Winning Souls & Not Arguments
To win every potent argument of the faith and lose the very soul for whom Christ died is absolute absurdity and silliness.
The offensive approach is not always the right and appropriate means to advancing God's purposes and intentions particularly when we have the privilege and opportunity to reach out with the gospel to unbelievers and generally anyone willing to hear and have conversations around faith and God. We must be thoroughly discerning enough in any given situation to know when to esteem the well being of others as well as being willing to rather maintain peace and avoid strife over our need to be seen as being right or correct.
If the propensity of offending an individual that Christ died for and is willing to reach is the only barrier that stands in between you and them, one must be willing to take the position that promotes peace rather than strife especially in situations that does nothing to jeopardize the texture of one’s own faith. An abundance of accurate knowledge in any person can often make one take an offensive approach when dealing with others on matters of faith without any consideration to what really is important, which is winning souls and not necessarily winning arguments which really is the core prerogative of any believer with the responsibility of doing the work of an evangelist.
One day in Matthew 17:24-27 some individuals whose duty it was to collect tributes or what we would call taxes approached Peter and inquired from him if truly his master Jesus was in the habit of paying his own duties as required. Peter vehemently answered in the affirmative and that appeared to satisfy them. But when Peter came closer to Jesus, He quizzed him if truly he Peter thought that as people belonging to a kingdom not of human origin or descent should really be paying duties to an earthly kingdom. Peter responded by saying that those who do not belong to that kingdom do not technically owe any duty of taxes to that kingdom.
This was a position that made technical, political and moral sense and yet Jesus through his actions taught us one of the greatest lessons we should be imbibing in our evangelistic and soul winning efforts.Jesus though technically could have chosen not to pay tributes because of the superior knowledge He possessed was mindful to esteem peace over strife and contention. In order not to offend the rulers of the day who were already fomenting schemes to eliminate Him, He decided to pay these tributes. Jesus was not willing in any way to allow something as trivial as an offense over money hinder Him from expressing the gospel of the kingdom. His superior knowledge could not have been allowed to run interference by clogging the channels through which He could employ to reach people. Fast forward to today, many Christians don’t treat knowledge when it comes to their evangelistic mandate as a privilege but rather as a way of instigating arguments and altercations that furnishes them with a sense of superiority, pride and the feeling of a victor who has just decimated his opponent beyond recovery.
1 Corinthians 8:1(b) explains that knowledge puffs up but love on the other hand edifies. Paul on this matter expresses that knowledge by itself has the tendency to make one proud, boastful and inconsiderate. The only antidote he prescribes that helps us to utilize knowledge in a way that doesn’t destroy Gods agenda through an offensive tactic is by employing the attribute of love. Love in reality is the surest governing mechanism in ensuring that knowledge rather than destroying and tearing down through an offensive approach, especially in the way we deal with unbelievers and individuals willing to pay some attention to the gospel empowers and builds instead.
Love is the surest model that regulates the unwanted tendencies of knowledge that have the ability to make one proud. When we set out to reach people with the gospel through whatever means available to us we must primarily keep in mind that whoever we have a discourse with first and foremost is someone that Christ was willing to die for and that elevates them to a position of worth in the eyes of God. With this in sight, we are now more determined to do everything we can to ensure that people see the validity and trustworthiness of the gospel.
Our ultimate aim in any apologetic effort should not be to make our knowledgeability of biblical and theological concepts the focus of attention and awe but most importantly to see that the most important piece in any evangelistic endeavor is the one for whom Christ was willing to die for. Like Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 8:11 he saids:"And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?". And my response just like Paul’s then is certainly not. To win every potent argument of the faith and lose the very soul for whom Christ died is absolute absurdity and silliness.
About the Creator
Ernest Kobby Baah
I’m a firm believer in what the message of the cross can immensely accomplish in an individuals life if he or she is willing to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
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Really beautiful piece. Please check out some of mine and give me some feedback