Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: bwoodman@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Robert H Woodman) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Soul winners Message-ID: Date: 20 Jan 91 19:52:29 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: The Ohio State University Lines: 50 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu [Another comment on soul winning and fishing. I hope these things come in order. My summaries are getting briefer... --clh] Alex, I believe that you miss the point of "soul winning" on several counts. First, we are clearly commanded (at the end of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and at the beginning of Acts) to be witnesses to all the world about Jesus Christ. The clear implication in each case involved not just "living it [the gospel] in my life" but to *teach* others about Jesus and the good news of salvation. We *do* have the ability and the power through the Holy Spirit to "win souls" to Jesus Christ. When the Holy Spirit came down upon the believers as recorded in Acts chapter 2, Peter's sermon made it clear that both the gift of the Holy Spirit and the message of salvation were open-ended. That is, the sharing of the good news through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit had no end until Jesus Christ returned to the earth for his church. Second, your fishing imagery misses the context in which Jesus spoke it. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were commercial fisherman. They did not *recreationally* fish with hook and line, the way that you imagine. They fished with nets. The fish didn't have to make a nibble. They had only to be present when the net went by to become part of the day's catch. When Jesus said to them "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men," he obviously had net fishing in mind (the gospels record that work on the nets was being done at the time the statement was made). Thus, by Jesus' own analogy, we are to grab whoever is in the vicinity at the time and share Jesus Christ with that person. Now, clearly, that sounds a bit zealous. But you need not be the kind of person who always grabs the first person walking by and starts preaching the gospel to the hapless victim. A bit of spiritual discernment about the kind of approach to take is needed. The idea of living your life as a witness does work, and it is a method I use. Yet there comes a time when "living your life" must give way to "sharing your Jesus" with those in front of whom you live your life. At that point, you start talking about the gospel. Even more effectively, you share what Jesus has done for you in your life. This sounds like the beginnings of an interesting discussion thread. Any one want to make follow ons? Bob Woodman -- ********************************************************************* *Bob Woodman * "A job not worth doing well is not * *INTERNET: woodman.1@osu.edu * worth doing."--Salvador Luria * ********************************************************************* [The more common objection to "soul winner" is that it suggests that the responsibility for someone being converted is ours rather than God's. It could imply taking credit for something that ultimately isn't our doing. --clh]