DE Ponderings
I'm reading Color Your World with Natural Church Development: Experiencing all that God has designed you to be by Christian A. Schwarz. Natural Church Development is a principle-based, Trinitarian-balanced approach for helping churches and individuals reach their God-given potential. The focus is not church growth but most likely will be. I find the material in the book fascinating, practical, and worthy of attention, but there was a question that made me stop and ponder. "What strategy does your church follow to win people to Christ?"
My pondering was not the intent of the question but the embedded phrase -"win people to Christ." I've heard this phrase many times and began to question where this phrase originated. After a little sleuthing in the Bible I found a scripture where "winning people to Christ" is mentioned. It was in I Corinthians 9:19-22 (NIV, NRSV). Paul says he became like others to "win" as many as possible. He even says "save some" in verse 22. The word for win in the King James Version is "gain." The KJV word "gain" can mean win.
I like the word "gain" better than "win." The word "gain" fits better with the philosophy of Jesus. In Luke 5:1-11. Jesus calls the first disciples. These disciples were fishermen who had worked all night with nothing to show for their work. Jesus tells them to go out into the deep water and let down their nets. Lo and behold, they catch more than their boats can hold. Jesus compares the large fish catch with "catching" large amounts of people for the kingdom of God. The disciples will "gain" people for the kingdom of God, but God through Jesus will "win" or "save" them. The disciples do the catching (gaining); God is responsible for the restorative work in their lives (winning, saving).
Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest, a classical devotional, says, "Our work is not to save souls, but to disciple them. Salvation and sanctification are the work of God's sovereign grace, and our work as His disciples is to disciple others' lives until they are totally yielded to God."
My preference is not that I "win people to Christ" but that "I gain people for Christ." I do the gleaning and let God do the cleaning. After I've done the gleaning I'm not off the hook (no pun intended). My responsibility is that of Paul and Apollos in I Corinthians 3:6, "I, [Paul], planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth." Chambers summarizes "planted" and "watered" as disciple. There is work to do in the lives of people to prepare them to receive the growth God has in store for them.
This is delicate work according to Oswald Chambers. He writes: "Unless the worker lives a life that "is hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3), he/[she] is apt to become an irritating dictator to others, instead of an active, living disciple. Many of us are dictators, dictating our desires to individuals and to groups. Jesus never dictates to us in that way. Whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He said 'if,' never the forceful or dogmatic statement-'You must.' Discipleship carries with it an option."
I want many people to follow Christ. But if it's about "winning" them to Christ, I wonder how well that is received. Doesn't sound very optional to me. But If I "gain" them for Christ, then they have a choice-to follow or not to follow. My prayer is they will. I'll tend the soil for that to be a possibility. And I'll praise God for the grace of growth.
Living and learning, I remain, by the grace of God,
Yours in Christ,
My pondering was not the intent of the question but the embedded phrase -"win people to Christ." I've heard this phrase many times and began to question where this phrase originated. After a little sleuthing in the Bible I found a scripture where "winning people to Christ" is mentioned. It was in I Corinthians 9:19-22 (NIV, NRSV). Paul says he became like others to "win" as many as possible. He even says "save some" in verse 22. The word for win in the King James Version is "gain." The KJV word "gain" can mean win.
I like the word "gain" better than "win." The word "gain" fits better with the philosophy of Jesus. In Luke 5:1-11. Jesus calls the first disciples. These disciples were fishermen who had worked all night with nothing to show for their work. Jesus tells them to go out into the deep water and let down their nets. Lo and behold, they catch more than their boats can hold. Jesus compares the large fish catch with "catching" large amounts of people for the kingdom of God. The disciples will "gain" people for the kingdom of God, but God through Jesus will "win" or "save" them. The disciples do the catching (gaining); God is responsible for the restorative work in their lives (winning, saving).
Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest, a classical devotional, says, "Our work is not to save souls, but to disciple them. Salvation and sanctification are the work of God's sovereign grace, and our work as His disciples is to disciple others' lives until they are totally yielded to God."
My preference is not that I "win people to Christ" but that "I gain people for Christ." I do the gleaning and let God do the cleaning. After I've done the gleaning I'm not off the hook (no pun intended). My responsibility is that of Paul and Apollos in I Corinthians 3:6, "I, [Paul], planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth." Chambers summarizes "planted" and "watered" as disciple. There is work to do in the lives of people to prepare them to receive the growth God has in store for them.
This is delicate work according to Oswald Chambers. He writes: "Unless the worker lives a life that "is hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3), he/[she] is apt to become an irritating dictator to others, instead of an active, living disciple. Many of us are dictators, dictating our desires to individuals and to groups. Jesus never dictates to us in that way. Whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He said 'if,' never the forceful or dogmatic statement-'You must.' Discipleship carries with it an option."
I want many people to follow Christ. But if it's about "winning" them to Christ, I wonder how well that is received. Doesn't sound very optional to me. But If I "gain" them for Christ, then they have a choice-to follow or not to follow. My prayer is they will. I'll tend the soil for that to be a possibility. And I'll praise God for the grace of growth.
Living and learning, I remain, by the grace of God,
Yours in Christ,
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