Do you know people that seem impossible to reach? Have you ever seen someone on tv or read about in an article and thought to yourself, “that person is definitely going to hell, there’s no hope for them?” What about the radical Muslim that is plotting the next attack, do you believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ can change his heart?
We look at the world today and often come to the conclusion that some people are just too far gone. Many have bought into the idea that some people are too evil or too hopeless to change and come to God’s saving truth.
When we think this way:
- we’re limiting the power of God
- we’re giving up on that person
- we are not trusting in the transformative grace of God
- we think it’s up to us to change people
I hear lots of people these days that have this attitude toward the world in general; things are so bad there’s no hope other than Jesus coming back and rescuing us from the mess we’ve made of the planet. Some even seem to think the devil is stronger than the body of Christ in this world.
The spiritual force of God’s love is powerful enough to transform any and every human it encounters. Yes, some have rejected God but he still died to save that person and it only takes one change of mind within that person to have an encounter with Him.
It’s time to trust God for people
As ministers we often trust in our ministry for people more than we trust God’s spirit to teach, lead and transform people. I see ministers that fight against a radical grace message due to fear of the hearer falling into sin. The truth is this message reveals the heart and actually gives the hearer an option, a hope and a path to transformation. The ministers I see that oppose radical grace also look at certain sections of the world’s population as hopeless, I think that is revealing in light of their trust in the ability of God’s love to make people whole.
I want to urge you to trust God for others more than you trust yourself for others. God is an optimist that believes in his own capacity to change others to the degree that he was willing to die for it. Let’s give him the benefit of our doubt and agree with God that everyone is reachable if they could just get a glimpse of His love for them, and then take the responsibility that we may be the avenue through which he does the “impossible.”
SO THE WORLD WILL BELIEVE
Message Titles
- Faith Begins With Love
- Love is the Way of the Kingdom
- Who is your Passion
- Defy Your Excuses
Jesus tells us there’s only one way to reach the world, LOVE. Love is the only strategy that never fails. His strategy has two steps…
STEP 1: Our love for one another should be a testimony to the world that we follow Jesus. There should be something different in the way we treat each other that sends a message to the world that Jesus followers have a unique relationship with one another that is rooted in love.
So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. John 13:34-35
STEP 2: There should be a unity among believers that the world is compelled to believe. The strength of this unity is our love for one another and the purpose of this unity is so the world will believe.
I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. John 17:21
When we allow division to dwell within the body of Christ we are working against God’s plans to reach the world. In this series I challenge the church to take Jesus at his word and begin to walk according to his commandments and purposes.
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