You're not Christian! Part 1

For years I cringed when I heard, “There’s something wrong with you if you’ve never led someone through a prayer and helped them accept Christ!” You see, I’ve never done that. And I thought there was something wrong with me because of it.

But I’ve just discovered, 30 seconds ago, that’s untrue.

You don’t have to lead someone through the LORD’S PRAYER to be deemed a follower of Christ. In fact, if that’s all you do, you’re quite wrong.

In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul tells us that “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing growth.” If you read the whole passage, you discover that Paul is talking about spiritual growth: from the beginning (planting), to the happening (growing). You also discover that there wasn’t just one person; all three of them took part in it (the growth of the church). The same principle applies in life.

A person isn’t saved through the works of one person, but through the works of many.

Which raises a question: shouldn’t I still be leading people through a prayer some of the time?

I suppose it’s possible, but let’s look at another passage: “And he gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints or the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-12).

I think it’s very possible that some people are going to be better at leading people through a prayer, while others are going to be better at teaching Christians a deeper walk. Is it possible that a teacher can do a prayer leading session? Sure. But that doesn’t mean it has to be every single person they run into (or even once in a lifetime) for them to be proclaimed a Christian.

I’ve never led a person to Christ.

I should clarify (sorry): I’ve never led a person through a prayer accepting Christ. But I’ve led them to Christ, through my actions. I’m not a person that’s going to stand up and say “You need to, you need to, you need to!” I say, with my actions, “This is what you get, if you do this.”

And that’s important.

Imagine if everyone in a company went out and recruited salesmen for the company. Who would teach the salesmen? Who would do the payroll? Who would handle Customer Service? Who would ship the products?

How would anything get done?

So it is in the church: if everyone is leading someone through a prayer, who’s doing the teaching?

After you’ve played “Billy Graham” (who led many to Christ and who I respect greatly), who’s going to help them on the walk?

Me. I’m that kind of person.

And it’s my passion. I love it. Teaching is my gift. I don’t lead through a prayer; I teach.

How does this tie into Agape? Guess you’ll have to read tomorrow to find out…

All for now!