The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
John the Baptist had good ministry. He strongly called people to radical, life-changing repentance and a lifestyle of humility and obedience. But he was keenly aware that his job was to prepare the way for Jesus, and he faithfully introduced his disciples to Jesus when the opportunity arose.
Andrew, one of John's disciples that chose to follow Jesus after John introduced him, went to get his brother, Simon (whom Jesus nicknamed Peter -The Rock), and brought him to Jesus. Meeting Jesus was life-transforming.
There is a principle here that we sometimes forget. Too often, we talk about our churches, our ministries, our outreach programs, our worship teams at church, our favorite Christian singers or authors or websites, our preachers, the preachers on the radio or television, the up-coming special services -almost anything except actually talking about Jesus. All of those things are conversation worthy; it's not that it is wrong to enjoy or even be proud of the spiritual places and events in which we participate. But, ultimately our mandate is not to introduce people to the Christian community, we are called to introduce people to Christ. And a promise Jesus gave us (John 12:32) is that if He is lifted up, He will draw people to Himself.
So, in a sense, our options are 1) introduce people to our ministries, in which case, by definition, our ministries become the focus of attention and our ministries sometimes grow -or 2) introduce people to our Savior, in which case, many people experience salvation and the Kingdom grows.
There is nothing wrong with inviting someone to church, but the hope for the hurting, the lost, the sin damaged people that God loves so dearly is not in finding a good church, it is in finding Jesus.
Lord Jesus, help me to learn this lesson. People need You more than they need what I do for You. Amen.
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