Matthew 28:19-20
All of us are leaders in some capacity or another. We may not command troops of followers or have a corner office with a staff, but we do influence others such as family, friends, and peers.
The best leaders are less interested in their legacy – the record of their impact on others – and more interested in how they can help others. One of those key aspects of leadership is helping others make the changes they want to make in order to become the people they want to become.
Leaders believe in positive, healthy change. Sometimes we call it transformation. That is why Jesus’ gave these last words to his followers. Read Matthew 28:19-20. In Matthew’s timeline, these were Jesus’ last words. They are key reminders. They are important instructions. They are for us as well as the first century followers.
How far have you travelled in your lifetime? Have you been to a foreign country? Have you been overseas? Have you travelled around the globe?
Jesus’ instructions to go into all the world were given to disciples who basically uneducated fishermen who had never travelled more than 50 miles from home. These instructions must have seemed pretty overwhelming. It would seem as daunting as Jesus telling us to take the gospel to the outermost reaches of our solar system.
And yet, they did so. How? It was not about them. In fact, at first what did they do? Check out Acts 1. What were they doing? What had to happen first? Check out Acts 2.
It is never about us. It is usually about what God wants to do through us. So these overwhelmed uneducated unsophisticated fishermen transformed the world because they relied on a spiritual force that was greater than anything they could imagine. It was the transforming power of the Holy Spirit working through them.
That same transforming power of the Holy Spirit works through leaders today. Those leaders may command troops of followers or have a corner office with staff or maybe is the key influence for family, friends, and peers. Effective leaders align themselves with this mysterious and wondrous power God offers to each of us.
Let me take it one step further. In this study we’ve read the end of Matthew and the first couple of chapters in Acts – the stories of the early church as they started the journey to transform the world in Jesus’ name. See what these stories have in common: Acts 2:14-42, Acts 7, Acts 8:26-40, Acts 10, Acts 13.
There are many more that could have been included. In each of these stories, somebody told someone else about how Jesus had changed the world.
This is the “e-word (evangelism).” Many people are reluctant to talk about their faith because they think they have to comb their hair in a poofy way and wear white shoes. Others are afraid of failure. No one will listen. Still others fear ridicule and laughter, and others do not feel qualified or prepared.
There is a curious verse (Acts 4:13) that describes public perception of the disciples. What is noteworthy about these disciples according to this verse? Why is that more important than academic degrees or professional status?
Here are four “C’s” of what not to do when sharing our faith with people we want to keep as friends. Next issue I will share four “I’s” of what we should do when sharing our faith with people we want to keep as friends.
One, we are not called to convince people. Very, very few people embrace faith in Jesus Christ because they lose an argument. In fact, I can’t think of anyone who was argued into the Kingdom. C.S. Lewis likes to say that his entry into the Kingdom was like a captured renegade whose every though was seeking escape, but it was not because someone else argued with him. It was his own reason in sorting through truth that led him to embrace the faith as revealed in Jesus Christ.
If arguments are futile in winning people to Christ, why try to convince people with all of the “correct” answers to every question. People are attracted into the Kingdom because they are respected, accepted, and loved.
Two, we are not called to convict people. Some people think we have to feel bad in order to enter the Kingdom, but I find no example of that in scriptures. Jesus talks about people experiencing a weeping and gnashing of teeth because they have opted out of the Kingdom, but I see no example of someone having to feel bad to get into the Kingdom. Jesus’ teaching began with, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4:17) Repent does not mean feel bad. Repent means to change one’s direction. Make different decisions. Live differently. Feelings are not the test of faith. In fact, often our deepest faith comes when our feelings are of no help.
Real faith is when we hope even though we feel desperate. Real faith is celebrating when we feel sorrow. Real faith is choosing to love when we feel angry and vengeful.
People may often experience a wide range of feelings when they enter the Kingdom, but they are simply that – feelings. We do not need to manipulate other people’s feelings to share our faith with them.
Three, we are not called to corner people. I suspect all of us have had experiences with fast-talking sales people who attempt to manipulate or control by overwhelming us with talk. My intuitive tummy immediately goes into passive-aggressive “no” mode when I encounter one of these. And they harder they try, the more obstinate my “no” becomes. (It is one of my spiritual gifts – stubbornness. My mother called it being bullheaded.) Cornering people into saying whatever they need to say to get us off their backs does not invite people into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It does far more harm than good. It disrespects the other person. It is not love. (As the Klingons would say, “It is without honor.”)
Four, we are not called to convert people. Only God’s Holy Spirit can work the change of transformation in another person’s life. What does Jesus say when we view it as our responsibility to help others with their “needed” changes? Check out Matthew 7:1-5.
We are not called to convince, convict, corner, or convert. Yet, Jesus calls us to proclaim the good news of God’s love to the ends of the earth. How do effective leaders and disciples do that?
Next time we’ll talk about the four I’s of sharing our faith without offending our friends.
