For who is "drawn," if he was already willing? And yet no man comes unless he is willing. Therefore he is drawn in wondrous ways to will, by Him who knows how to work in the very hearts of men. Not that men who are unwilling should believe, which cannot be, but that they should be made willing from being unwilling.
Augustine of Hippo, 345-430 AD, Against Two Letters of the Pelagians, Book I, Chapter 37 (Saint Augustin's Anti-Pelagian Works, translated by Peter Holmes and Rev. Robert Ernest Wallis, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Volume V, Philip Schaff, T & T Clark and Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1997, p. 389)
How important is God's work in the heart to someone's coming to Christ? How should this affect our approach to sharing Christ with people?
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Perhaps the issue is not sharing Christ but sharing Christ in us? Are we willing to enter into a heart-to-heart loving relationship with another where they can see Jesus in our lives? My experience tells me that we mostly want to share Christ without sharing much of ourselves. We want to sing about friendship in Jesus but not friendship with each other.
ReplyDeleteI could be off on this though? My experiences might be different than that of others like you Mike?
I believe there are many different ways of sharing Christ and many different ways people come to Christ. But if we if we are not doing what we are doing out of real love for the person it tends to be more of a hindrance than a help.
DeleteSeems like the model should be like Jesus and his disciples. Invite people to walk with us in friendship and see what happens?
ReplyDeleteWe see a number of cases where Jesus and his disciples invited people to follow along with them. We also see large numbers of individual one time encounters and speaking to crowds. I would not take this as either/or but both/and. That we should use various methods to reach people. But if we are in the long run not willing to take a person in and make them our friend, there is a problem.
DeleteWell said Mike.
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