Winning Souls

Proverbs 11:30

Who doesn’t want to be a winner? One of the most healthiest desires as a human being it to be the best you can be and do the best you can. Corporations work hard every year to produce the best product and do their best to corner their particular market. Athletes train to be at their peak performance to win the championship of their particular sport. Students will study hard to win academic awards and scholarships. The desire to be our best and win is instilled within us at a young age.

But what about the Church? What is it that defines a church as successful? How do we tabulate the score to determine if we are being the best we can be and doing the best we can. Solomon tells us that winning souls is the wisest thing that the people of God can achieve; it is the fruit of the righteous! This has been the mission from the very beginning. A mission that finds is roots in The Great Commission of “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15 Our attitude toward this great calling not only determines our success, but more importantly where people will spend eternity. God has given us the responsibility of making Him and His salvation know through the witness of of the church.

The first great measure of success for the church is not how big our congregations are, our programs, our preaching or music programs. These all are vital components of every successful ministry. But these are only as good as our obedience. God will judge us first by how we responded to his commands and will before he will award us for the fruit of that obedience. A record number of baptism looks impressive on an annual report but are we making disciples? Are we molding young men and woman into future leaders? Are our homes and everyday dealings in our workplaces a reflection of a life of love and obedience to Christ?

But also too the natural outworking of an obedient life will result in the winning of people to Jesus. They see in you and I a life of love, joy, peace, and contentment. These things can be very attractive and contagious in a culture full of hate, despair, fear, and boredom. It is more that just a witness of our lips. It is a faithful witness through our life. Just as an athlete or a team will have a strict regiment of practice and discipline to be at their best, the church must practice obedience in order to win souls.

Once we are determined to be obedient there are two more qualities that the church must possess in this age in order to win souls.

One quality that the church needs is wisdom. Jesus said “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” Matthew 10:16 We live in what is referred to as post Christian America now where the Gospel is not as appealing as it once was. There is no fear of God and in a liberal media age where every little word or deed comes under great scrutiny, we must pray for the gift of wisdom in proclaiming the Gospel.

The second quality is love. The Bible says that “Love covers the multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8 Jesus overcame sin and death by demonstrating His love on the cross. But love just doesn’t cover sin, love also conquers sin. 1 John 3:8 says “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” I will leave you with this quote by Napoleon Bonaparte to illustrate my point.

Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for him.

The fruit of the righteous is love and when we practice love, we will win souls!

Pastor Robby