Fishers of Men

I recently came across an article, which focused on spreading the end time message. The headline was so flamboyant I truly thought it was based on sarcasm. I will not repeat it, but it more or less meant to tell others their souls are condemned so they would be obligated to accept Christ as their saviour.

As I continued to read the article I realized the author is convinced that we should terrify people into giving their souls to Christ. This individual also stated that God does not have time to spread the word himself as he is too busy worrying about the weather, and making sure the planets remain aligned, that’s why he put us in charge of letting others know.

I agree that God has instructed us to spread the message, becoming fishers of men, but I offer a word of caution, it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.

This author painted a picture in my mind which was, God is cold, strict and frightening, and if I learnt the message of Christ for the first time reading that article I would ignore it. I should not be manipulated into serving God out of fear for my life, I should serve him because I understand who he is, how much he loves me and what he was willing to sacrifice so I could have a chance at eternity.

As disciples we can talk about it all. Adultery, homosexuality, drugs even crime, that’s what we are supposed to do. Let others know God loves the sinner but hates the sin, God wants us all to have a part in his kingdom and that he wants us to accept him before it is too late.

However, we cannot force anyone to choose as we do or believe as we do, the choice must always be theirs, because even if they accept Christ now due to fear of damnation, if they do not understand God fully they can easily fall away, and reaching them will be near to impossible the second time around.

Another point, God is not busy worried about the weather, he is not a superficial or silly being. Our lives are important to him, and everything he has done from the time sin came into the world till now, has been to secure our position at his right hand.