Engaging Our Societies - Final
Jesus is the ultimate businessman. Nothing in His creation is squandered, from the tiniest molecule to the greatest star. So if He places you somewhere, He will bring people across your path who need you.
If you’ve been discouraged and thinking that your efforts to share your faith are not accomplishing much, look again. Your words and example of His love shining through you can convince others of the truth of His love and power in ways that will cut through the skepticism and unbelief that is so prevalent today. Your actions, words, and love for others can cut through the darkness of this world to reach those who need the truth.
Whatever situation you may find yourself in, God can raise up opportunities for you to be a force for good. They may be visible and far-reaching, or they may be less visible and small, but He has promised that if we are seeking, He will help us to find.3 The Holy Spirit is always working, always guiding people in their search for happiness, in their search for “the unknown God.”4 He wants to become known to them, and you can be the instrument He uses to help them to make that connection.—Maria Fontaine
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The Great Commission gives every Christian the privilege and responsibility of preaching the Good News until the end of history: “Go and make disciples of all nations.”5 Every Christian alive today is linked, through a complex chain of historical events, with this pivotal moment. Each of us has a family tree of faith reaching back into the mists of time. Down the ages, like runners in a great relay race of history, others have passed this Good News from one generation to another. And now the baton has been handed to us. It’s our turn.
We have been entrusted with passing on the Good News to those around and beyond us. It is an exciting thought. For a start, it helps us to see how we fit into the bigger picture. Yet for many it is also a rather challenging thought. It seems too big a demand. Are we really up for this? How can we cope with such a weighty responsibility? It is important to realize that Christians have always felt overwhelmed by the challenges of passing on our faith. We feel that we lack the wisdom, insight, and strength to do this—and we are right to feel so. But we must appreciate that God knows us, exactly as we are.6 He knows our deepest secrets, our strengths, and our weaknesses. And God is able to work in us and through us to speak to the world for which Christ died.—Alister E. McGrath
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True holiness does not mean a flight from the world; rather, it lies in the effort to incarnate the Gospel in everyday life, in the family, at school and at work, and in social and political involvement.—Pope John Paul II
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The word evangelism often stirs strong and conflicting emotions, even for the follower of Christ. Engaging with others in this seemingly daunting task may incite enthusiasm as well as discomfort. Yet one thing is certain, as article four of the Lausanne Covenant recognizes: “Our Christian presence in the world is indispensable to evangelism, and so is that kind of dialogue whose purpose is to listen sensitively in order to understand. But evangelism itself is the proclamation of the historical, biblical Christ as Savior and Lord, with a view to persuading people to come to him personally and so be reconciled to God.” As such, evangelism done properly will awaken a sense of need within the hearer, and more importantly, evangelism done persuasively will show that if Christianity is true, it will provide an answer to that need. Christ must be seen not only to be the answer: His words must also be seen to be true.—Ravi Zacharias
1 ESV.
2 1 Corinthians 1:23–24 KJV.
3 Matthew 7:7–8.
4 Acts 17:23.
5 Matthew 28:18–20 NIV.
6 Psalm 139.
7 Matthew 5:13 KJV.
Anchor TFI