The Basic Training Course

For months now, I have experienced reoccurring frustration. I have been frustrated, as my eyes have been opened, as my passion for the lost is growing. What is at the root of this frustration is an enormous sea of lost souls and sparsely few preaching the Gospel, and even fewer preaching a biblically accurate Gospel.

How can so many Christians sit idly by while millions and millions around them sink hopelessly into the Lake of Fire, into eternal damnation in HELL?! Christians seem to have ingested dangerous lie from the pits of Hell. The lie is that warning the lost of their coming doom is only the work of those with the gift of evangelism, and of course, that is always not them! Why do Christians buy such a lie? Christians are some of the first to respond if someone around them is in physical need. If a neighbor’s life were in danger, Christians would feel it was their duty to come to their aid. Why is it then, that when those around them are in serious peril of eternity under the wrath of an angry and just God, almost universally Christians do nothing?

In polls, 99% of North American church leaders agree that the job of going into all the world and preaching the Gospel (Mark 16:15) is the job of every believer. According to Bill Bright’s book “The Coming Revival” only 2% of Christians actually go out and share their faith. What’s up with the 98%? I want to ask if they are really Christians at all. Do they not care? These and other serious questions should be asked.

Fear is a real issue for modern Christians. Read the book of Acts; read “Fox’s Book of Martyers” or “Jesus Freaks” by D.C. Talk. Read early church writings, such as the very early description of the martyrdom of Polycarp. If those Christians can stand for their faith facing jail or death, what are we worried about? What great persecution are we concerned about when we wimp out and avoid warning people of the coming judgment? Are we worried we will be jailed or killed? Not at all, in fact evangelists can freely hand out Gospel tracts, approach people with the Gospel and even stand on street-corners and preach, protected under the law. Modern Christians are fearful of two things; simple ridicule and not knowing how to answer a question or objection.

I have asked Christians, if I offered them $1000 cash for each person they witnessed to, could they overcome their fear of man. I expect many of them would be involved in 4am flashlight evangelism. They’d be out with their Bible in one hand and a calculator in the other. If they (you) could overcome their (your) fear of man, for the love of money then why not for the love of God? Why not for a concern for the lost? Why not to glorify the name of their Lord and saviour Jesus Christ?

In the effort to help Christians around me overcome their fear of man (which once paralyzed me) I am embarking on an effort to train them. My wife and I are hosting, in our home, the Basic Training Course (from wayofthemaster.com). Starting this July, we will be beginning a weekly training time for those interested in learning how to share their faith. Pray for open hearts willing to be obedient to the call of God to evangelize our world.