Evangelism in Ghana has become 'come and see, the God in my church is doing things the God in your church cannot do.' Churches are now battling each other for souls. It is more than a pure and perfect competition. People are chasing after miracles so the church which can offer them in great quantity gets more customers.
Churches think they are winning souls for Christ when in actual fact they are not.
They would bypass a muslim and go to someone who is already a Christian or at least a church goer and invite that person to their church telling them 'come and see the amazing things God is doing'. The person, chasing things but is failed to be told to thirst for God, leaves his church which is -1 soul then joins this new church which is +1 soul. His new church denomination is happy and rejoices because they believe God is adding to their numbers. But then when we do the netting, in the CHURCH that is the Body of Christ, nothing has changed. It is the same number of souls; therefore there is no rejoicing in heaven.
How disappointed will they be when in heaven they do not get that big crown that they were expecting.
Evangelism is not about populating your church denomination, it is about populating heaven.
Evangelism is about leading people to Christ not to your church. This means directing a person to the most appropriate church denomination where he or she will grow spiritually which might not necessarily be the church you attend.
Evangelism is not about debating doctrinal differences and winning the argument. Evangelism is about sharing the love of Christ.
Evangelism is about rescuing the perishing. But if you fill your boat with people who prefer yours to theirs because it is bigger and seem to have more goodies to offer, how would you rescue the person drowning?
If the apostles had only spread the good news among the jews, we as gentiles would never have heard of Christ and would not be here today. So then why only share Christ among ourselves?
Everyday a new church springs up in Ghana and every day you hear things happening in this country that you never thought could have happened. There is more and more moral decay each passing day. The question then is what are these churches doing? Who are they saving? Who are they changing? When we cannot even see the effect of their work in the society in which they are.
A church is meant to have an impact and influence in the community in which it is based. A church is supposed to be a lighthouse guiding the lost to the cross. A church is supposed to have a repercussion effect and spillover effect in the lives of people around them.
The honest truth is the church is failing, big time. Enough of my church is better than your church. We are all part of the body of Christ and have distinct roles to play. In function of that role, God gives every church leader specific gifts, anointing and office in order to effectively play the role. The fact that my church doesn't preach what your church preaches doesn't make anyone better than the other. Leading a newbie to a church denomination where it is all about prohecies and deliverance for example wouldn't do the person much good. This person doesn’t know a thing about the kingdom of God, doesn't even understand his salvation and the best place you could take that person to was there?
Let us understand that one person would have to plant , another would have to water, another would have to prune, another would have to harvest. In the end it is the Body of Christ that gains.
When you tell someone to go somewhere before God can change their lives, you are indirectly saying God is limited and you are indirectly caging that person's faith. This is why when later that person encounters challenges, the first thing that comes to mind is let me look for a man of God to pray for me.
When you tell someone to leave their church for yours, remember the person who lives by the sword will die by the sword. Twice I have heard two overseers of two big charismatic churches in Ghana complain that new churches are trying to snatch their members using miracles. It made me laugh because was it not the same method that they used to get most of their members?
The analogy is that of two people fighting over a limited quantity of goods when behind them there is an unlimited quantity. It is that of the workers of Abraham and Lot fighing over green pastures to feed their flock when there is the whole land of Sodom, Gomorrah, and Canaan. It is that of Isaac fighting with the philistines over wells when more wells could be dug. It is like fighting over the 144000 souls mentioned in Revelations 7: 4 when further in verse 9 it says there was a vast crowd too great to count.
As Christian, if you should ever change your church denomination, do it because at that point in time of your Christian life that church is where you can get the spiritual food you need for your spiritual growth. And if you lead a person to Christ, take that person to the church denomination where he or she will get the spiritual milk needed to start their journey in Christ and build a solid foundation.
As an evangelist, understand that you live and work for God not your pastor. And your allegiance is ultimately to your creator.
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