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Discussion Forum : Articles and Sermons : Problems with Friendship Evangelism

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 Re:

Hi Oracio,
Timely discussion as a dear brother in Christ suggested that I invite people over on holidays, play games, just get to know them.

Trouble is I see people do that for years and years and no one seems to grow in the Lord or get saved by this kind of approach.

I read part of the article! I believe the best approach is to hear the voice of the Shepherd every day and let Him lead. This gets away from having to "figure out" how to fish for men.

This same dear brother who suggested friendship evangelism did give a very good word to me. He said, just water and don't try to reach the roots, you just water!
That made sense to me because I am always trying to see the results of what I am doing, when really, that is not my job.
My "job" really is easy, to listen to and obey the Lord. His yoke is easy, his burden is light and it is always surprising and exciting when we yield to Him. Sometimes you see nothing happen, but you know you obeyed!

Thanks for discussion!
Sister Leslie

 2015/1/15 20:04
Heydave
Member



Joined: 2008/4/12
Posts: 1306
Hampshire, UK

 Re:

TMK wrote:
"I've often heard pastors & teachers teaching and read authors writing about being 'fishers of men' in the sense that each one of us, individually, needs to figure out things like bait, a hook, a line, etc. However, the fishers of men passage is talking about fishing with nets as a group- like the disciples fished. Evangelism is teamwork. If we wanted to press the metaphor further, we could say we not only need the fishermen, but also people to mend the nets, build the boats, cook for the fishermen, etc."

Thanks for this, I like what you brought out here.

Yes we all have our own calling and gifts from the Lord. Some may be called and gifted in street preaching and others in one on one relational evangelism. Let each one do as they are called and let us support one another in this and not speak against what we don't see as right for us.


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Dave

 2015/1/16 5:06Profile
KingJimmy
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Joined: 2003/5/8
Posts: 4419
Charlotte, NC

 Re:

Quote:

Jesus spent time with the lost to preach the gospel to them. We see that throughout His ministry. He did not spend time with them just to hang out and have a few drinks and enjoy some pastime with them.



I'm sorry, this is just bad theology, and blatantly ignores the fact that most of Jesus "ministry" was done simply over dinner. Jesus was a friend of sinners. They saw him as one of them, and frequently invited him to their dinner parties.


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Jimmy H

 2015/1/16 9:21Profile
KingJimmy
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Joined: 2003/5/8
Posts: 4419
Charlotte, NC

 Re:

Quote:

The Pharisees accused Jesus of being a friend of sinners because He spent time with them. The articles I shared did not say Christians shouldn't spend any time with the lost



What do you think friendship is? Friendship is simply spending time with people you care for, and have some commonality/relationship with. There is something about their personality you like, and you enjoy some common activities. Being around each other is something you like, so you do a bit of it.


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Jimmy H

 2015/1/16 9:23Profile
KingJimmy
Member



Joined: 2003/5/8
Posts: 4419
Charlotte, NC

 Re:

Quote:

I've often heard from certain Christians and/or ministers comments such as, "I used to hand out tracts and preach on the streets when I was a young believer, but I grew out of that sort of thing."



I've done a ton of this, though I haven't done much of it recently, but am not opposed to doing it again in the future. To my knowledge, I've never lead one person to Jesus directly as a result of such witnessing. Though, I suspect there are 2 or 3 people who were so greatly influenced by this form of witnessing that they probably eventually accepted Jesus.

Most the people I've lead to the Lord in my life I would consider friends. The rest were people that came to know Jesus through my preaching in a pulpit.


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Jimmy H

 2015/1/16 9:27Profile
KingJimmy
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Joined: 2003/5/8
Posts: 4419
Charlotte, NC

 Re:

And the Pharisees charged Jesus with being a "friend of sinners." And Jesus replied to the multitude: "No, these people I just ate dinner with are not my friends as you suppose, but these are just lost souls I'm ministering to. Please don't think these are really my friends." And his dinner guests hung their heads in embarrasement, as they considered Jesus their friend.

(NotTheGospel 15:1 - KJV)


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Jimmy H

 2015/1/16 9:35Profile
Oracio
Member



Joined: 2007/6/26
Posts: 2094
Whittier CA USA

 Re:

There has been a big push for many years for seeker sensitive, seeker friendly outreach by which churches are willing to do just about anything to reach outsiders. This type of methodology and mindset is usually seen in the emergent types of churches that water down and deny much of God’s Word. Their focus is on numbers. “The bigger the numbers”, they say, “the more successful.” All the while they do not realize that the vast majority of their “converts” are not saved at all. They get them to repeat the prayer and get baptized by the hundreds, but it is mostly a shallow show with no real saving roots of true conversion or salvation. Sadly, well-meaning Christians can get lulled into that type of scenario and it can be hard to help them see the deception they are caught up in. All you can do sometimes is pray for them.


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Oracio

 2015/1/16 12:58Profile
Oracio
Member



Joined: 2007/6/26
Posts: 2094
Whittier CA USA

 Re:

Quote:
Hi Oracio,
Timely discussion as a dear brother in Christ suggested that I invite people over on holidays, play games, just get to know them.

Trouble is I see people do that for years and years and no one seems to grow in the Lord or get saved by this kind of approach.

I read part of the article! I believe the best approach is to hear the voice of the Shepherd every day and let Him lead. This gets away from having to "figure out" how to fish for men.

This same dear brother who suggested friendship evangelism did give a very good word to me. He said, just water and don't try to reach the roots, you just water!
That made sense to me because I am always trying to see the results of what I am doing, when really, that is not my job.
My "job" really is easy, to listen to and obey the Lord. His yoke is easy, his burden is light and it is always surprising and exciting when we yield to Him. Sometimes you see nothing happen, but you know you obeyed!

Thanks for discussion!
Sister Leslie



Amen sister! Indeed, our job is to sow or water the seed and it is God's job to give the increase. Sometimes we may see the increase and reap the harvest and sometimes we won't see it as someone else reaps it after we've sown or watered. There are countless testimonies of people coming to the Lord through the witness of Christians who do not see the results themselves. I too have learned that I do not need to see immediate results in order to be successful in God's sight. I need to be faithful to sow and water and trust God to give the increase as He sees fit. That relieves us from much unnecessary pressure.

That indeed is a huge problem with many today; they want to see immediate results in order to consider themselves "successful". When we have that kind of mindset we can easily be tempted to compromise the Word and become shallow in our witnessing efforts, thinking we are successful if we simply lead someone in a sinner's prayer.


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Oracio

 2015/1/16 13:16Profile
HereIAm
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Joined: 2008/7/29
Posts: 3


 Re:

I've spent over 30 years in a church that practiced heavy legalism, fasting and denying oneself. The louder the preachers yelled, the more they beat us up the more we shouted Amen! We mocked and made fun of so called grace and friendship churches. I've read books and listened to sermons from Leanard Ravehill, Keith Green and countless other hell fire preachers... and then one day in the middle of 2013.. I came to the "conclusion" I was going to hell and it brought me a strange sense of peace. I had left that church of over 30 years and didn't know why. I was an usher, greeter, on the prayer team and a bible study leader. But..I came to realize I just could not fight this battle.. the devil had one. I openly mocked at the verse.. my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Then.. I listened to a sermon by a preacher named Joseph Prince. I had never heard the gospel like this before! The scales fell from my eyes and I realized the meaning behind the simple verse.. the just shall live by faith! It has been a year since I heard the true gospel.. and I cannot get enough of my bible. All the old hymns have come alive for me and I share now with everyone about this amazing gospel of Grace! Friendship churches? I will take a church that is light on scripture and yet strong on friendship and love over any legalistic heavy burden hypocritical hell fire preaching church any day of the week! The pharisees were strong on scripture.. but they had no heart of Jesus. The sinners were light on the Word.. but they were drawn to Him!

 2015/1/16 13:19Profile
Oracio
Member



Joined: 2007/6/26
Posts: 2094
Whittier CA USA

 Re:

Joseph Prince (birth name Xenonamandar Jegahusiee Singh) is a Word of Faith prosperity preacher like Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar and others. It takes little research to find that out. I'd warn everyone to stay away from his teaching. His teaching on grace is seriously flawed and harmful. It is the type of hyper-grace teaching that Michael Brown has been warning about.


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Oracio

 2015/1/16 19:04Profile





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