My church gets to be part of an awesome ministry called Judgement House and if you’re ever in or around the Wichita area around the last two weeks of October, you have to come. It’s an amazing opportunity to present the Gospel to people in a totally non-threatening way. (It’s not about socio-political scare tactics either, so don’t get it confused with a Hell House. It’s completely different.)
In any case, a story came out of Judgement House this year that really touched me. There are stories every year. Some of them major stories that leave everyone bawling about how awesome God is. Some of them are quiet stories that are easy to let slip by if you don’t stop to think about them.
The story that caught my attention this year is about a woman who was an encourager for Judgement House. I mean, just because someone chooses to be an encourager isn’t necessarily a big deal but the thing that made this a great story is that last year, this woman wasn’t a believer. She got saved in Judgement House 2010 and decided to lead other people to Christ in Judgement House 2011.
This story really touched me, and then I started thinking about it again when I read today’s verse, 2 Corinthians 3:6.
He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.
I am very guilty of leaving ministry up to ministers and pastors and “good Christians” because I don’t feel qualified to make a major difference for God. But that’s a lie. Anyone who has accepted Christ is qualified to lead anyone else to Christ. All salvation is really is one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread. And what bigger difference can you make in the world than leading someone else to Christ?
The story of this woman reminded me that you don’t have to have degrees in Bible or theology or doctrine to be able to lead someone else to Christ. You just have to have Christ. By accepting Jesus into our lives, God enables us to share Jesus with other people.
Now . . . am I saying that degrees in Bible and theology and doctrine are bad? No. I actually have a very good friend who’s at seminary right now learning all that wonderful stuff (shout out to Ethan Brown!) but I still think that those of who choose not to pursue degrees in all that jazz get stuck thinking that our lack of education disqualifies us from doing awesome things for God. And that’s not true.
We are 100 percent qualified because God makes us that way.
Now am I saying that we don’t need to study? Am I saying that we just accept Christ and move on with life and don’t need to dig into the Word? That’s the farthest thing from what I’m saying. As a believer, we need to know what the Bible says. We need to know how Jesus lived (and how He lives), and one of the things Jesus did very frequently was to quote Scripture. So if Jesus quoted Scripture, we’d better be able to do the same.
But do we have to be able to parse Greek verbs to lead someone to Christ?
No.
You just have to know what Christ did for you and you have to be willing to share. And God will do the rest.
Always Peachy 