A statement resonated with Matt (pictured with he and his team's assigned church for Monday and Tuesday) during breakfast this morning. He overheard it in a nearby conversation, and it was so strong that we talked about it late into tonight as Tuesday was changing into Wednesday here in Cali, Colombia.
"We're not here to convince Colombians to choose Jesus Christ, we're here to tell the truth."
Amen.
A key component in presenting the Gospel to someone from the guidebook of Evangelism 101 is conveying that the gift of salvation comes without a price tag to the recipient ... Jesus paid it all on the cross. The Bible says that choosing Jesus (John 14:6) is the only path to salvation and relationship with God ... a free gift that we cannot earn. You may choose to accept that gift, or choose to be eternally separated from your creator.
After presenting the Gospel, we have been encouraging Colombians this week to pray with us if they are ready to commit to surrendering themselves to Jesus. However, we must be totally acceptable with only focusing that prayer for that person's personal needs (health, job, family, etc.) if it's clear he or she is not ready or passionate enough to make that life change. Naturally, our prayer will also include encouragement for that person to dig deeper into the truths and scriptures that we presented.
We have eight teams in Colombia each responsible for strengthening membership in 2 churches this week. As 2 of the 8 team leaders, Matt and I keep track on a daily basis of the Colombians that we present the Gospel to, how many accept Jesus, and how many follow-up appointments we conduct with people that we had already visited to present the Gospel. (For my team comprised of 4 North Americans today, those totals were 137, 70 and 4. Praise God. Times 70.)
I have the numbers fresh on my mind only because I completed my team report before submitting it, then jumping onto this Blog.
We must be very cautious, however, not to get hung up on numbers. So much that I never share them with my team. While salvation is at stake and it's the most important decision anyone in their lifetime will make, we're offering a clear choice. We must present the truth with clarity, answer questions with scripture, and extend compassion, love and warmth to Colombians that Jesus would exhort, but we can't try and convince someone. A decision of such magnitude demands a full commitment.
Matt and I had a rare moment together on Monday night (since we're on separate teams) that brought tonight's key statement to real life. One of my team members is Claudia, a Cali native who moved to New Jersey 10 years ago with her husband Andres, who is also on my team. I was blessed to lead the grandfather and grandmother and two aunts of Andres to Christ on Monday, and Claudia's father and aunt on Tuesday. Both "appointments" were highlights of each of my two days and it was truly an honor to be asked to share the Gospel to their family by Andres and Claudia, who celebrated their second wedding anniversary today. It's great to be the hands and feet and to allow the Holy Spirit to do the work.
On Monday night, Claudia and Andres asked me to visit with her cousin's boyfriend when the couple visited our hotel to see Andres and Claudia's baby daughter. Alex is a 27 year-old clean-cut techie who was very receptive to listening to the Gospel presentation. He has read through the Bible twice, grasped the truth that we are sharing, but because of his analytical nature wasn't ready to take the leap of faith that is demanded in choosing Jesus.
Matt came down from our room in search of a Coca-Cola across the street, and found Alex and I on the lobby couch talking. I was gauging where Alex's heart was, and Matt offered support to answer Alex's questions. Both Matt and I realized it wasn't Alex's time and his heart just wasn't ready. Matt led a phenomenal prayer with Alex before we left the lobby. I walked to the other couch, gave Andres a bear hug, whispered to him "that's why I love my roommate" (thinking back to the prayer) and finished with "it's just not his time, Andres."
There was no need for convincing, and there never is.
Our mission is to just stick with the truth, and to continue planting seeds in the hearts of so many spiritually-starved Colombians.
Dave
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