The Zeal Gap

One of our local church planters was buying bananas at the grocery store when she felt a tap on her shoulder. “Would you like to study the Bible with me?” She turned to find an attractive Hispanic woman smiling at her. As they began to talk, she learned that the woman belonged to a Sabbath-believing nondenominational group and that there were 70 of them worshipping in a home while they looked for a facility. They had three services each Saturday! Our church planter was excited to hear this. She invited me to go with her, and the next Sabbath afternoon I found myself traveling with her and another layperson to a home not far from my own.

I noticed many cars in front of the house as we rang the doorbell, and the same friendly woman opened the door to a home filled with the smell of home cooking. As we removed our shoes, which joined a mountain of others, she found slippers for us and escorted us upstairs, where they made introductions and had drinks available. She then told us that she would not be doing the Bible study with us, as she needed to cook, but Leah would study with us. Immediately we were whisked downstairs, where they had a small classroom-style table set up in front of a whiteboard. Class was now in session!

Leah and her study partner began with Genesis 2:7, where they taught that dust and God’s breath were the two components that made up a human being. So far, so good! But then things suddenly went south when they proceeded to tell us that since God’s breath came from God and God was in heaven, that according to Proverbs 8:30 (NIV), we were at God’s side during creation! Now, wait just a minute! Did she just say what I thought she said? 

She continued to tell us that according to Job 38:21, God reminded Job that during creation he was already born and had lived for so many years! This was her “proof” that we were once with God as angels. I was shocked! They took these verses out of context and erected a theology around these single texts. After listening politely, we began showing them the correct context for these texts. I opened my phone to lesson 12 on the “Lifting Up Jesus” Bible lesson website and showed them the verses that teach that we sleep until the resurrection and that our lives began with creation, not before. They were not open. They believed the script that had been taught them. After two hours we parted, agreeing to disagree!

God called us to be, not persuaders, but witnesses for His sake.

Witness, Not Persuade

It’s incredible to me that this cult is growing! So many people believe whatever they have been told because they do not know the Bible! What struck me is how effective this “church” is in bringing new people in, while some Adventist churches struggle. Why is that? How is it that these people are so excited about their false gospel while we struggle with sharing our faith, which is grounded in Scripture?

One of the reasons I believe we struggle is fear. When I first became an Adventist, I was told that it was my “duty” to be a soul winner. I knew it was what God wanted from me, but I shied away from it. I did not want to “bother” people, and I was afraid I would make a mess of it by not doing a good job. I wanted to leave it up to the pastor, who I believed was a “professional.”

I had the wrong idea of soul winning. I thought it was something that I did. In other words, that success or failure was all based on me and my efforts. My mindset turned evangelism from a “witness” paradigm to a “persuasion” paradigm. A witness is one who simply tells what they have seen, heard, and experienced. Witnesses in a courtroom are told to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” A witness seeks, not to persuade, but to be faithful to proclaim what they know to be true.

Persuasion, on the other hand, is the act of trying to change another person’s mind to a particular point of view. In this paradigm the most important thing isn’t the truth of the message but the individual’s response to that message.

It’s Up to Him

If soul winning were a product of our own individual effort instead of the work of the Holy Spirit (2 Thess. 2:13), then evangelism would become our persuasive effort. But the reality is that it is God who is the soul winner.

Jesus said in John 12:32, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” Who is doing the work? Is it us or Christ? Our job is to lift up Jesus through our faithful witness to others. His job is to draw these people to Himself. Knowing that takes quite a bit of pressure off ourselves and places it onto God. God called us to be, not persuaders, but witnesses for His sake.

The woman at the well ran back into her village and told everyone, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (John 4:29). She simply shared her experience with them. 

John in 1 John 1:3 states, “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ” (NIV).John is sharing his experience with Jesus with others in written form. 

Soul winning is not a highly developed form of persuasion but a sincere sharing of what we have seen, what we have heard, and what we have experienced. We are commanded to give a faithful witness of our faith. Ellen White writes, “Our confession of His faithfulness is Heaven’s chosen agency for revealing Christ to the world.”[*] This is what the world desperately needs to hear. The next time the Holy Spirit prompts you to share Christ with someone, just pray and ask God to “put words in your mouth as you speak.” You will be amazed at the outcome!

[*] Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1898, 1940), p. 347.