spirit ...

2Tim 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (NIV)

The word translated "timidity" can also be translated "fear" or "cowardice". These are things that he has not given us. They are, however, things that many struggle with. We must not let them get the better of us because they are not from God. They come from Satan and also from our own insecurities because we don't trust in our God. We must face them and defeat them continually.

Rev 21:8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practise magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second death." (NIV)

We are not to be cowards. There is no room in heaven for cowards.

Take courage your teacher is with you

Jesus said that if we follow him he will make us fishers of men. You will never be alone but you will be with the best teacher that there is - Jesus!

Mtt 4:19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." (NIV)

As we follow Jesus and fall deeply in love with him he will teach us how to fish for men. With out him we can do nothing. But you can be sure of this, if you're not fishing you're not following!

What do you have to lose?

The communists were afraid of the Christians because they could not control them with their ultimate weapon - the fear of death. The Christians were strong because they loved their saviour and they didn't care if people were offended by that. They came to Jesus knowing that it could cost them everything and for some, it did. You're not a fool to give what you can't keep when, in so doing, you will gain what you cannot lose.

You need to give it all to Jesus.

Jn 12:24,25 I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (NIV)

Will you love Jesus enough to go with his message to everyone, regardless of the cost?

Or will you refuse making up excuses and distorting the Scripture to make yourself feel better about your wickedness?

© 1998 RNW Vollebregt