WINNING SOULS

 

Winning Souls

Matthew 28:19-20 New International Version

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Acts 1:8 New International Version

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

 

DEFINING SOME TERMS

The motivation of the Christian to bring others to the saving grace of Christ is in the language of many Christians, called “Soul Winning”. The phrase “soul winning” is not found in the Bible but the basic principle is, thus, the believer’s desire to win others to Christ   is a good thing.

We must define some terms first. Soul winning is a metaphor for evangelism, or witnessing. The Bible commands us to evangelize. Evangelism is at the heart of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19–20). Christians are called to be witnesses of their faith to a watching world (Acts 1:8). In fact, the word martyr comes from the Greek word for “witness.” Early Christians were often put to death for their “witness” to Christ. Clearly, these believers were so motivated for winning souls that they gave their lives to that cause.

How can we be more motivated for soul winning?

The Bible teaches that all people are born in sin (Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:1–3) and that we will all be judged for our sin by a Holy God (Romans 6:23). The Bible teaches that the only way to avoid this judgment is to repent of our sin and embrace Jesus Christ by faith (Ephesians 2:8–9). If someone we knew was dying and we had the cure for his disease, would that motivate us to share that knowledge with him? The reality is that all people have a terminal, spiritual disease (sin), and, as Christians, we know the cure for that disease (Jesus). This truth should be great motivation for us to bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Knowing that those who reject the “cure” for their spiritual disease will spend an eternity in hell should be sufficient motivation to urge them to consider the dire consequences of their decision.

WHY IS THERE INDIFFERENCE FOR EVANGELISM?

If Christians are not motivated for evangelism, it could very well be because we aren’t hearing the gospel preached faithfully and fully in our churches. In some parts of the world, churches have attempted to make the Christian message more marketable for modern sensibilities. Preaching about sin, judgment, hell, and salvation through Jesus alone is not emphasized as much as messages about how Christianity can make our lives better—improve our marriages, help us raise our kids, and assist us in eliminating bad habits. The pragmatic has replaced the theological in many churches. This brand of Christianity may appeal more to a postmodern world, but it fails to confront people with the truth of their sin and their need for salvation available in Jesus alone. Souls are won not through promises of a better life in the here and now but through the power of the gospel as the only solution for our sin.

CLARIFYING MISCONCEPTION ABOUT SOUL WINNING

Here is where we must be careful. Some Christians see soul winning as something that they do. In other words, success or failure in evangelism is seen as largely due to the efforts of the evangelist. This mindset has turned evangelism from a “witness” paradigm into a “persuasion” paradigm.

A witness is one who simply tells what he has  seen, heard, and experienced. Witnesses in a courtroom are bound to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” A witness doesn’t seek to persuade; he doesn’t seek to convince; all he seeks to do is be faithful to proclaim what he knows to be true and why he knows it to be true.

Persuasion takes on a very different form. In persuasion, one person is engaged in an effort to change the mind of another person to a particular point of view. It’s not uncommon in persuasion to alter or re-package the message to make it more appealing to others. In persuasion, the most important thing isn’t the truth of the message, but the individual’s response to that message.

If soul winning is a product of our own individual effort, instead a work of the Holy Spirit (2 Thessalonians 2:13), then evangelism becomes our persuasive effort. The goal of soul winning becomes making sure we get someone to come to that moment of decision and accept Christ into his life. One may ask, “What is the problem with that?” If the goal of evangelism is getting people to that moment of choice, then there is every temptation to “do whatever it takes” to make that happen. This mindset has led to the very thing that characterizes the various “church growth” movements, such as the seeker-sensitive movement or the emergent movement, that seek to make Christianity more relevant and appealing to a modern world. On the surface, this sounds good and noble, but at what cost? The Bible says that it is the gospel that has the power of salvation and we are not to be ashamed of it (Romans 1:16–17). We need to avoid the persuasion paradigm and get back to a witness paradigm, one in which the truth of the gospel is faithfully proclaimed.

It all boils down to this: do we believe that God is truly sovereign, even over salvation? If we do, then it is God who is the soul winner. It is the Holy Spirit who brings new birth. It is Jesus Christ who died to save the world. Christians are called to be witnesses to the world by proclaiming this gospel of salvation. The proclamation of the gospel is the means through which the Holy Spirit brings repentance and faith in the lives of individuals. What can be more motivating for soul winning than to know that, through our faithful proclamation of the gospel, God is saving many people (Ephesians 1:4–5).

Winning souls is, essentially, the process of evangelizing or witnessing, which is simply communicating the message of salvation to unbelievers. Jesus Christ told His followers they would be His witnesses to “the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8) and to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19), which is the essence of winning souls. As our Father in heaven does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9), all Christians should be eager to heed this call and have a passion for winning souls.

WITNESSING IS LESS ABOUT WHAT WE DO AS IT IS WHAT GOD DOES THROUGH US

Witnessing, however, is less about what we do for the Lord as it is about what He does through us, and this requires a surrendered heart filled with the Holy Spirit. Indeed, the same Holy Spirit who empowered Christ while He was ministering on earth can empower us as well. First, however, we need to understand our role in building the body of Christ. As the apostle Paul explained to those in Corinth, we are God’s servants who work in unity with one another to produce a harvest. One will plow the soil, another may plant the seed, and another laborer will water it, but only God can make that seed grow (1 Corinthians 3:7). Thus, even though we each may have individual roles, we nonetheless have a unified purpose of winning others to Christ, for which everyone will receive his own reward according to his own labor (1 Corinthians 3:8).

But how can we gain a passion for spreading this good news and winning souls to Christ in these difficult days when there are so many who oppose our work every step of the way? It starts by having Jesus Christ front and center in our own lives. Indeed, our passion for winning souls will increase as our passion for Christ Himself and our walk with Him become stronger. Two of the best ways to strengthen our Christian walk are to read His Word daily and to pray continually. When we fill our hearts and minds with Christ, we can’t help but to have a passion for sharing Him with others.

The most enthusiastic laborers are those who have a heart that is on fire for Christ, and this should actually be easy when we consider the magnitude of what our sinless Savior did for us at Calvary. His willing acceptance of death on our behalf cured us from our terminal disease (sin) and saved us from an unfathomable eternity in the lake of fire. Yet we know what happens to those who die apart from Christ. And this hopeless eternity apart from God, let alone in the fiery darkness of inextinguishable hellfire, should motivate us to win as many souls to Christ as possible, especially when we consider the brevity of life that the apostle James aptly calls “a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). Once we cross the eternal horizon, there is no going back, and the time for winning souls will be over. Thus, not only is the harvest great and the workers few, but, on top of this, our time is very limited.

In these challenging times, we certainly don’t have to look far to see many in despair, yet, even in the midst of this chaos, Christians can find solace in God’s Word. If a Christian finds himself in one of life’s trials, for example, he knows our sovereign Lord either put him there or is allowing him to be there. Either way, the Christian can make sense of this turmoil by realizing God has a purpose for our trial, for we know that “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him” (Romans 8:28). Further, if life occasionally doesn’t make sense to us, that’s okay, for we know to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and to not rely on our understanding of a situation (Proverbs 3:5–6). Enduring life’s hardships that inevitably come our way is a lot easier when we know that God is in control.

The lost souls around us can find this same comfort when they put their faith in Christ. However, as Paul explained, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news’” (Romans 10:15). The peace of God, which transcends all understanding and guards our hearts during these difficult times (Philippians 4:7), can guard theirs too, once they let Him in.

There can be no better calling than working on behalf of the One who died so that we may live. Jesus said, “You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14), and His command was that we obey Him and that we love each other as He loved us. Clearly, then, our love for Him is best exemplified when we passionately and tirelessly work to share His gospel with others.