HOW WE SABOTAGE OURSELVES

    It was in the mid-seventies.  I was part of a church that was doing an evangelistic outreach in the back room of a caterer (the same one that had done my wife's wedding shower).  It was the second or third night when a young unsaved man wandered in from the front room.  He had a lit cigarette and a baseball cap on.  I was across the room so I couldn't speak to him, but I was delighted to see him.  

    Someone who WAS close to him was a local pastor who had joined us for the outreach.  He invited the young man to join us, and our visitor stepped a few paces in.  Then it happened.

    First the pastor insisted he put his cigarette out.  He did, reluctantly.  But then the pastor also insisted he remove his hat.  That was too much for our visitor.  He turned and left.  

    Thus, a soul was lost because of one man's pre-WWII mores.  

    I was frustrated and tried to think of ways to keep that pastor away from the entrance.  But the event went on, and there was some fruit by the end of it.

    In retrospect, I think that was a symptom of a bigger problem.  Non-Christians aren't Christians.  I know that sounds like a useless statement, but too many believers don't seem to get it.  We can't expect unbelievers to act like us, especially when many of us struggle with our own standards even within the Church.  

    Another thing I've seen was a pastor, in the middle of discussing the Gospel with some unbelievers, turned and started arguing with a Christian over an obscure point of doctrine.  While he was making his case, the unbelievers left.      

    And one thing I've been guilty of myself is getting sidetracked: demons, hypocritical leaders, doctrinal disputes, and other issues raised by non-Christians to deflect the conviction of their own needs. 

    Evangelizing the lost is NOT the time for doctrinal distinctives or cultural mandates.  It's the time for the Gospel of Jesus Christ: our sin and its judgment unless we repent and receive Jesus Christ, who died and rose again for our salvation.  

    When the Apostle Paul was writing to churches, he brought up all sorts of issues (directed by the Holy Spirit, of course).  But when he preached the Gospel in the Book of Acts, he never brought up any of those things.  He stuck with our accountability to God and Christ's resurrection.  And there was good fruit every time. 

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