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This past Wednesday evening, I sat in our men's group and heard multiple people speak about how they had been inviting folks to Easter weekend or had seen some guests attend recently who they had been speaking to for a while- it was so encouraging to hear!

As we approach one of the biggest days set aside to enjoy a focused celebration about the resurrection of Christ, I am excited to see what God will do not only through the individual efforts within our congregation but also the efforts of thousands of Christians and hundreds of Gospel preaching churches in our area!

While we may be prone to be discouraged about the condition of our nation if we watch the news or feel a bit hopeless about the impact of the Gospel when we read the startling data about the lack of practicing evangelical Christians in America, I want us to consider that all is not lost and obedience as a witness is still a crucial aspect to affirming our salvation.

Consider a quote from a recent article by George Barna about the impact just one person can have on someone getting to church to hear the Gospel this Easter, "Every year, many previously unchurched people return to a church for one or more Easter season services. More often than not, this is the result of one of two motivations: the compelling invitation of a close friend who accompanies them to the service, or a personal crisis that compels them to seek God more fervently. Impersonal marketing efforts generally have limited impact in persuading the unchurched to break their normal Sunday morning habits.” (https://www.barna.com/research/spirituality-may-be-hot-in-america-but-76-million-adults-never-attend-church/)

YOU! Yes, you can be the bridge that connects the non-Christian to another opportunity for them to hear about our redeeming Savior!

Yet, data suggests most professing Christians who actively attend a church do NOT share their faith. "Spiritual conversations are exceedingly rare for most Americans, and even for Christians, who are at best reluctant to have them." (https://www.barna.com/research/sharing-faith-increasingly-optional-christians/) What is stopping us from not only being a force to be reckoned with against the devil's desires for our fellow human beings? What is stopping us from being obedient to the command of our Lord?

Several factors could be at play, but let me put forth a few I see in my own life and consistently in the lives of church members I have pastored over the years. 

  • Ditch the insecurity- Jesus is the granter of spiritual life and freedom!  We have been freed from the power of fear in our own minds and from fearing others' opinions. We typically struggle with great fear about those whom we don't know as it is awkward and we are unsure of how they will respond.  What if they are smarter than me?  What if they are a different religion?  What if they react poorly? What if...two words that can unnecessarily trip up Christians and land us in a ditch of disobedience.  However, we also struggle with fear about those whom we know well! Christians can find it hard to speak to their neighbor of 7 years or their commanding officer or their childhood friend or their adult "kid". Why? It could be for any number of reasons: we struggle with feelings of hypocrisy for not inviting them to church or sharing our faith sooner, we have a hindered conscience with them due to our less than Christian actions in the most recent past, we are concerned about how it may change the relationship dynamic if it upsets them, or we just do not want to have that responsibility of their soul on our mind as a consistent responsibility to care for.
  • Dump the idolatry- If we believe that Jesus Christ is the promised, anticipated, necessary Messiah that damned humanity required to reconcile us back to our Creator and that we have never known the meaning of life apart from Him, then perhaps we need a daily evaluation of our priorities and calendar to ensure our profession matches our lifestyle pace. Do you remember when you first became a believer?  The glorious, new...everything! We wondered how we had ever NOT been His disciple because of how splendid His forgiveness and freedom are.  If we are not careful, that familiarity (as last week's article pointed out so well) can dim the light of our passion through idolatry.  Remember, idolatry does not have to be visibly egregious for all to see for it to be disruptive and disobedient in our thoughts, priorities, and actions.  Today's schedules often rotate around work, kids' sports, personal hobbies, vacations, and oh yeah...church (unless we have one of the other items to get to). Perhaps the reason you and I are not seeing more impact in peoples' lives for the Gospel is that we have foolishly given away those timeslots to that which isn't inherently wicked but is self-centered. Let's ask ourselves- "If I said 'no' to everything in my current calendar, how would I rebuild it to create Gospel conversations?”
  • Daily intentionality- Ok, now that we have addressed the not so fun realities about ourselves, how do we change it? I want to give us a few suggestions to help us be more fruitful the rest of this year.  First, let's look up and familiarize ourselves with the Scriptures commanding and empowering us to be witnesses for Christ (breaking news- silent witnesses or lifestyle witnesses are not obedient witnesses).  Then, let's devote 60 seconds a day to prayer about the matter, asking for God to help us with this matter.  Further, let's contemplate our day and consider who we know will be in our sphere of influence and how we will direct conversations to include something about the Lord (His goodness, how can we pray for them, sharing a personal moment, etc.).  Also, let us prepare for quick visits to the pharmacy, store, drive-through, with church invitations (each invitation has a QR code that allows them to hear the Gospel).  Lastly, reminders- sticky notes, phone alarms, scheduled texts, asking others to hold us accountable...whatever you need to form the new, obedient habit- do it!

Here is my point- people are all around us throughout the year!  While they may be more pliable during this season (and at Christmas), we have both a command and an opportunity to keep this "Easter effort" up year round!  As you finish reading this article, I want you to pause and imagine who could be sitting in church next to you this time next year with year round "Easter effort”?

Who could be forgiven?  Whose family could be transformed?  Who will be inviting their friends next year?  How will your grace-filled obedience have grown?

#BeyondEaster

Serving together,

Pastor Paul