Greetings, friends and family of Franklin Park Baptist Church.
Summer is in full swing. The weather is warm (almost) every day. And we have had our annual ‘Weenie’ Roast, thanks to everyone who put their best foot and side-dish together. Our young people are getting ready for their Mission Trip to WV, and we are busily building the set for Vacation Bible School. All good stuff!
Our Sunday morning study of John’s gospel has gone into a temporary holding pattern as we circle one particular statement of Jesus in John 14:6 where Jesus makes the culturally unpopular statement, “I am the way, the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father except by me.”
I have recently been thinking that perhaps Jesus should have at least taken some online classes in personal evangelism…and maybe even a couple classes in cultural ‘tolerance’ towards people with other belief systems and worldviews that clashed with His understanding of what it takes to enter the Kingdom of God. And besides, He obviously doesn’t have the charisma of a Joel Osteen or the flair of a Billy Graham.
After spending several years in seminary, I also think Jesus would probably have failed my personal evangelism class. Matthew 19:16-22 describes a young man who looked like the hottest evangelistic prospect the Lord had encountered so far. He was ripe and eager. There was no way Jesus would let him get away without receiving eternal life.
But he did. Instead of getting him to ‘make a decision’ or ‘sign a card’ or ‘come forward’…. Jesus actually seemed to chase him away. Why didn’t Jesus ‘bag him’? Jesus seems to have forgotten to close the deal.
I believe Christ’s confrontation of this young man gives us much-needed insight into reaching the lost.
Turmoil of the Heart
All of the religion and wealth of this young man had not given him confidence, peace, joy, or settled hope. There was a restlessness in his soul and heart that the things of THIS WORLD would not satisfy. He was coming on the basis of a deeply felt need. He knew what was missing: eternal life. His motivation in coming to Christ was faultless.
His attitude was right as well. He wasn’t haughty or presumptuous; he seemed to feel his need deeply. There are many people who know they don’t have eternal life but don’t feel any need for it. Not this young man. He was desperate. There’s a sense of urgency in his question, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I might have eternal life?” He did not beat around the bush; he didn’t warm up; he just blurted it out. He even allowed such an outburst in public and risked losing face with all the people who thought he was a spiritual giant already.
It was a simple, honest question asked by one in search of truth: “What good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?”
The Sin Problem But here’s where the story takes an extraordinary turn. Jesus’ answer to the young man seems outrageous: “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17). Strictly speaking, Jesus’ answer was correct. If a person kept the law all his life and never violated a single part of it, he would have eternal life. But no one can. Since he had come with the right motive to the right source, asking the right question, why didn’t Jesus simply tell him the way of salvation? We have all heard it at some church service, revival or youth retreat;
“Repeat after me…. Jesus, I invite you into my heart….”
Except Jesus knew that the young man was missing an important quality. He was utterly lacking a sense of his own sinfulness. His desire for salvation was based on a felt need. He had anxiety and frustration. He wanted joy, love, peace, and hope. But that is an incomplete reason for committing oneself to Christ. It is merely the hope of exchanging bad feelings on the inside for good ones.
Our Lord didn’t offer relief for the rich young ruler’s felt need. Instead, he gave an answer devised to confront him with his sin and his need of forgiveness. It was imperative that he perceive that his bad feelings were a symptom of a much deeper problem that was only deepening by the day…. his sinfulness.
People cannot come to Jesus Christ for salvation merely on the basis of psychological needs, anxieties, lack of peace, a sense of hopelessness, an absence of joy, or a yearning for happiness. Salvation is for people who hate their sin and want to turn away from it. It is for individuals who understand that they have lived in rebellion against a holy God and who want to live for His glory.
Jesus’ answer took the focus off the young man’s felt need and put it back on God: “There is only One who is good.” Then He held him against the divine standard…and this would show him exactly how far short he fell: “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” But the young man ignored and rejected the point. He was utterly unwilling to confess his own sinfulness.
Effective Evangelism must take the sinner and measure him against the perfect law of God, so he can see his deficiency and desperation. A gospel that deals only with human needs, feelings, and problems is superficial…. It is powerless to save since it focuses only on the symptoms rather than sin, the real issue. It focuses on avoiding the consequences of our sin and the punishment we deserve by offering something ‘nicer’ and more ‘pleasing’ to the human condition…. This is why many churches are often filled with people whose lives are essentially no different after professing faith in Christ. Many of those people, sad to say, are unregenerate and grievously misled…. Jesus calls them lost!
In the coming weeks we are going to keep looking at evangelism from Jesus’ perspective. We will continue our study in the book of John, but we will try to pause each week to mine Jesus’ approach to evangelism as he continues to open the eyes of His disciples in the upper room discourse while he prepares them for his imminent departure.
P.S. Be on the look-out for the Fall Sunday School as we intend to begin a series on “Reading and Studying Our Bibles More Carefully and Intentionally” I am particularly excited about this because it is something ALL OF US need! We will be talking about it soon as Fall is right around the corner.
Have an AWESOME Summer!
Pastor George