Thursday, June 21, 2007
  The Good News
Seth recently helped his Aunt Emily teach abstainance to a group of guys at the Roanoke Juvenile Detention Center (Auntie Em works for the local Crisis Pregnancy Center). Interesting. They were very open - we had quite a lively conversation! After we presented our two bits, a man from a local church shared the gospel with them and all 8 of the guys prayed to accept Christ. Usually I would be very excited about that, but in this case I'm not so sure. The man used an old translation of the Bible with lots of words they didn't know, alluded to lots of Bible stories they didn't know and used a lot of big theological terms to explain the gospel. In other words, I'd be surprized if they understood half of what he said. Also, there was no emphasis on the gospel actually changing the way you live your life - only on believing and being sure of your salvation. Am I the only one who wonders if this kind of presentation may do more harm than good? The Good News is a whole lot more than a free ticket out of Hell - it's a real relationship with the God of the universe and it effects everything!

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  9:19 AM
Comments:
You are not the only one who wonders if this kind of presentation harms more than it helps. Perhaps the man was sincere, but not real skilled in communicating. It leaves some thinking they are saved when they aren't, if they don't understand, to some extent, the implications of God's claim on their lives. In the case of the Rich Young Ruler, he did clearly understand the implications and backed away, knowing he was not saved. While God is Soverign and does use botched presentations to bring those whom He calls to Himself (this is a good thing for all of us as we fail many times to be clear) some may be lead to think they are saved when they aren't. It seems that a good way to deal with the misunderstandings that crop up is with good follow-up using Bible study (Romans, perhaps, or one of the Gospels) and discussions. Eventually those in the group who are saved will become more evident, as will those who aren't.
# posted by Anonymous GeneH : Friday, June 22, 2007
 
I agree. Jesus commanded us to "make disciples of all nations...teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you" - not "get as many people as possible to pray this magic prayer". We've got to get the Good News out - without abandoning spiritual babies!
# posted by Blogger Seth : Monday, June 25, 2007
 
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