"Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.' Amen." – Matthew 28:18-20
Many believers are truly passionate in their obedience to the Lord's great commission. It's such a joy to see fellow believers witnessing to the unsaved, reaching out to the lost, and bringing the Gospel message to people who don't know Christ. Truly, that's what we should be doing.
Sadly, there are also a great many who find themselves failing in their attempt to reach others with the love of God. Yes they know the story of how Christ lived, died, and rose again. Yes, they are passionate in seeing people meet Christ. Yes, they love others and want them saved. The problem is, they "love" the others too much that they end up doing something wrong.
They end up encouraging the sinful lifestyle of these people.
Jesus or sin?
Friends, if we desire to win a person to Christ, we can't do it in a way that doesn't honour Him. The Bible tells us that Christ never encouraged, much more supported, sin and sinful lifestyles. Think about it. Every person that comes face to face with Christ has to choose between Him and sin; and we can only choose one.
The Bible tells us that if we're God's children in Christ, we should be holy for He is holy. If we call Christ our Lord, we need to deny ourselves and do what He says. If we say we belong to Him, we must cast off all that isn't His, all that isn't pleasing to Him, and all that isn't glorifying Him.
Don't get me wrong. Christ was so gracious He spent time with sinners, with corrupt people, with all sorts of questionable personas, but He did so because His intention was to reach out to them. Not support their wrong lifestyles.
• Consider Zacchaeus, who repented of his sins and gave effort to making restitution all because he wanted to be with Christ, who in turn rejoiced at his repentance.
• Consider the thief hanging with Jesus on the cross, who repented of his sin because Christ was without sin and therefore not deserving of that death penalty.
• Consider the Samaritan woman at the well who had her sinful lifestyle pointed out – but was given a new chance in life by our good Lord.
• Lastly, consider the woman caught in adultery, what Christ said to her: "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more." (see John 8:11)
Christ-like in winning people to Christ
Friends, let us have God's holiness as our standard. While we love the people we want to win, we should never tolerate their sin. All of us who are saved know that sin leads to death. Let us love others with Christ's love – a love that frees people from their sin, not supports and encourages them to keep sinning.
"So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us. We implore you in Christ's stead: Be reconciled to God. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:20-21)
