I give you the chance to say no!
"2 Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. 3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth and chase after myths. 5 But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.” (NIV) 2 Timothy 4:2-5
One of the lessons I learnt from my Mauritian Preacher is “give everyone the chance to say no to the gospel”. This may sound easy to some and difficult to others. I perfectly understand and I believe God knows and understands far better this concept, especially when His word says: Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not (2 Tim. 4:2).
For those of us who find this message challenging, our reasons include the fact that some don’t even want to give an ear to the message of the cross. People begin to insult and hate you when they see you coming to their houses with the Bible with the aim of sharing Christ. I believe you have experienced this over and over as a Christian; you have totally shut the idea of door to door evangelism or “dawn broadcasting” as some call early morning preaching. I can say I understand but what about God? Does He understand? Doesn’t He know already that the world isn’t interested in hearing His message? We will surely wait on God to answer.
This however, may not be a challenge to some few brethren in the fold. Why is this so? Are we doing something wrong with how we go about preaching the message? I don’t think so. I want to believe they are just daring or better still on fire for God, insults and hatred has become a part of their daily routine. They no longer think of it as long as Christ is preached. Are we not the same in Christ? Then why do some of us find this a challenge?
To help us better place ourselves to preach the message and overcome this challenge, let’s hear from God what the others have heard and applied: “…For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths. But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.”
Surely God understands the situation. He also knows that the world will reject the message because it is not interested in it. We are not the first batch of Christians this is happening to and will not be the last unless His second coming happens during our time. What God doesn’t understand is if we use that as an excuse not to preach the word of God/message of Christ. Ezekiel 3:18-19 puts into perspective God’s view on this:
18 If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths. 19 If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me.
Beloved, use whatever Gift God has bestowed unto you to preach the Gospel of Christ. Whether the opportunity brings itself or not, let’s find a way to share Jesus. Let us not use one failure as a base rule to deprive others the opportunity to know Jesus. We know how stubborn and stone-hearted the human heart is, but even that, let’s give people or better the world the chance to reject the message of the Cross.
I give you a chance to say No to God’s message as I pen this article; give another soul the chance to say No as you attempt to share Jesus with or without your gift. God bless you.