I agree. It can take time. I've not been involved in urban mission, as I've lived in fairly small towns for 30+ years, although I have talked to and prayed with homeless people. Where I live my immediate community consists mainly of people whose lives are reasonably okay, but they have little interest in God. I pray and invite them to church, social evenings, etc. but there's little response.Sometimes it takes time.
A major challenge with evangelism today is that most people have already heard the message "Jesus loves you" many times. After hearing this, they then think to themselves that if He loves me, then I must be a good person, and so therefore I will make it to heaven. To them, the Gospel seems unnecessary or even foolish because they have been told only part of the message.
Before sharing the Good News, people must first understand the bad news: they are sinners before a holy and righteous God who hates sin and will judge the world in righteousness. When someone truly sees their guilt and realises they are under God’s condemnation, then the Gospel becomes good news indeed.
Sadly, many have been dulled to the truth by repeatedly hearing only, “Jesus loves you,” without the Scriptures that also declare God’s hatred of sin and of those who persist in evil.
This is why we must follow the example of Jesus, Paul, and the disciples: use the Law to reveal sin. The Law shines a light onto our guilt and shows us we are not worthy. Some will resist, and even some Christians may dislike this approach, but others will see themselves rightly and realise their desperate need for a Saviour.
As has often been said, biblical evangelism is “Law to the proud, grace to the humble.” If someone comes broken over sin, confessing, “I’ve sinned against God. I’m an adulterer, a liar, what should I do?” then we give them grace and point them to the cross. But such humility is rare. For most, we must first use the Law to strip away their false sense of goodness.
Many think they will enter heaven because of their morality. Scripture warns that even at the Judgment, many people confess their own goodness. They must be shown that they have already broken God’s law, fallen short of His standards, and that “the wages of sin is death.”
John Wesley once wrote, “Preach 90 percent law and 10 percent grace.” That may sound extreme, but consider this:
A doctor faces a patient who appears healthy, young, strong, and outwardly fit. Yet the doctor knows from X-rays that the man has only two weeks to live. A cure is ready on the desk. Should the doctor immediately offer it? Of course, not; the patient would reject it, believing he has no need. Instead, the doctor wisely shows the X-rays, pointing out the deadly disease until the man feels the weight of his condition. Only then will he eagerly embrace the cure. Our disease is sin. The cure is Christ.
This is why preaching Christ without first exposing sin is meaningless to the lost. As Paul wrote,
“the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing” (1 Cor 1:18). They need the Law first.
-“Through the law comes the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20)
-“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul…” (Psalm 19:7)
-“Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Galatians 3:24)
Quotes:
- “He who preaches the Gospel without preaching the Law of God may hold all the results of it in his hand and there will be little for him to hold.” Charles Spurgeon
- “If you downplay the radical depravity of man, then you downplay the glory of the Gospel.” Paul Washer
