What are you really after?

After a training session that I led in Texas, a local missionary confided in me, “Mark, I’ve been telling Bible stories with one refugee people group for almost a year. I now see that I’ve got to become intentional if I want them to experience spiritual transformation. I’ve just been giving them Bible facts.”

So, here’s the question – what are you really after?

One pastor that I overheard put a spin on evangelism. Walking out of the Baptist association office in Lexington, Ky., I heard two pastors talking. One said to the other, “If anybody in my church wins someone to Jesus, they better bring them to my church.” This pastor wanted evangelism, but only if it blessed his church.

When I was a Mission Committee Chairman in my church, the pastor got nervous that our budget was not doing too well. The pastor said, “Mark, we need to evangelize more to get some more tithers in this church.” He winced when I said, “Most new believers are so in debt that they can’t usually give to a church for a few months.”

So, is your purpose adding members – especially tithers – or is it in obedience to the Lord to make disciple-makers of all people in your community and beyond?

What are you really after?

Get better results by knowing your purpose. To paraphrase a fishing quote by Henry David Thoreau, “Many leaders tell Bible stories without knowing that it is not Bible stories they are after.” Are you wanting to evangelize? Evangelize. Disciple a new believer? Disciple. Mentor a new church leader? Mentor. The point is to keep the motive pure. Your church members will tell the difference.

Sometimes pure motives lead to a spiritual breakthrough. One Mexican restaurant owner noticed a group of men hanging around telling stories. He asked if he could listen in. When they finally asked him if he knew any stories, the restaurant owner began telling stories from the Bible. The men were interested. One asked if his wife knew the stories. He said that she did and the women started coming and meeting separately with the restaurant owner’s wife.

The Mexican restaurant owners weren’t just running a local eatery. They were using their business to be co-vocational. They were after evangelizing the disciple-making through their use of Bible stories. Once you have that permission, then determining a purpose and sticking to it can be used of the Lord to get better results.

So, what are you after? Does it align with the Holy Spirit’s calling? What limiters do you need to remove so that the Holy Spirit can begin to move?

--Mark Snowden serves as director for the Cincinnati Area Baptist Association

#DiscipleMaking, #EvangelismMatters, #FaithInAction, #BibleStorytelling, #KingdomPurpose, #GospelMission, #ChristianLeadership, #CoVocationalMinistry, #SpiritualBreakthrough, #ObedienceToGod, #ChurchGrowth, #MissionsMindset, #HolySpiritLed, #IntentionalDiscipleship, #GreatCommission