For Professionals Only: DO Try This At Home!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Consider these words of Jesus from the book of John:

“Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. Wherever they go, they will find green pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.”

(John 10:9-10 NLT)

Gatekeepers. That’s what we are called to be. We stay close to Jesus, the Gate to God, and place the hands of the lost on the latch—the latch that each person must open for himself, but to which we can direct them. It’s part of the great commission Jesus gave us when He went back to be with our Heavenly Father. We find reference in the gospels to the task we are all given:

In the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke we read:

“Jesus came and told his disciples, ‘I have been given authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.’”

(Matthew 28:18-19 NLT)

“And then he told them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.’” (Mark 16:15-16 NLT)

“’With my authority, take this message of repentance to all the nations, beginning with Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who turn to me.’ You are witnesses of all these things.’” (Luke 24:47-48 NLT)

“But,” you might say, “aren’t things like evangelizing and witnessing jobs for either a pastor or a lay person who is called and gifted to do these things? I mean, maybe God didn’t call me to do that. You know, Paul wrote something about ‘different kinds of spiritual gifts’ and about members of the body of Christ having different roles.”

Well, my implied argument on your part allows me to point us all back not only to what Jesus said to His disciples, which we just read, but to what Paul was talking about in his first letter to the Corinthians.

Oh, and by the way, Jesus wasn’t talking just to the disciples who were around Him at the moment. In His prayer before His arrest He says to God, “As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself entirely to you so they also might be entirely yours. I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me because of their testimony. My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as you and I are one, Father—that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me.” (John 17:18-21 NLT)

Well, we all believe “because of their testimony”—not directly, but from the Word of God in which we find these words and from the later “disciples” who shared the Good News with us.

As far as Paul’s explanation of spiritual gifts in 1st Corinthians 12 is concerned, the gifts mentioned are those of teaching or prophecy, or healing, or miracles, as well as others. However, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ is not there.

Yes, this IS a job for professionals—those who profess Christ as Lord and Savior—so you CAN try it at home!

Studies have shown that most people who come to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ do so because of a relationship with a friend—not because of an evangelist, preacher, or other ordained clergy. They may have been influenced by any or all of these, but the deed is done because of a personal invitation by someone they know.

Each of us HAS been given different abilities when it comes to leading someone to the gate. Because of our jobs, or our hobbies, or different backgrounds, we each have a ready audience to whom we can speak who may not listen to anyone else. And sharing Jesus doesn’t have to be accomplished by knocking on doors or standing on a street corner. In fact, building a relationship, and letting others see Christ in you is perhaps the best way to start.

And you don’t have to set out to save the “world”. There’s a song written and sung by Babbie Mason which says:

Tonight a man is somewhere proclaiming the good news
Winning families to Jesus all around his neighborhood
He tells them that God is able to make their house a home
He wants to win his world for Christ, but he can’t do it alone

But each one can reach one
As we follow after Christ we all can lead one
We can lead one to the Savior
And together we can tell the world that Jesus is the way
If we each one reach one

The message is unchanging, “Go ye into all the world”
And share the love of Jesus far away or door to door
You see, just like somebody told you that Jesus loves you so
You must tell someone, who will tell someone,

Until the whole world knows

That each one can reach one
As we follow after Christ we all can lead one
We can lead one to the Savior
And together we can tell the world that Jesus is the way
If we each one reach one

So will you go and labor
Will you hold high your light
One by one and two by two
We can win our world for Jesus Christ

And each one can reach one
As we follow after Christ we all can lead one
We can lead one to the Savior
And together we can tell the world that Jesus is the way
If we each one reach one

See the line, “One by one and two by two we can win our world for Jesus Christ”? That’s what it’s all about! A line of a monologue I delivered one time in church says, speaking of the lost: “Outside the gate there are thousands of them; millions of them. But, more important to me—one of them; two of them; ten of them, whose hands I am intended to place on the latch.”

Sometime ago God gave me a heart for a special group of lost people—those who are currently going to church. They may have attended church all their lives; they may even be active. And hear this: They may even think they know what it means to be a Christian.

I have some tapes from Andy Stanley, a pastor in Atlanta, Georgia. In one of them he talks about his days as a youth director when he led ‘teens in street evangelism.

One Sunday he was delivering a message about his experiences with the youth handing out tracts. He showed the tract and explained what it said. Afterward, a long-time member of the church approached him and asked questions about the tract. When Andy told about the salvation prayer at the end of the pamphlet, the man said, “I want to pray that prayer.”

Andy was stunned. It turned out that this man who had attended church with his family for so long had never really understood what Christianity was all about. The explanation of this simple tract pamphlet had opened his eyes and he was saved as a result.

You can make a difference in someone’s eternal life. Begin by praying for that person—that they will come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Cultivate a relationship with them. Ask God to use you in the process as He sees fit and then be willing to act when He prompts you. “One by one; two by two…”

Can you imagine how you will feel if someone says to you in Heaven one day, “I’m here because you cared enough to share Jesus with me.”

Several years ago I wrote a song which it was my privilege to hear sung on Sunday morning by the praise team, choir and congregation. I was reminded of it only last week when I came across a cassette tape of that Sunday’s music. This is how I pray to be used by my Heavenly Father:

Father, use me.
Use me for Your glory.
Let Your Holy Spirit overflow.
In all I do and say, Father, work through me today.
Father, use me.
Where You lead I will go.

Use my ears to hear the burdens others hide
Use my eyes to see the longings and the needs that they’ve locked inside.

Use my hands to touch, to love, to heal, to bless.
Use my arms to hold and shepherd all your lambs with Your tenderness.

Use my feet to walk the Earth and spread Your word.
Use my lips to speak the good news of Christ—the truth that must be heard.

Father, use me.
Use me for Your glory.
Let Your Holy Spirit overflow.
In all I do and say, Father, work through me today.
Father, use me.
Where You lead I will go.

(Words and Music by Bill Walker. Copyright 2004)

My prayer for you today is another line from the monologue about the Gatekeeper. My prayer is that you will not go “way inside and stay too long and forget about the people who haven’t even found the gate or the people who want to run away from God” but that you will “stay near the gate—close enough to hear God and know He is there, but not so far from men as not to hear them and remember they are there, too.”

Just as someone shared Jesus with you, you can show Him to someone else.

Love,
Brother Bill

About the Author:

Bill Walker is the creator and webmaster of Everyday Christianity, which provides ministry and resources for Christian families. This article may be reprinted in your e-zine, e-book and/or on your web site so long as it includes this resource box and a link back to the website at http://www.EverydayChristianity.com.

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