James McGinley had a woman come forward in one of his
meetings, and he took her into the counseling room and shared the
Gospel with her, and then he prayed. She then asked him what he
thought about a Protestant marrying a Catholic. He said it can
often be very difficult for both, and he asked her why she asked him
that. She told him that her boyfriend was out in the audience, and
that she wanted to leave her husband and two children to marry
him, but thought she should get converted first. She wanted Christ
to okay her sinful decision, and put His stamp of approval on it, so
she would be off the hook. She did not want freedom from her sin,
but freedom from the guilt of it.
People want Jesus to save them from the consequences of their
sin, but they do not want to be His disciples. They are not looking
for a commitment, but just an easy way out. Almost everybody in
evangelism can tell stories of people who come forward to be
delivered from the messes their sins have created, but who have no
intent on becoming followers of Christ. They don't want in on
anything, they just want out of something that is a problem. They
are like fish who want the bait, but when they see they are hooked
and being taken out of their environment, they resist like mad. If
they can dive into the reeds and create a slack in the line so they can
snap it, they can escape, and that is what they do. They want what
they can get out of Christ, but they don't want to be taken captive
by Christ.
Fishing is full of problems because the fish have a different
agenda than the fishermen, and so it is with fishing for men. We
need to face this reality up front, for those who go with the illusion
that fish love to be taken out of the water and into the boat will soon
be disillusioned by discovering that sinners often fight to stay in the
kingdom of darkness, and resist coming into the kingdom of light.
The Christian has to recognize that evangelism has many of the
same problems as fishing, and you need to know, not only a lot
about bait, but about how to be patient, and how to let the hooked
fish run and feel free at times, and other times to keep the tension
on. Fishing for men is sometimes as easy as catching fish, and
sometimes it is as hard, and we have to be prepared to deal with the
problems.
If Jesus would have wanted us to think it was a snap to make
disciples, He would not have made it a point to call attention to the
problems of evangelism. Problems are a part of life, and there is no
escape, even when you are doing what most pleases God. This
whole account in John 4 is problem oriented. Jesus was at the well
in Samaria because of a problem. He had to get out of Judea
because of the opposition of the Pharisees. If He had no problems,
He probably would not have there in the first place. But Jesus
never let a problem blind Him to opportunity. He never would
have been in the world if it was not for a problem, that men are lost
without a Savior.
I. The first problem of evangelism is that we let problems blind us
to opportunity.
Most of us go through life thinking that problems are obstacles
to our being a witness for Christ. The fact is, most people only
come to Christ because of some problem. Problems are what open
people up to hear the good news. They only feel the need of it when
they have a problem. Your problems should make you sensitive to
the problems of others. Every interruption and foul up in our life's
plan should open your eyes to see it as an opportunity to touch
another life. Jesus was being rejected by the leaders of Israel, and now He
sees a woman at the well at noon, and He know she is a woman who
has suffered much rejection. He has the same problem she has. He
has been rejected by the people that should love Him, and she has
been rejected by five husbands. A common problem has brought
these two together. If Jesus would not have been rejected He would
not be in Samaria at this point, and if she had not been rejected by
her husbands, she would never have been here at noon. She would
have come with the other women in the cool of the day.
Problems are not always barriers to evangelism, but are often
the reason there is an opportunity for evangelism. We need to stop
seeing problems as only problems, and see them as opportunities.
The early Christians did this, there is a fascinating parallel to John
4 in Acts 8. There was great persecution in Jerusalem, and many of
the Christians had to flee. Acts 8:1 says the Apostles stayed in
Jerusalem, but the lay people scattered throughout Judea and
Samaria. Verse 4 says they preached the Word wherever they
went, and then it tells of how Philip went to Samaria and had a
great ministry. It is almost a rerun of John 4. The problems of
Christians led to great blessing and evangelism for the people in
Samaria.
The lesson is clear. People with an eye for evangelism do not see
problems in their lives, or the lives of others, as obstacles, but as
opportunities. We need to see every problem as a door of
opportunity to touch some life that we could never touch had the
problem not taken us in a new direction that led us to cross their
path. Jim Spady, a missionary in Nigaria, was interrupted one day
by shouts that an elephant was coming. It was rare in those parts,
and so everybody, including the police, were running to see. It was
learned that the beast had escaped from a reserve area the day
before. And it had killed a man. The police began to fire and it
ran at them, and Jim found himself up a tree with many others.
The police lined up and fired together, and the elephant dropped.
One of the policeman was injured in this dangerous situation, and
was taken to the hospital. The missionary visited him, gave him a
New Testament, and to make a long story short, this Muslim
policeman came to Christ.
Had this problem, that brought them together, ever happen,
there's not likely any way he would have witnessed to this man.
The problem, however, provided a way by which they could share,
and because he used the problem to this end, he won a man to
Christ. So it was with the woman at the well, and so it is with
millions who come into the kingdom of God because of Christians
who see problems as opportunities, rather than obstacles. Man an
injured Christian has ended up in the hospital where they witnessed
to others, and turned mutual tragedy into mutual triumph.
If you have got a problem, be aware of the people it may bring
you into contact with, and be alert to how your problem may be the
providence of God in opening up a door of opportunity to witness.
If you see the problems of others, do not only sympathize, but look
for a chance to evangelize. This does not mean you pounce on
others when they are down, and force yourself on them. It means
you graciously open the door to help them see their greatest need is
Christ. Every problem in life can be a fragment of the will of God,
and a light beckoning us to go in a certain direction, and find in it
an opportunity to touch some life for Christ.
II. The second problem in evangelism is blindness of the prospects
for evangelism.
People can die of thirst with the water of life at their finger tips.
Jesus said to the Samaria woman in verse 10, "If you knew the gift
of God and who it is who asks you for a drink, you would have
asked Him and He would have given you living water." Jesus is
saying, everything you have ever searched for is yours for the
asking, but in your ignorance, you blindly walk right pass the pot of
gold at the end of the rainbow. The providence of God has
presented you with the winning ticket to the greatest prize ever
given-eternal life. But you are so hung up on this Jew-Samaritan
prejudice, you are letting it slip through your fingers.
She didn't know she was conversing with the Messiah, and
people just do not realize that when they hear the Gospel they are
being offered the greatest opportunity of their life. Fortunately,
Jesus did not just say, you are right lady, I as a Jew should not be
asking a Samaritan for a drink, and then just let her go away. The
story would be one of the great tragedy of the New Testament, just
like that of the rich young ruler, had that been the case. Jesus does
not let her go, but keeps the conversation going until the light
breaks through her darkness. If people are blind to the value of
what can be theirs in Christ, you have to be persistent in your
presentation if you expect to see them enlightened.
If you are going to let the blindness, the stubbornness, and the
prejudice of the sinner cause you to give up, you will not pursue
many people for very long. Your chances of being an effective
fisher of men will be about as slim as your chance of catching fish
by their leaping into your boat. It is because sinners are blind to
the wealth you offer them, that you need to be wise as serpents and
harmless as doves. Because of the problem of blindness, and all
sorts of negative feelings on the part of the lost, the Christlike
witness needs to develop tact. Tact is the discernment of what is
appropriate to do so say in dealing with others. It is the ability to
be delicate and sympathetic, even in difficult situations, so as not to
give offense.
No where do we see Jesus as the Master of tact more effective
than here in John 4. He knew this woman's past, and her present
violation of the law of God. He could have taken a totally different
approach to her. He could have said, don't you dare question my
asking you for a drink, and pretend that you are somehow bound
by such drivel as the prejudice between Jew and Samaritan. You
care nothing for the law of God, and you defy it by your life style,
which deserves more severe judgment than the isolation you receive
from your community. You deserve the flames of hell where there
will be no well, and not a drop of water to cool the tongue of the
likes of you.
This approach would not be theologically incorrect, but by no
stretch of the imagination would it be good news. We need to
constantly remind ourselves of the distinction between the Gospel
and judgment. The Gospel is good news, and judgment is the result
of rejecting the good news. Too often Christians what to get right to
part 2, and skip past the good news, and just pronounce judgment
on the sinner. This was not the approach of Jesus. He offered the
sinner good news first, and only after the light was rejected, did He
warn of judgment. Judgment is not the Gospel.
This woman had already been through much judgment, as she
had likely been through 5 divorces. She had been proclaimed an
unfit wife, and suffered, who knows how much, public
condemnation. A person like her would be very sensitive to
criticism. Jesus knew that, and so He is extremely tactful with her.
This is a key element in overcoming the problem of the blindness of
the sinner in evangelism. Jesus approaches her in a spirit of need
and humility, and not a spirit of superiority. In human warfare you
want your opponent to think you are stronger than they are, and so
you make a show of force to impress them with your superiority. In
spiritual warfare, where you are trying to invade the kingdom of
darkness and set its captives free, you reverse that psychology. You
come in weakness and try to make your opponent feel superior, or
at least, equal to you.
You do not intimidate, but you eliminate any reason for
provoking their defenses. You do not want their guard to go up,
but to come down, and the only way to do this is to approach them
without an air of superiority, but one of humility. Jesus said, I need
your help to get a drink. He did not say I am the Messiah woman,
get me a drink! He put her in control by asking her to help Him.
She could respond to His need, or reject it. She was not threatened
by Jesus, for she was in a position to threaten Him, and say get your
own drink.
So often we are afraid to witness because we feel we have to be
superior to those we witness to. In reality, we will be effective only
when we make them feel equal to us, or even superior. This is a
New Testament principle. Listen to Paul in Phil. 2:3, "Do nothing
out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider
others better than yourselves." Anybody can do this if they will,
but we tend to be too proud to do it. But in the context, Paul says
Jesus is the best example of this, and we see it here in John 4. J. C.
Macaulay in his book Personal Evangelism wrote, "We must rid
our minds of any sense of superiority. If that exists, it cannot be
hidden, and we are defeated before we begin. No man is going to
accept our superiority, not even the derelict on skid row."
He tells of Evangeline Booth, of Salvation Army Fame. She
always looked for something in others she could affirm, even if it
was only that they were superior to her in their knowledge of sin.
That is why she won so many to Christ. We tend to think we have
to impress the sinner with how great we are, when in reality, we
have to impress them with how valuable they are. Jesus said to this
woman, if you would have asked I would have given you living
water. This is pure grace and unconditional love, as you will find it
no where in the Bible more clearly. Jesus did not say to her, if you
give up the man you are living with, and beg for mercy, I'll see what
I can do to reduce your judgment. He said to her, eternal life is just
waiting for you for the asking. There is not one iota of law here.
This is grace as pure as it comes.
This is how Jesus penetrates the blindness of the sinner. He does
not treat her like dirt as the Pharisees did, nor does he come
demanding all kinds of reformations before they qualify for His
love. He comes saying you are somebody, somebody I even need,
and you are so loved and valued that I will give you all that anyone
could ever hope to receive to quench their thirst for love and
meaning, and it is yours just for the asking.
It is a strange paradox that the saint and the sinner have some of
the same fears. The saint is fearful because they feel weak and
inadequate, and so full of need themselves. They are afraid to be
exposed as needy people, and so they hold back in their witness, lest
it be thrown in their face-physician heal thyself. The sinner, on the
other hand, is also fearful of being exposed. They do not want to
have their sin and failure known. They want to put on a good front
so as to be acceptable.
Jesus is the example of how to solve both of these problems.
First of all, the Christian needs to stop pretending they are not
needy. He had needs, and did not hesitate to let it be known to the
prospect. Keith Miller made a great breakthrough in the Christian
world when he demanded that Christians quit playing the game of
pretending they do not have problems. The common testimony use
to be, I had a life of problems, and then I accepted Jesus, and now
my problems are gone. He challenged that fantasy with the facts.
He had plenty of problems before his conversion, but he also had
plenty of them after, and he found this to be true of the Christians
he knew. Assurance of eternal life in Christ did not solve all his
problems. He was still selfish, proud, resentful, lustful, and all sorts
of sub-Christian things. He was saved, and he loved the Lord, but
he was far from problem free.
What he discovered was that this was not a liability but an asset
in witnessing, for it was his problems that enabled the lost to
identify with him, and have hope that they could still be saved, even
with a host of problems. Not many people can identify with a
problem free life, and so don't pretend you have one. Let your
problems and needs be evident, and you will be a more effective
witness. That is what Jesus did with the woman at the well.
The second thing He did was to help her overcome her pride.
Pride is what makes us hide our problems. Jesus let her know very
tactfully that He knew all about her shady past, and sordid present,
and yet He did not reject her. He had already told her He was
willing to give her living water. He had already made it clear she
was a candidate to receive His best gift. You and I cannot know
people as Jesus knew this woman. We do not know their hurts and
how much rejection they have experienced, and how much failure
they have survived. But we can still let people know that even if we
knew the worst about them, our goal is not to hurt, but to help
them, and heal them.
This woman was damaged goods, but Jesus made it clear she had
nothing to fear, for even though He knew the worst side of her
story, He intended to offer her a solution to her deepest need. The
best counselors; the best Christian friends; the best soul-winners,
and disciple makers, are people who can convey to sinners the
message that nothing I can know about you will alter my
determination to help you find God's best. The best and most
loving Christian witness is one where you acknowledge problems,
and use them to so relate to the lost, that they become an aid to
bringing the lost to finding a solution to their greatest problem-the
living water, the Lord Jesus Christ.
