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Evangelism is a difficult ministry. The condition for
spreading the gospel in the past was more conducive than it
is today. The hearts of people have hardened. Materialism
has an over-whelming effect on modern day society and few
people are interested in spiritual issues.
In view of these challenges, some churches have re-packaged
their evangelical programmes by making them more appealing
to the world. They create “lighting effects” in church
buildings, present fashionable choirs, select the types of
hymns and preachers to please. They focus on the positive
aspects of Christianity and ignore the call for
discipleship. The motive of these churches may be noble;
they want to reach out to non-believers. But they have
compromised the gospel.
Bible-believing Christians know that we must truthfully
proclaim the Word of God from the pulpit, faithfully spread
the gospel, earnestly pray for the unsaved that one day they
will see the light.
But why is our gospel effort seemed to be lacking? Something
is needed besides fervent prayers and faithful preaching of
God’s Word.
The answer is found in Acts 2:44-46 “And all that
believed were together, and had all things common; And sold
their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as
every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one
accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to
house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of
heart.” In short, we need to show the singleness of
heart in the church and its believers.
The writer Luke highlighted the important relationship
between the life of the church and the growth
of the church. In the early churches, Christians were bound
together spiritually in their faith in Christ. When a man
became a believer, he was received into God’s family as a
member. He would be regarded as a brother to be loved and
cared for by his fellow believers. Hence, his relationship
with Christ was reinforced by the love for God shared in the
hearts of the believers. The believers were spiritually
together.
The concept of “oneness in Christ” was not theoretical but a
reality manifested in the conduct of the believers in the
early churches. It was recorded that after the believers had
exhausted their means to help their fellow believers in
need, they would fast for two to three days in order that
the needy might have the necessities. The unbelieving world
was amazed by their going to such an extent as to help
people who were not related to them. The testimony of the
early churches had revealed the beauty of true Christian
unity.
Today, if non-believers cannot see anything good and
beautiful in Christians, they are unlikely to be attracted
to the church regardless of how fervently we pray for them.
If our preaching and our actions do not match, we have
blasphemed the name of the Lord [Romans 2:24 For the name
of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you]. We
repel people from God by our behaviour.
In church, we often address one another as “brothers and
sisters in Christ”. Is it merely a formality? Can we live
out the implications of this relationship? If we truly
regard our fellow believers as “brothers and sisters”, then
the church is the place we help one another. We are likely
to go all out to help members of our own family who are in
need. We don’t say: “That’s my brother’s problem, not mine.”
Similarly, believers are to share their resources with their
fellow-believers in need too, in addition to remembering
them in prayers.
It is customary for believers of other religions to pray
regularly too. What then set the early Christians apart from
non-believers? Their true worship of God and genuine love
for Him and their fellow-believers made them different from
the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles who prayed merely for
formality’s sake.
We too are often found in the house of God praying. Do we
treasure every moment in His presence? Are we physically in
the church but our hearts are far away? If so, it’s a sign
that we have lost our first love for God. We are just going
through a mere religious formality. Nothing is more
repulsive to unbelievers than a Christian formalist who can
neither be part of the world nor a blessing to the world.
The testimony of the early Christians was for the world to
see – non-believers could trust the word of the believers,
widows and children were cared for, servants were treated
well by their masters and so on. The exemplary conduct of
the early Christians drew people to Christ. They displayed a
shining testimony for Christ. What about us?
We want to win souls for Christ. In the midst of our
preaching and prayers, let us not forget our testimony. Let
us live out what we preach. Let others see Christ in us.
Then the Lord will add to the church richly.
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