The Good Gift-Giver

Right now I feel like I am the recipient of a great gift.  And so, like a five-year-old I want to run around and tell everybody about this gift, show it off, and proclaim to all how much I appreciate this gift.  But while an attitude of appreciation is good, if all of my delight were to be focused on the gift itself, I'd be missing a very large part of the picture...

Witnessing to the "Saved"

This may tread on dangerous ground for some people.  But at the same time I don't think its importance can be ignored.  Matthew 7 has some scary verses that are a call for all people to evaluate their hearts before God.  So here we go...

"How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers.  Everything is made to center upon the initial act of "accepting" Christ (a term, incidentally, which is not found in the Bible) and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls.  We have been snared in the coils of spurious logic which insists that if we have found Him we need no more seek Him." -A.W. Tozer, "Pursuit of God"

Last night I was reading through the first chapter of Tozer's "Pursuit of God" and was struck by a question: How does one witness to someone who is already "saved?"  No, the quotation marks are not a typo, and I'm dead serious.  Because I have to wonder if there are people all over the place, in and out of the church that think they are saved by the blood of Jesus, but may one day hear "Depart from me, for I never knew you."

The sort of person I'm talking about may be one who, through confusion, misinformation, or some other unfortunate set of circumstances has come to believe that they are saved even though the Holy Spirit has not actually moved to open their eyes to the glory of Christ and Him crucified, nor is He presently dwelling in their life.  Their mistaken idea about their eternal state could come from a past "praying the prayer," walking forward to "accept" Jesus, or filling out some sort of card for church membership.  It can even be the result of regular religious practice and feeling like they have "checked the box" enough times to satisfy God.  Unfortunately, in all of these cases this is not what saves a person.

But perhaps even more unfortunate is that in some ways it can actually inoculate or harden someone to the gospel, and their true need to come to a right understanding of their place before God, to look upon Him and cry out "woe is me, for I am a [wo]man of unclean lips!", and then to find redemption, mercy, grace, forgiveness, and righteousness only in the blood of Jesus, and to experience the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within and working out the daily process of sanctification.  Instead, they may think that the message of the gospel no longer really applies to them because they are already good.  It's really for unbelievers anyhow, right?  And so there is a false sense of security that actually can believe that there is no need for anything more.  And that is at the heart of my question.

But praise God!  He is good to come through with the answer in the midst of my question.  I didn't even feel like I had fully articulated the question when the Holy Spirit offers response:

Q: How do you witness to the "saved?"
A: You live and speak and breathe a holy desire and delight for God that proclaims His greatness in a way that highlights the lack there-of in other men.  Be so filled but yet so hungry that their only conclusion is that the two of you have got different versions or doses of Christianity.  Proclaim a Jesus so great that even while something may try to hold them back by telling them that what you have is only reserved for some special Christians, they still press forward exclaiming, "I don't know what you have, but I don't have it and I desperately want it!"  Lead them to Christ by first pressing in as hard as you can and inviting them to join you in the great pursuit.  Seek to dine at the Father's table and let them catch a whiff of the sweet aroma of the steak that is so much richer than their tasteless soy burger.  Bask in the warm rays of the shining Son and invite them to join you in all of His warmth and glory.

Will some still resist?  Some.  But resistance only works for so long in the face of the irresistible.  And so they may fight and hide, and resist and run, but ultimately those whom the Spirit calls will find themselves in a place with no recourse left but to throw themselves down on the altar, to throw themselves upon the mercies of God, and cry out "Abba, Father!" as a prodigal child that has found their way home.  And then how great will the celebration be when the lost sheep is recovered, when the  lost coin is found!

But how do I know it will work?  Because God used the same sort of thing through one of His daughters as He called/reached out to me years ago.