5 Fatal Assumptions Concerning World Missions & Personal Soul Winning…

1. “I don’t have the gift of evangelism.”  Taking the Gospel to the unsaved is not a  spiritual gift, but a clear command.  Every Christian has a direct command to take the Gospel to the unsaved.
2. “God hasn’t called me to the mission field.”  Fact is, every one of us live in the “mission field,” that is, the world.  Whether we live in Central Asia, or Western Maryland, we are in the mission field.  Rather than assuming God has not called us, let’s assume He HAS called us until He makes it clear otherwise.
3. “There’s nothing I can do to make any significant difference.”  This is simply not true!  A classic illustration is the little boy with a small lunch of fish and bread and how God fed over seven thousand people.  When I give myself and all that I have to the Lord to do with as He sees fit, great and mighty things will happen.  Little certainly is much… when God is in it.
4. “The world has already been reached.”  This is so obviously untrue, it needs no rebuttal.  Statics tell us there are literally billions of people and entire nations that have no Gospel witness.
5. “We are living in the last days and people will not receive the Gospel.”  No where does the Bible even remotely suggest that the Gospel will lose any power to save.  There may be different areas in our world where people are more resistant to the Word of God, but we have every reason to believe and be confident that if we’ll faithfully go with the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can and will see many saved.  The problem throughout the church age has not been the condition of the world, but the unconcern of the church.  The harvest continues to be great, and the laborers continue to be few!

Not Everyone Will… But Some Will!

Not everyone will allow you to share the Gospel  them… but some will.

Not everyone you share the Gospel with will get saved… but some will.

Not everyone that professes faith in Christ will get baptized… but some will.

Not everyone that gets baptized will be faithful to church… but some will.

Not everyone that’s faithful to church will give themselves to the ministry… but some will.

Not everyone that gets involved in the ministry will answer the call to missions and full-time service… but some will.

Let’s not quit witnessing for the Lord!  Let’s not quit working for the Lord!

An Effective Soul Winner

To be a consistent and effective personal soul winner requires a continual effort.  We have found that the most effective soul winners are constantly studying and learning how to be better at this important ministry.

• An Effective Soul Winner Must Be Assured Of Their Own Salvation. It is very difficult, if not impossible to convince others that they can know for sure that their sins are forgiven and that they are on their way to Heaven if I do not have that assurance.  An assurance of my own salvation gives great confidence in sharing the Gospel with others.
• An Effective Soul Winner Must Be Convinced Of The urgency Of Man’s Condition.  John 3:18 & 36 (along with many other passages) state clearly that mankind is currently under the condemnation and wrath of God.  Unsaved man will not “some day” be condemn, but is “condemned already.”  The urgency of getting the soul saving Gospel to every man, woman, & child in our community and around the world must grip our hearts if we’re to be effective personal soul winners.
• An Effective Soul Winner Must Know The Message of the Gospel Thoroughly.   The message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most important truth ever known.  Though a person can be an effective witness for the Lord without having been “trained” in sharing the Gospel (illustration: woman at the well), nevertheless, a consistently effective soul winner must have a thorough, working knowledge of the Gospel. This powerful message must be a life-long study.
• An Effective Soul Winner Must Be Convinced That People Will Be Saved.  Effective soul winners anticipate results.  Of course, not everyone will be saved, but we must be confident that the Gospel IS the power of God unto salvation and will bear fruit. (Psalm 126:6, “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”; Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;”)
• An Effective Soul Winner Must Be Filled With The Holy Spirit.  Our clever approaches and scripted presentations are not what brings conviction or saves a soul, rather, it is the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.  It is important that we know what we’re talking about and that we have a tactful approach, but it is far more important that we are filled with the Holy Spirit.  As much effort must be put into having the power of the Holy Spirit as there is put into having an effective approach.  (Acts 4:31, “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.”; Ephesians 5:18,  “… be filled with the Spirit;”)
• An Effective Soul Winner Must Be A Fervent Prayer Warrior.  Two actions by the early church in the book of Acts stand out, the preaching of the Gospel and the prayers of the church.  A prayer-less soul winner is an ineffective soul winner.  There was as much praying going on in the NT church as there was preaching, and this must be true for today’s soul winners!  Perhaps this is the cause behind so little results in so much of our efforts.
• An Effective Soul Winner Must Have Scheduled Times For Personal Soul Winning.  Of course, witnessing and winning souls must be a part of our everyday life, but to be effective and thorough in reaching our communities, there must be an organized and scheduled time for a taking the Gospel into our neighborhoods.  Note: do not neglect the back alleys and apartments over top of downtown businesses.  Look for the “out of the way” dwellings, these are often the homes of folks who are most receptive.
• An Effective Soul Winner Must Set Challenging, But Reachable Goals.  We share the message and leave the results up to God (1 Corinthians 3:7), but this does not mean we cannot set goals for ourselves.  For instance, I have set a goal to share the Gospel with 5 people a day, in a six day week, that comes to 30 people a week, which equals 120 a month which totals 1440 people a year.  This is a realistic challenge and has a profound effect on quite a number of people.

In our “sin saturated” society, the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is needed now, more than ever. Let’s give ourselves fully to winning souls.