Title: The Method of Evangelism of Jesus ①
Contents
Many people have a hard time because they lack a proper understanding of evangelism. This is because evangelism is considered to be a thrilling event to receive God at once. Even when evangelizing one person, many people go through various processes.
In verse 37, Jesus said, “Therefore, it is right to say that one sows and another reaps. 38 I sent you to reap what you did not work for; others have labored, and you have shared in their labor.” In 1 Corinthians 3:6, Paul says, “I planted, and Apollos watered, but God made it grow. 7Therefore, neither he who plants nor the one who waters are anything, but only God who makes the growth grow. But each will receive his own reward according to his work.”
Evangelism has a planting process, a caring process, a harvesting process, and people. So, evangelism is not an event, but a process. How did Jesus do evangelism? Today, we hope that it will be a time to receive grace by learning the principles and methods of Jesus' personal evangelism through the text.
I. Jesus' Purposeful Action (3,4)
“As he left Judea and went back to Galilee, 4 he had to travel through Samaria.” To get from Judea to Galilee, going through Samaria is a shortcut, which saves 3 days more than going back, but because of antagonism between Samaria and the Jews (2 Kings 17). :4) Even if it takes 6 days, it comes back.
However, Jesus breaks this tradition and goes to Samaria, a forbidden land in search of evangelists. Jesus was not conscious of the criticism of others in order to evangelize.
As we live our faith, the Word must precede tradition. We must not be caught up in false church traditions and customs. Unbiblical traditions and customs must be boldly overcome. We must see people through the eyes of Jesus.
Let's be like Jesus, who chose a young fisherman to be his disciple. These days, the church has lost its focus on youth missions and hagwon missions. Let us pray for youth missions. Let's have a vision to make them believe in Jesus and become ministers who carry out the ministry of the gospel. The future of the church and the future of the nation are guaranteed only by evangelizing young people. Jesus made a Samaritan woman as a target for evangelism and purposely visited Samaria to save her. Let's also choose who to evangelize and go find them and spread the gospel.
Ⅱ. Meeting with Jesus and evangelists (5~7)
“When he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph, 6 there was also Jacob's well. I came to draw water, and Jesus asked for a drink.”
In verse 6, it is said that Jesus worked to the point of being tired. In Matthew 9:35, we can find the passion for Jesus' ministry and love for souls as he went through all the towns and villages. He healed every sickness and every weakness.”
As seen in the meeting of the saints at the well of Suga-seong, through the dialogue between the holy Jesus and the worldly woman with bad conduct, Jesus preaches the gospel without regard to lineage, status or status . As Paul said, Jews, Greeks, and barbarians all need to hear the gospel.
When we evangelize, the first word we misapproach is “Do you have time?” But most of them are rejected. Jesus' approach was different. Water is a contact point for a woman who needs water, that is, Jesus approached it from a common human concern, felt need.
People open their hearts when they talk about things that interest them. Words that are not interested will not open the door of your heart no matter how much you try. Jesus started with man's felt need and approached him with the gospel, which is man's real need.
When Philip preached the Cushian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40), he approached the eunuch who was thirsty for knowledge with a felt need. A eunuch with great authority in charge of all the treasury of Kandace, queen of Ethiopia, when Philip saw him reading Isaiah 53 in the Bible, he asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” When Philip asked, “How can you understand without a guide, how can you understand?” Philip found the eunuch's thirst for knowledge.
According to Philip, the Ethiopian eunuch was the first Ethiopian to accept Jesus. As one influential person was transformed by the Gospel, the entire nation was evangelized and changed. The lesson of Philip's evangelism is that evangelism led by the Holy Spirit is so easy, and that one influential person can change a nation if he or she is changed in Jesus Christ.
As a sister meditated on the Word of Acts 8:26-40 as the text, she realized that evangelism led by the Holy Spirit is easy and that a person with influence can change a nation, and she longed for evangelism.
The sister testified that she was praying for China to change by evangelizing an elite Yanji Korean-Chinese Korean student with influential Communist parents at school.
Let's look at her prayer. “Oh Lord!! Fill me with your Word so that I can nurture this soul well, and be sincere. So that I can stand as a leader and spiritual authority influential in Yanji, Korean-Chinese and China, and as a disciple of Christ. I pray that Geum-hee, the older sister I met, can become a disciple of Christ and be used as much as an Ethiopian eunuch. ^^ The Lord is really amazing. He is a person who can raise a Korean-Chinese missionary by Yeon-gil through the little me who is sitting in Korea and writing a thesis. Hallelujah ^^”
These days, as in the past, unconditionally preaching “Jesus Heaven, Hell of Unbelief” is no longer effective. The gospel enters when we know and preach the felt need of the evangelist.
During conversation or observation, discover what the evangelist's felt need is, and approach it from the real need (the Gospel) The channel through which the Gospel can be preached is through felt need. This is called need-centered evangelism. It is to evangelize while meeting the needs of the evangelist. <Continued next week> (2005.3.6)