Are you a soul winner? Do you attempt to do everything you can with your lifestyle, your actions, and your words to lead someone to an encounter with the Savior?
If you are, then you are aware that most of the time leading someone to Christ is not an easy task. It requires confrontation, dedication, and perseverance.
[img_assist|nid=6053|title=Andy Johnson, Pastor Cross Roads Baptist Church, Farmerville|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=75|height=100]
There are rare occasions when God sends you a seeker – someone who has been searching diligently for the meaning of life. On those occasions, it seems as if leading the seeker to the Lord is easy.
The seeker asks, “Can you tell me how to be saved?” They are ready, they are willing, and you’ve got the goods to get them where they are trying to go.
The usual presentation of the Roman Road would be applicable, but the person is so desperate to do whatever it takes that you lead him in the sinner’s prayer.
With the drop of an ‘Amen,’ you say to your new friend, “Welcome to the Kingdom!” The new believer is even willing to be presented as a candidate for baptism the following Sunday.
The person talks with the pastor. He baptizes them in a public demonstration of their profession, and the seeker is then presented with a Bible, a certificate, and a date neatly written down in the back of the new, unworn Word.
The new Christian stands in the exit of the church, shaking hands and receiving hugs from people who have witnessed his conversion. All of this occurred because they simply asked a question: “What must I do to be saved?”
If we were honest, that’s the way that many of us would approach the aforementioned situation. After all, this is what a soul winner does: point people to the Savior and help introduce them to Him.
But Jesus took a vastly different approach. When the rich young ruler asked Jesus about how to obtain eternal life, Jesus confronted him with the actual cost of following Him.
The Bible indicates that after hearing Jesus’ words, the young man just walked away. Apparently, the cost was too great: Jesus said unto him, ‘If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.’ But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. (Matthew 19:21-22)
Now, if you are the average Christian reading this, you are probably presented with a complex idea: “I thought salvation was free?” You wouldn’t be wrong to assume that. You did nothing to gain your salvation, save believing in Christ’s finished work at the Cross of Calvary.
However there is a high cost in following Christ. It requires your life.
There is a misconception (or a false teaching) within many churches today that once you have accepted Christ as your Savior, the road ahead will be full of bright sunshine and red roses with no problems, chaos, cares, or concerns. You’ll have wealth, health, social status, and everyone will automatically love you.
Much of the teaching presented today to entice someone to come to Christ looks like candy compared to the reality of Scripture.
In Luke 9, Jesus summarizes that following Him could require homelessness and even family abandonment.
In Luke 14, Jesus goes into more detail, saying that following Him requires surrendering everything to Him, carrying a cross, and loving Him with a type of love that makes the love you have for your family seem like hate.
What Jesus taught sounds much different from “Accept, believe, confess, repeat this prayer after me, and enjoy a fantastic life,” doesn’t it?
The truth is, accepting Christ requires total, radical abandonment from every worldly thing that used to dominate your life. That’s the type of allegiance that is described by Christ Himself.
Jesus even cautions us to count the cost before we make the decision to surrender to Him (Luke 14:28).
The truth is that accepting Christ as your personal Savior is the liberation of your soul from sin, but at the same time it is placing yourself in the position of a bond-slave to the supremacy of Jesus’ Lordship.
Following Christ means you will be hated (Luke 21:17), be persecuted (Matthew 10:16-18), and experience family betrayal (Mark 13:12-13).
The truth is that choosing to follow Christ could bring more problems into your life. However, the “risk versus reward” is far greater than anything this world could offer.
While we may face hardships here in our temporary home, the blessings of following Christ will be played out for an eternity to come, once we arrive in our Heavenly home.
And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. (Matthew 19:29)