Growing up, I always heard the same tired reasons for ‘choosing this day whom you will serve’: choose today, lest you die in a car wreck on the way home! Come to Christ without delay, because you don’t know if you’ll live another week!

More often than not, particularly when I was in the youth groups, these pleas for decisions were joined to horrific stories of sudden death, young people dying here and dying there, unexpectedly, etc. The stories were emotional, they hit me hard as a young, very impressionable kid, but they rarely produced any lasting change.

Why the Gospel is Urgent

I would submit to you that the gospel isn’t an urgent message simply because the unknowns of life and death. Obviously, statistically speaking, the vast majority of the people we preach and witness to will go on to live many more years after hearing our message. And people know this. They’re not stupid. Most can recognize when a preacher is manipulating their emotions and playing to our natural fears of death and dying.

Instead, we must understand that the gospel is predominantly an urgent message because the unbeliever listening may never hear it again. The scriptures say that ‘Faith comes by hearing…the word of Christ‘. And ‘how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?‘ In other words, it is the hearing of the gospel that is the means to salvation. And when someone hears the gospel, they are not guaranteed to ever hear it as clearly, ever hear it with the same conviction of the Spirit, ever hear it with the same understanding, or to ever hear it again.

When we press men to avoid even resting until they have closed with Christ, we need to impress upon them the reality that they simply cannot repent and be saved just whenever they feel like it, and that turning away from the gospel even one time could be the last opportunity ever afforded them to hear it clearly, with understanding, and with the conviction that they now feel.

Pressing men to turn to Christ because they might face death tomorrow is indeed a valid argument, but it becomes completely invalid if it isn’t couched in the truth that they cannot simply repent and believe whenever they choose. Why? Because telling men that they can repent and believe just whenever they choose is precisely what will cause them to delay.

“It is to be feared that Calvinistic doctrine becomes most evil teaching when it is set forth by men of ungodly lives, and exhibited as if it were a cloak for licentiousness; and Arminianism on the other hand, with its wide sweep of the offer of mercy, may do most serious damage to the souls of men, if the careless tone of the preacher leads his hearers to believe they can repent whenever they please; and that, therefore, no urgency surrounds the gospel message.” – CH Spurgeon, Lectures to my Students

In the book, The Art of Manfishing, the Puritan Thomas Boston gives a brief outline of ’shepherding’. Though this list is mostly aimed towards ministers and preachers of the gospel, I found it very helpful, and would recommend it to all, particularly the 3rd, 4th, and 5th points.

According to Thomas Boston, Shepherding the Flock of God consists of,

1) Faithfulness, even when it runs the risk of upsetting people and turning them against us. We must renounce the ‘carnal policy’ of trimmers and time-servers who tone God’s message down, and must present the realities of sin and grace forthrightly, rebuking where necessary, pulling no punches, and leaving the outcome to God.

2) Evangelistic purpose. ‘Christ had the good of souls in his eye… When you preach, let this be your design, to seek to recover lost sheep…to get some converted, and brought in to your Master.’

3) Prayerfulness. Christ spent time and energy in prayer both before and after his preaching of the word, and we need to do the same.

4) Single-mindedness, free from any form of the personal profit motive.

5) Enterprise in usefulness. Jesus took every opportunity to ‘instruct, rebuke, etc., from such things as offered,’ both one to one and in larger companies. So must we: so ‘learn the heavenly chemistry of extracting some spiritual things out of earthly things,’ and ‘do not refuse any occasion of preaching when God calls you to it.’

Because we are all sin, believers and unbelievers alike, the hardened unbeliever will always point to the ‘hypocritical’ church, or the fact that even the Godliest of men still have remaining sin within them as an excuse and covering for their own sin. They will argue, ‘Nobody’s perfect, right? Why is my sin, which is maybe a little more than yours, somehow puts me worse off than you?‘

To these types of objections, I found the following section of Jeremiah Burroughs’ book Hope to be very helpful:

Objection (to the preacher): “But the best of men have some sin”

Answer:

Since the best of men have some sin, therefore you hope that all is well with you? The worst of all may have some good in them, just as the saints have had some ill in them. So you hope that, notwithstanding your evil, you may go to heaven. Then I tell you that some reprobates have had more good in them than you have; and notwithstanding your good you may go to hell.

“…Never tell me of some sin in the saints as being your comfort. Rather, look upon the good that was in the wicked and reprobate, and see whether that is not more for your discouragement.”

Not only will this aid us in witnessing to others who point to the sins of saints to justify themselves, but how we should use this to check our own lives as well! Have we deeply considered all the good Mother Teresa did? Or Pope John Paul III? Or even men in scripture, such as Saul or Judas? Burroughs points out that Judas appeared to repent after betraying Jesus, and that he had previously ‘followed’ Christ for many years before his great sin.

The goodness of these people, people that from all we can tell died outside of Christ, should bring us to our knees. Oh, but for the righteousness of Christ, where would we be? Even our good works after conversion can scarcely match those of some of the greatest reprobates!

He said (paraphrased):

‘Have you noticed how Calvinists just aren’t as passionate about evangelism as the Arminians? Even when I was an Arminian, it seemed that I had such a greater fervor for witnessing and reaching the lost than I do now as a Calvinist.’

There is no doubt that this issue has been dealt with countless times, so I don’t plan to add anything profound to the conversation here. Let me make it clear, however, that whether or not the statement has any truth to it whatsoever by no means indicates whether Calvinism is indeed true or false. Scripture determines truth, not our perception or experiences.

Accordingly, I made it clear with my friend that I disagreed with his opinion -for several different reasons. But above all of the valid reasons that could be given to demonstrate this fallacy, only one lies at the heart of this matter, in my opinion. I believe that the offense of the cross is why A) this perception is favored by Arminians, and B) why this perception has some half-truths to is. Let me explain:

“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” - 1 Cor 2

[A full study of this text and other scriptures on this subject reveals without a doubt that the message of the cross, i.e. the gospel, is utter foolishness to the unbeliever. I move forward in this post with the assumption that we are agreed on this point.]

It is because of this foolishness of the gospel message that, A) Arminians see Calvinists as ‘less passionate’ about evangelism.

Calvinists just do not see the need (much less the scriptural basis) for things such as altar calls, sinners’ prayers, the four spiritual laws, and other methods of manipulation that Arminians often live by. Remember, the Calvinist understands that God is sovereign, and He calls sinners to Himself through the preaching of the Word and that alone. So there is no need for manipulative techniques with this understanding of God’s sovereignty. Therefore, the Arminian looks at these lack of methods as a lack of passion for the lost. But quite the contrary is true. It is the Calvinist who cares more for the loss, because the Calvinist is interested in giving the unbeliever the only remedy for His sin, the gospel, and he will stop at nothing to remove all other hindrances of the gospel, less their faith rest ‘in the wisdom of men’ instead of ‘the power of God.’

It is because of the foolishness of the gospel message that, B) this perception is half true.

I say half true because I do believe it has an element of truth to it. Calvinist do seem to struggle a bit more with witnessing to the lost (notice that I do not affirm this is from a lack of passion). That is, the Calvinist understands point A above, in that manipulative techniques actually hinder the conversion of the lost and without the utter foolishness preached the true gospel message has been distorted. With the knowledge that only the foolishness of the gospel is acceptable in God’s eyes, the reproach of men upon being confronted with the message is certainly increased. Which leads to…

Conclusion:

Witnessing to the lost is much more difficult to the Calvinist because he understands that the gospel is utter foolishness; he knows that anger and hatred are likely to follow from the confronted unbeliever. The Arminian, on the other hand, is completely free to distort, manipulate, dumb-down, suppress the offense of and dress up the gospel to the point where the foolishness can been removed. The Arminian can resort to techniques, to self-helps, to culturally-acceptable, easy to believe gospel proclamations, and thus it is much easier to proclaim an inoffensive message to the unbeliever. Since the message becomes easy to proclaim, the Arminian will find it much easier to proclaim this easy message to anyone he runs into, and thus he looks on the Calvinist as lacking in evangelistic passion.

Thus, the Arminian is certainly more passionate about proclaiming his message to the masses, but the Calvinist is certainly more passionate about proclaiming the gospel to the masses -the foolishness of the cross and all.

Anyone can be passionate about reaching the lost when the message has been dumbed down to a culturally acceptable self help program, and thus that message is widely proclaimed. But it is quite another thing to be faithful in proclaiming the foolishness of the cross, knowing the response that is likely to follow.

May the Lord help us to be ever striving towards that end, the end of proclaiming the pure foolishness of the gospel, no matter what the consequences may seem to be.

There is no doubt that we live in a professing Christian culture which sees Christ as the means for all sorts of temporal comforts. Give 10% and you will be blessed beyond measure with material prosperity in return. Invite Jesus into your heart and the problems in your marriage will be fixed. Have faith in God and you’ll be able to get through that rough trial that has suddenly come your way.

But the problem is, the scriptures teach the exact opposite in regards to the effect that saving faith has on a believer’s life. Jesus said that He came to bring a sword, not peace, and that He has come to divide families, making them enemies of one another. The apostle Paul, probably the best example we find in scripture of an obedient, New Testament Christian, constantly faced such troubles as whippings, beatings with rods, stoning, shipwrecks, dangers from nature and from robbers, hunger, sleeplessness, exposure to the elements, etc. (2 Cor 11). Did Paul just not know how to tap into that fountain of blessing? Why did his obedience constantly bring trouble of every kind?

Friends, it is with sadness that I assert that most Christians now days worry more about what they are going to do in retirement, when they’re going to have time for vacation, and or how their stocks are holding up, than they do about any of these (or similar) sufferings mentioned above. Suffering, it seems, has disappeared.
So, I ask you: has suffering now become uncommon because God now deals differently with His children than He did before? Or, as I would propose to you, has suffering disappeared because we are so poor at practicing true Christianity, being obsessed with entertainment and the distractions of this ‘playing’ culture instead?

This morning I came across this passage and it frightened me, as it should you as well:

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” – Romans 8:16-17

According to this verse, we are Children of God and heirs with Christ, but there is one condition to all of this: provided that we suffer with Him. Do you suffer with Him? Or do you just ignore this verse in the name of hyperbole or the change in cultural standards? I often ask myself where is all this suffering in my life (suffering as a direct result to my faith), and I pray that you would consider that question as well.

While thinking of this passage, I thought of a few areas that should cause suffering if we are faithful in our obedience to our Lord. Consider just a few areas where we can check ourselves for obedience when considering these things:

Suffering that should come as a result of obedience in the following areas:

• Giving: ‘Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.’ – Luke 6:30

Have you ever considered how anti-cultural this is? Who does this? Why doesn’t Jesus warn us about those who would take advantage of this kind of giving? –Because true giving is meant to lead to suffering. True giving opens us up to extortion, to abuse, to ungratefulness, just to name a few. Consider that we are to give not only because it reflects an unselfish attitude of love and service to others, but also because it keeps us from hording our possessions and then trusting in them just like the rich young ruler. Thus, we should give to the point where people take advantage of us, and to the point where our own well-being is not secure enough to place trust in. So suffering comes many ways through obdedient giving.

• Serving: ‘If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.’ – Matt 5:40-41

Again, doesn’t Jesus see how this kind of service opens us up to extortion and abuse? Jesus is certainly aware of this, and that is one reason why I believe that these hard sayings are given –because suffering and obedience goes hand in hand. If we truly serve, we will truly suffer in the form of abuse and other things.

• Forgiveness: ‘Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.’ – Matt 18:21-22

This passage never ceases to amaze me. We have all been there –most notably with a spouse or loved one. They come to you and apologize for lying, only to lie again to you the next day. They come to you and apologize for their anger and verbal abuse, only to inflict that and worse within the next week or so. What are we to do when we know that they aren’t serious about their apology? What are we to do when we know that we cannot believe a word that they say? Are we to trust them again? Ha, how stupid; how foolish of us! But Christ says that we are to forgive them, act as if it never happened, and hold nothing against them in any regard. How ready are you to suffer? Forgive as Christ commands, and you most certainly will.

• Love: ‘Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.’ – 1 Cor 13

This is simply a rehash of things above. True love hopes and endures all things? What about those whom you know will fail again, who are not serious about the things of the Lord, who abuse you again and again without it bothering them in the slightest? Love them, and suffer for Christ’s sake. Truse love brings true suffering.

• Preaching the gospel: “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.” – Luke 6:22

The prophets of old preached the Word in season and out. They were tortured, killed, and hated by those they were trying to save. Make no mistake about it: if you preach the gospel, you will indeed be hated, and you will indeed suffer. I’m not talking about having ‘conversations’ with people to see who’s version of truth is the coolest; I’m talking about challenging sin, preaching repentance, calling men to repent of their sins, proclaiming the sovereign righteousness of God. If we preach, i.e, if we are obedient, then we will suffer.

Conclusion:
Obedience brings suffering. Without obedience, we most likely will not suffer. There isn’t a mob waiting to break into your room when you pray. In this culture, there is no fear of public worship. When scripture speaks of suffering, it doesn’t just speak just of martyrdom, it also speaks of the suffering that will come upon those who obey. I trust, my friends, that you have been as challenged by this topic as I have.

Essentially, Gene said that for many years he and a group of Christians have taken large signs down to the party district in downtown San Diego, and they would prop these signs up in front of the crowds walking into the clubs and bars late on weekend nights. Gene mentioned two signs specifically, a big sign that reads “What is Truth?”, and one that said “Is it absolutely true that absolute truth does not exist?”.

Instead of shouting at people or approaching them with a tract, Gene said that these signs would draw people over to where they were sitting. Their own curiosity would bring them over to ask what the signs meant. Once they came over, a tract was then offered and a presuppositional/Calvinist-centered gospel presentation would then be given.

The more I think about this approach, the more I like it. Specifically, I think the party district (at least here in Atlanta) is one of the best places to go out witnessing. Lately, I have been out to parks and local outdoor gatherings where people tend to mingle, and there are quite a bit of families who just want to enjoy a day out and about; they have no interest in any real dialogue. But, the younger, single crowds tend to gather on Fridays and Saturdays, and theoretically they don’t have quite the same time restraints/schedule as the families. Plus, the younger the people, the more they are willing to dialogue on spiritual issues.

But I do have one concern with the ’sign’ approach, and I’d like to hear your thoughts too: street preaching allows us to share the gospel no matter if they’re willing to talk to us or not. The gospel is being proclaimed, even if it is falling on deaf ears. Waiting to give the gospel until the person actually wants to listen limits the number of people who hear God’s all powerful, ever-piercing Word.

Thus, on one hand, the sign approach is good because it brings more dialogue, and people are not likely to get offended at what they percieve as ‘yelling’. But on the other hand, preaching to a crowd spreads the Word like a blanket of seed, and all who wander into our path will hear a portion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.