Follow

Take a look with me at Matthew 9. Have you ever tried to “win” someone to Christ and it just didn’t work out? I know I have- many times. I recently listened to a sermon from Andy Stanley entitled “Follow” I give him credit for many of the thoughts found here. Go ahead go read Matthew 9 and then come back here.
I find it very fascinating to look at how Jesus “did” evangelism compared to how we normally do it. Jesus comes across Matthew who is obviously far from God. Put yourself in the shoes of Jesus for a moment. You are walking by a sinner so despised in his day that he was given his very own label of sinnership, you always see listed sinners and tax collectors. Matthew was so far from God and the rest of the Jewish community they wouldn’t even include him in with regular sinners like prostitutes. What do you say or do in an attempt to help Matthew come to know God and connect with the Father in a meaningful way?
Would you walk him down the Roman’s road? Show him people in the Old Testament who are far more sinful than he? Would you ask him to leave his life of sin and extortion behind? Would you invite him to your church’s next outreach event? Seriously what would you do? Turn or burn? Explain the logical rationale behind God wanting a relationship with Matthew?
Stop and think about what would you do if you walked down the hall of your office, your school, or next door and tried to share Christ with the worst sinner you know?
Look at what Jesus did. He invited Matthew to Follow Him. Pause, reflect on that. When was the last time a preacher gave the invitation to simply take one step behind Jesus and follow him? We usually say, believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God and Jesus is the perfect sacrifice for you and the despicable life you have chosen to rebelliously live. Then we follow that up with stop sinning. Next will come an invitation to a class or learning opportunity at the church. Then baptism is mixed in at various stages of the process depending on your particular background.
Jesus didn’t ask Matthew to change; he didn’t even ask him to believe that he was the Messiah. What Jesus knew about Matthew is what he knows about everyone far from the Father today. If they will start to follow the Son He will lead them to the Father and they will then believe.
At the end of this chapter Jesus looks at the people all around him and his heart is broken. The author (Matthew) records that the people were harassed and helpless, when people are far from the Father, Jesus responds. He is still inviting people today to follow him. He told his disciples the “harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” That is still true today. The harvest is more than plentiful. So why aren’t more people coming to restoration with their Father and Creator? We have plenty of people in the pews. Everyone who is far from God knows the location of their nearest Christian- right? Please don’t confuse being a Christian with being a worker. Every Christian is literally “called out” to do the work of the harvest, but that clearly is not the case. Please don’t read this and think about the other Christians at your church or group that won’t go out in the field and work the harvest. You and I are the answer to the shortage of workers.
We must follow the example of Jesus and invite those around each and every one of us to “follow him.” The road is not always clear when you follow Jesus, but it starts with today saying, I will try to live as I think Christ would have me to live.

Agree/Disagree- post your thoughts below. Here is the link to the Podcast from Stanley.
http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/north-point-ministries-andy/id211872550

Gaps at your church?

The theme of this blog is somewhat obvious from the title. So let's deal a bit with gaps at churches.

For my friends who volunteer, work, or lead in a church setting: What are some of the the gaps between where your church is and where it should be in 2 years?

For my friends who don't really go to church all that often: What are the gaps between the churches you've been too and the one you would attend if you could just find it?

You can post your answers or message them me on Facebook if you don't want your boss to see them.