HAVE YOU GONE "COMPELLING" LATELY?

I met a young woman on the airplane yesterday on the way home from our prophetic conference. And I got a chance to make an impression--let's call it a "touched by an angel" experience. But it was different. Kind of simple. The thing is, I didn't lead her to the Lord . . . Or maybe I did. . .

Have you ever been intimidated by the Scripture that says,

"And the master said. . . 'Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." Luke 14:23

That scripture has brought a great deal of guilt to me -- because just how many people have I COMPELLED to come to Christ, after all. Doesn't that mean to MAKE someone come in. . . To be so forceful as to give people no CHOICE? That doesn't seem like my style, if you know what I mean

 SCRIPTURES HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT

There are some surprising Scriptures about this that have been "hidden in plain sight" all along. Let me give you your first clue . . .

Jesus hung out with Sinners. He came on the scene and began to violently "rock the pharisaical boat" by demonstrating something God's people had never seen and certainly not heard about before. It was his way of demonstrating God's newly revealed method for COMPELLING sinners. HE HUNG OUT WITH THEM. He spent time. Invited tax collectors to lunch. Talked to prostitutes. Touched the unclean. He showed compassion for people CAUGHT in sin who couldn't get out.

In fact, Jesus started and ended his ministry the same way. He started by picking two thieves to walk with him. In the end Matthew accepted and followed him and Judas betrayed him. As Jesus hung on the cross, once again, the Creator of the Universe chose before all time to hang between two thieves. And once again, one accepted him and the other publicly mocked him.

Jesus had a strange way of evangelizing. The most COMPELLING evangelist that ever lived, yet among those four thieves, he had only a 50% success rate. And among the crowds, before it was over, most would seem to reject him. What a strange way to evangelize . . .

ONE "WAY" TO CHRIST -- BUT MANY "WAYS" TO DECLARE IT!

He never asked anyone to pray the sinner's prayer--not that is recorded anyway. When Nicodemus came to him at night, Jesus gave Him the truth. He explained some simple concepts to him. But Jesus never asked Nick for a decision. Did you ever notice that Nicodemus never confessed Christ or gave any indication of where he stood at that time? Yet we use John 3:16 (taken from that conversation) as one of the best Scriptures to lead someone to Christ.

We only discover Nicodemus, after the crucifixion, bringing 75 pounds of Myrrh and aloes for Jesus' burial. Apparently, somewhere along the way, Nick must have said, "I believe." When Peter shared the gospel, even in Acts, it was the crowd who pleaded, "What should we do?" They asked how to be saved and THEN Peter told them how, "repent!"

When Philip meets the Ethiopian Eunuch, The Eunuch wants a Scripture explained. Philip accommodated him with truth, to which this Royal official said, "So, what should prevent me from being baptized." Philip obeyed the Lord and put himself in the proximity of someone who was searching --on the highways of the day -- and then salvation occurred easily.

Even when Peter is sent to the Gentile Cornelius, Peter only just begins to tell the story of Jesus and the Holy Spirit falls on all the Gentiles. But the Lord had HIMSELF initiated the process of the whole thing, not Peter.

This is not rocket science, but I see that God demonstrates, beginning with the Life of Christ that evangelism is a PROCESS and not an event. If you did not grow up in the church, did YOU believe the first time someone told you about Jesus? Or even the second or third time?

"Somebody's got to do the hard part," you say. "Somebody's got to actually lead them to the Lord."

But according to Scripture, Evangelism is not what you've been taught. The classic "evangelist" comes into town, tells you that you've got to get it together and get out into the streets. Once again, hit with guilt, you imagine going out on a street corner or in the mall and stopping people, asking them, "Do you know where you would go if you died tonight?" If the conversation is successful, you will walk away having prayed the sinner's prayer led them to Christ.

But somehow, you can't make it out to that street corner. Because it feels unnatural to stop someone in their tracks with the same question. Jesus related to people, mostly over time. There were some exceptions, of course. Like the woman at the well.

Jesus loved talking to the woman at the well. He used kindness, words of knowledge, and revelation gifts to tell the woman "everything I ever did." He got her attention and then told her He was the Messiah. She and many in the city believed on him. They heard and they believed. But again, no record of the sinner's prayer. The Bible just says they believed on Him.

There is nothing wrong with the sinner's prayer. Many have come to the Lord through it. I've used it successfully. The thing is, it's NOT REQUIRED for people to come to Christ. How do I know? May I be blunt? Because there is no record in the Bible of anyone praying it! It's whoever believes in their heart and confesses with their mouth that Jesus is Lord --who will be saved. No prayer is actually required. Check it out in Romans 10: 9-10

"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." (Rom 10:9-10)

Let me put it this way. If you were to have an opportunity to get that far in a conversation --to tell a person the whole Gospel plan--If you were to then ask, "Does that make sense to you? Do you believe that Jesus did that for you?" And if that man or woman, boy or girl said, "yes, I think I do believe that!" -- they have JUST FULFILLED ENTIRELY Romans 10: 9-10 above and salvation would be theirs. You aren't even required to pronounce it "so."

But there's more. Jesus was the one who "harvested," or "evangelized" the woman at the well, right? He was the world's greatest evangelist. He told his disciples a few minutes later that sharing with this woman was his food and drink. He loved this! So he began to talk more about the process of evangelism while standing there at that well.

SOMEBODY'S GOT TO DO THE HARD PART, RIGHT?

As He talked about the harvest that was happening "even now", he explained the reality of how evangelism works. Read it slowly and carefully or I promise you, you'll miss it. You've been missing it for years! Ok slowly now,

"Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the SOWER and the REAPER may be glad together. Thus the saying 'ONE SOWS and ANOTHER REAPS' is true. I sent you to reap WHAT YOU HAVE NOT WORKED FOR. Others have done the HARD WORK, and you have REAPED the benefits of THEIR LABOR." John 4:36-38

Jesus was telling them. . .

"You saw the woman at this well, who has been harvested? This is my meat--to talk to and love and bring to Myself her and all her people. But what I did . . ," he tells them, ". . .wasn't the hard part. Others have done the HARD WORK. They sowed into this woman's life so she was ready to hear about me. Even so, I've sent YOU to also reap where others have sowed. They did the hard part and you have reaped the benefit of THEIR labor as well."

GOOD EVANGELISTS, ARE THEY REAPERS OR SOWERS?

Let me say it another way. What Jesus taught brings correction to what we often think of as the classic evangelist. He or she is the one who does the REAPING, while others heap glory and honor to them for it. But most fail to realize that this final act of reaping was only the very last part in a rather long process of sowing AND then reaping.

What really happens, is that the sowing gets done by-- shall we call them "SOWING EVANGELISTS" and the reaping is done by the "REAPING EVANGELISTS." It's all evangelism. But Jesus called the long-term process of sowing into people's lives THE HARD PART in comparison to reaping.

While one particular evangelist reaps 50 people, you may have sowed into 250 people's lives with seeds of the Gospel, and the Love of God.

In the case of the woman at the well, let's say, for the sake of discussion that she was 35 years old by the time she had five husbands and met Jesus. The Sowing would have taken 35 years with perhaps an hour of "reaping" that Christ did. Jesus was keenly aware of the process of salvation. He said, "others HAVE DONE THE HARD WORK." (With Jesus, He was always ONE with the Father, so it can certainly be said that if anyone could claim ALL the credit for any salvation, Jesus could--but you always hear Jesus giving the Glory back to the Father).

EVANGELISM -- WHO "REALLY" LEADS SOMEONE TO CHRIST?

Have you ever noticed--maybe even said to yourself, "Even the few people I've personally led to the Lord, I can't claim credit for. Because there was always someone else involved in the process so there is no way I can point to even ONE person that I was solely responsible for their salvation!"

Good! If you have said or thought that, GREAT! You're getting it!

One sows and another reaps. Evangelism is NEVER just reaping. It's sowing AND reaping. It's set up that way. You're not supposed to have anyone that you can claim sole credit for their salvation. That's because the Holy Spirit is the only one who can draw ANYONE to Christ. That's true whether you evangelize in Atlanta or Africa. The Holy Spirit does the drawing, the convicting, LONG before the person gifted with evangelism opens his mouth.

Even with Peter and Cornelius, God was working with Cornelius first. Peter simply obeyed a vision and did his part. God was the one who sowed. (And who knows who else God used to speak to Cornelius earlier in his life) Then Peter reaped-- if you can call it reaping. The Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles while Peter was in mid-sentence. He never even had a chance to make a "proper" appeal, much less call for the Sinner's Prayer. It was as if the Holy Spirit interrupted Peter with, "Enough! They've heard enough! I can't wait any longer to pour out Myself and Glorify Jesus!"

Let's Review. Evangelism is sowing and reaping. SOWING is the HARD WORK. REAPING-- what most people think an evangelist does-- is easier, by comparison. Have you never reaped a person in your life but yet . . . Over the years, you've invested in many people, sowing seeds of the Gospel and the love of Christ into lives . . . ?

. . . Then you've been doing the HARDEST JOB THERE IS IN EVANGELISM. WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!

IT FELT LIKE "TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL"

Ok, back to my story . . .

So I was sitting on the plane, my wife next to me and by the window, our intercessor, Lisa Cooke.

Up the aisle coming toward me was a vivacious young woman. She was chatting with one or more people as she walked up the aisle. I was drawn to the situation and as she passed me and sat down a few rows behind me, I eventually overheard someone ask her where she was going and she said, "Las Vegas!" with some enthusiasm.

Part way through the flight, I got up to use the restroom. I stood in line and right behind me came this same young woman.

"Hello, I said, How are you?"

"Oh, I'm really tired!" she said, almost looking for a bit of empathy.

"Yeah, you have to get up pretty early to catch these flights," was all I could think of to say.

"I didn't get to bed until 2:30 this morning," she said. I knew that meant almost no sleep, accounting for the need to get up and to the airport. I could tell I was supposed to probe. She wanted to talk.

"Why were you doing up until 2:30?" I asked.

"Partying!" She said with an interesting combination of pleasure for how much fun it had been and a bit of embarrassment almost as if she was ashamed to admit it. I saw her look at my eyes for some type of reaction.

"Oh," I said. I couldn't think of anything else to say but I felt a real Christ-love for this woman and I hoped it showed.

"I'm a flight attendant with another airline," she said. (She wasn't in uniform) "We flew in from Germany and there were all these military guys on the flight." She didn't fill in the blanks but I'm not sure she needed to.

About that time, the restroom became available and so I didn't see her again. Towards the end of this almost-four-hour flight, I got up one more time. I kept thinking I was going run into her again, as if this whole thing was a setup by God. In preparation for that, I was listening to the Lord and I felt I'd heard a word for her. As I went over this word in my mind, "just in case," it felt like a "Touch by an Angel" Word, if you've ever watched that program. A simple message.

As I went back there, a crowd was coming up the aisle to get in line. But she wasn't there. I went into the furthest back restroom and when I came out, there she was! Looking at me. She was the next in line. But there was quite a line and the looks on everyone's faces was, "hurry up!" I made an instant decision that there was no room or opportunity here. At least that’s the way I saw it.

I smiled at her, said "hello" and went back to my seat.

THE FLIGHT OVER, THE OPPORTUNITY PAST

As we got off the plane, we three regrouped to decide what to eat and what to do. We had about 30 minutes to kill before getting back on the plane. I remember realizing that this woman was now long gone and I knew I'd never see her again. I wondered silently to the Lord if I'd somehow missed this opportunity because of disobedience.

We looked in a few stores for about 10-15 minutes and then it was almost time to get back at the gate. My wife wanted to go in one store and Lisa wanted to go into another one across the walkway. I was finished so they departed. After a few seconds, I realized I'd forgotten to tell Lisa I would meet them at the gate.

As I crossed the busy corridor towards Lisa, I suddenly caught sight of this same woman, standing in the middle, looking a bit lost. I hesitated and then decided to talk myself out of it again (ever done that?).

I changed direction, headed over to Lisa and I noticed that she changed directions towards me, though she didn't seem to see me. She started walking up the corridor. I gave my message to Lisa and started back down the corridor. Now she had changed directions again to go the same way. But she still didn't seem to see me. This was getting weird. I was finally beginning to see this was no coincidence (I can be pretty thick, huh?). As I walked forward a bit, she stopped again over to the side as if lost again.

NO AVOIDING IT, THIS WAS GOD!

Ok, no avoiding it, This was God.

I walked over to her. I thought I might have gotten the name "Amber" and I'm all for "practicing," so I figured it would be an opener, even if I was wrong.

"Hi again," I said, "Your name isn't Amber, is it?"

"No." she said kindly.

"Oh, ok. Well, I keep passing you and I feel the LORD wants me to tell you something."

Her eyes were suddenly alert. Not open enough to show excitement but now focused right on what I was about to say.

"I just want to tell you that the LORD really approves of you."

A very slight smile formed on her face.

"He doesn't approve of everything you do. But He REALLY approves of you and He loves you."

Now her expression changed to a little relief and she quickly mumbled something. What I think she said was, " Thank you. That really helps." And her eyes glassed over as if she was close to tears.

"Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that you are "Marked" by God. God has His eye on you and He has marked you. I wanted to encourage you to keep your eyes open to what He is going to do, because He's really watching you. He really loves you. OK?

She nodded ever so slightly.

I moved a step back to give her space, as I could see she was a little embarrassed and didn't know what to say after that. I said, "God bless you." She nodded and smiled and with those glassy eyes, headed down the moving walkway, pulling her luggage with wheels behind her.

I wondered what I would see, if I could watch her expression as she walked away.

BUT WAS IT EVANGELISM?

There were no bells and whistles. It was just like one of those "Touched by an Angel" episodes where the angel gets to tell a person in need, who may feel they deserve no love, that, "God loves you!"

No Sinners prayer.

No presentation of the Gospel.

It was just sowing seeds. Seeds of kindness and of God's love. Many of you do that or something similar, every day at the office or in the grocery store. Some just say a kind word to someone behind the counter.

For all I know, I could have been the first person that has ever said anything like that. And it may take 10 more such encounters before she makes her move toward God. Or I may have been the "last straw." Maybe she prayed the night before to know if God was real? Maybe that's what she meant by "Thank you, That helps."

She was found on the Highways. But from God's point of view, knowing her heart, she might have been as far as the "hedges" surrounding the Kingdom of God. She might have been peeking over the hedges for quite some time. That's why we are told to go to the "highways" AND the "hedges." Some are just peeking inside.

I suppose someday, someone will officially "lead her to Christ" and . . . hopefully, that person will understand that there were a lot of people who played an important role in her final decision. But God already knows who they are.

"TOWARD" OR "TO" -- DOES IT REALLY MATTER?

Then again, when you think about it, didn't I in actuality "lead her" TOWARD Christ myself. And isn't leading someone TOWARD Christ the same as leading them TO Christ? I think it is.

I bet when you have shared the love of Christ like that, or you've just shown kindness in 100 different ways . . . . And I bet you never once thought of it as "leading someone to Christ." But it is.

And it's what Jesus called the "HARD WORK."

As of today, I've imagined that this young woman went and told her story to a girlfriend. I think she might have told how some bald guy at the airport (who she had been bragging to about "partying") -- told her, "THE LORD APPROVES OF YOU . . He doesn't approve of everything you do, but he approves of YOU and He LOVES you."

And I think her friend might say, "You know, that just sounds a little bit too weird for me,"

And maybe she replied back to her friend, "Well . . .I don't know. It seemed . .well it somehow seemed . . . COMPELLING!"

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