When I used to travel around the country as a public speaker and Dale Carnegie instructor I had a trainer who often would challenge my style, my approach and my coaching of others with this question, "How much do you love them". When sometimes I would become frustrated with the reticence of someone in a program, an employee, or even an outside critic, he would ask, "Do you love them enough to make this work in spite of that problem".
Since the last post had to do with what kinds of love we are to have toward one another to be effective in evangelism the valid question is, what kind of Love was my trainer encouraging me to show? More important is what kind of love is required of me to be the leader and cause them to become what they asked me to help them become?
The love needed is still Agape. Not brotherly love, I'm not the class members buddy, I'm not their brother (yet). And, I'm not in "LOVE" (Eros) with them.
I must approach them with care, acceptance, embracing, non judgemental, wide open to them, folded in and part of the program.
If you read the previous post you will see all this pretty well wrung out there.
So, what kind of LOVE does the Father in Heaven, Thru Jesus, Shed Abroad in our hearts by the Power of the Holy Spirit have for us? Eros, NO. There is a place for an understanding of how Jesus views his bride. How intimate he is with us. How much we are on his mind. How much he desires fellowship with his creation. Our value. But it's not Eros. It's passion. It's the answer to the question I was asked, "How much do you love them?" Jesus spread his arms and said "this much". But although some could badly interpret the love as bordering on Eros, It's passionate Agape.
Or is the Love of God toward us Philial. Brotherly love. Again, it certainly is that as we understand all the dimensions of God's love toward us. I have a brother. I love my brother. I would do anything for my brother. I know he would for me. But we are brothers. When I am born again, Jesus becomes my brother. My veins flow with his blood of his Holy Ghost. That's another theological bunny trail I won't take right here. I am grafted in. We are blood. There is a danger in all this as well, Brother, Friend, Buddy, Jesus is one of my Peeps. He is a good friend at the expense of being transcendent God. So, while I love the old Hymn, "What a Friend we have in Jesus" I think we need to see that the Love of God toward the lost probably doesn't include a Philial dimension initially. They are lost, in the world, outside of the covenant. Like you were once. They can't respond to a brother Jesus. It doesn't compute. Even if it's true at several levels.
That brings us back to Agape. God loves us without qualifications. He loves the Satanist Crack Dealing Child Molester as completely as he loves you. Oh, they are enemies of God, but God made peace thru Jesus on the Cross with them. So they are fighting a battle that was already won. It's a one way war, Them against God. I have a feeling I know who wins.
They are still outside the covenant, but loved. To a worldly mind that seems a contradiction. To the lost it makes all kinds of sense.
The key to the Lost Heart is the Love of God shed abroad in OUR hearts so it's shed abroad in theirs. In the end there is only ONE evangelistic power in the universe. The POWER of the Holy Ghost. If a person is ready to come to Jesus because of Trouble, because of pain, because of lostness, because of Marriage problems, the Holy Ghost is calling them.
I know a man, Manny Mill who is one of the few true evangelists I know. Oh, he has a ministry organization that takes him away from his ministry gifting. He spends too much time administering, raising money, running around speaking to churches, to exercise the Gift God Placed in him. I have known Manny off and on for nearly 10 years. When I described the Brighter Light in an earlier post to outshine and attract, Manny Mills is that. I have seen him in small groups and he lights up the room. He probably thinks that's him. It's the power of God lighting him up and he lets it shine. It's attractive. He draws all men to Jesus by the light. Manny has chosen to let his light shine in a dark place, Prison. There he goes as an eagle to people who are eagles under the chicken feathers they think they are tarred with.
He tells them they were meant to soar.
Everything Manny does under the anointing of God, passionately, leading men to Jesus, letting his light shine is a wonderful gift as part of the 5 fold ministry. Everything he does outside of his gifting like trying to build, manage, and direct a national ministry is like an 8 cylinder engine in a fully loaded pickup truck hitting on 3 cylinders.
I know what that's like. When I'm doing what I'm anointed to do Prophesy and Teach I hit on all 8. When I do things outside of my Ministry gifting you have to pull a few sparkplug wires. Do what you do do well the old song says.
Manny operates from love. Manny shines from love. He really flows at his peak in those times. My hope (even prayer) for Manny is that he finds more opportunity to do what he does so well and less time to do what his anointing doesn't touch.
I have touched on it, but tomorrow, the Genuine Evangelist, The Holy Spirit of God. He gets so little credit but without him no evangelism happens at all.
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