I received a pamphlet today from the Audubon Society telling me how to attract birds to my yard. Numbers one through three are to provide food, water and shelter. This isn’t much different from evangelism. We want to draw people to to our churches and to do so we have to provide those three things. Number one is to be sure to offer a satisfying diet of spiritual food. This seems so obvious but often that is not the case. Sometimes people come to hear about Jesus but instead they hear negative things said about their childhood faith. They are put off by a message of exclusiveness and leave not hearing much at all about Jesus. Jesus told us He is the Bread of Life. John 6:35. If we are to be successful He must be the entrée.
Number two – Jesus told us He is the Water of Life. John 4:14. And number three – Jesus said He is with us unto the end of the world. Matthew 28:20. He is the shelter in a time of storm. People are fearful and need the assurance of being safe.
Jesus is the key to real evangelism. People, like birds, will come if their hunger and thirst are satisfied and if they are assured of eternal safety. Real Christianity abundantly supplies all our needs unlike counterfeit Christianity that lures people in only to then tell them all the things they now need to begin doing to be saved. Counterfeit Christianity makes people anxious and fearful that they are failing to perform perfectly enough to satisfy God. See Galatians 5. But Jesus said, “Come unto me and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28. When we clearly see Jesus we see what God is really like. To know Him is to love Him because He provides all three necessities.
Spring Of Life