To lead with a candle. (gentle evangelism)
By: Rev. Steven B. Smethers DD
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Christians who do the work of our Lord are often called "Bible Thumpers". This term is used because most evangelists are quick to endlessly quote verses from the Bible. Another reference is that they are quick to get up on their "Soap Boxes" and preach to people. They fully believe that the way to SAVE someone is to "overwhelm" them with the power of the scriptures from the Holy Bible. Scripture seems to support this theory.

2 Timothy 4:1-2, "I charge [thee] therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. "

Matthew 28:19-20, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen. "

I will agree with this theory entirely. The problem seems to be the approach and delivery of the message. First we must identify the person or persons that we are trying to bring to Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:3-6, "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world {Satan} hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. "

You see, these people are blinded to the Word of God by Satan. He is keeping the truth of the Word from their hearts.

John 3:18-21, "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. "

Do you see that in this scripture "... and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved."

Romans 2:19, And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,

The unsaved HATE the "light" of the Word of God. They reject it. I will give you an example to illustrate the problem. Lets say that you are in a totally darkened room. You have been in this room for some time. If someone suddenly turns on a bright light, the normal reaction is to close our eyes and shun the light and only gradually let ourselves adjust to it.

This is the problem with evangelizing using every scripture available. This is asserting the full power of the Word of God on these people. (the bright light) Nine times out of ten it will only cause them to reject the attempt to bring them to the Body of Christ.

Luke 11:35-36, "Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore [be] full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light. "

If we are in the same darkened room as before and someone lights one candle we readily adjust to this lower light level. So this is the definition of the delivery of the message of salvation. The person that we wish to bring to our Lord is living in "total darkness". To suddenly bring them into full sunlight is offensive to them and will only put them off. We must treat them as if they were infants and spoon feed them in small amounts until they have grown up enough digest the pure power of the Word of God and learn to feed their hunger for themselves.

Acts 26:18, To open their eyes, [and] to turn [them] from darkness to light, and [from] the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

It is foolish to expect results of our efforts if we grand-slam these poor lost souls with the overwhelming power that we know to exist in the Word of God. We should give ourselves as good examples of Christianity. If they "see" what the Lord has done within us they will want it on their own and we won't be force-feeding them. We must create a desire in their hearts. These people are currently living in the "flesh" and do not understand the nature of the spiritual as yet. They need to "see" for themselves the workings of our Lord in someone else before they will accept the Word of God for themselves.

Matthew 5:15-16, "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. "

Luke 1:79, To give light to them that sit in darkness and [in] the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Our charge through Christ is to bring all peoples to the unity that is the Body of Christ. We are all given the gifts and power necessary to accomplish this task. We are all given the opportunity to evangelize to various people. We need to polish our "methods" to acheive this end. I believe that many think that they are responsible for the message that needs to be delivered to these people.

John 15:26-27, "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. "

God has provided the Holy Spirit to help us provide this message. We do not need to do more than make ourselves available to do this work. The Holy Spirit will direct us from there. We need a working knowledge of the principles of the Holy Bible, however we do not need to begin by spouting all the scriptures we can think of at these people. First they need a helping friendly hand. They need to know that you really do care about them.

Ephesians 3:7-9, "Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all [men] see what [is] the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: "

Ephesians 4:12-13, " For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: "

My friends I sincerely hope that you can clearly see that God has given us a mission and purpose in our lives and that He has provided the comforter (Holy Spirit) to assist us in this mission. We can not create a presentation that is better than the one that the Holy Spirit will provide to us. Be gentle with lost souls. To care is to show loving kindness to them and not to condemn them and beat them to death using the Bible. Allow your Christian light to shine. As a beacon in the distance it will guide them, but to place the same beacon directly into their eyes will surely blind them.

2 Corinthians 4:6, For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Job 29:3, When his candle shined upon my head, [and when] by his light I walked [through] darkness;

Lead the lost to Christ with the light of one candle. It will be sufficient !

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Written by: Rev. Steven B. Smethers DD
Senior Pastor / Administrator - UCMI