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Adult Class

Being An Influence For Christ Class 4

December 2007-February 2008

            We are considering how every member can be involved in helping someone come closer to faith in Jesus. It is important to stress some guiding principles in this:

1. We are not interested in pressuring or manipulating anybody into doing something he or she is not comfortable doing. Faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17) not by grudging submission to pressure.
2. We are not offering a “foolproof, guaranteed method” of opening the gospel that will result in faithful baptism every time. The things we are discussing are not new or revolutionary and only follow the Biblical pattern of offering grace.
3. We are interested in helping somebody move one step closer to gospel obedience. If this results in baptism during our involvement, that is cause for great joy. If the person does not respond in full obedience, yet moves closer to obedience, we have done good and effective evangelistic work.

            With all this kept in the forefront of our minds, let’s look at the impact of existing relationships in helping someone come to faith in Jesus.

            Consider some episodes in the Gospel of John:

• Andrew brought Peter to the Lord—John 1:35-42
• Philip likewise brought Nathanael—John 1:43-49
• A woman brought her neighbors to Jesus—John 4:28-30, 39-42
• Friends of Mary came and saw Jesus at work—John 11:45

            In a similar way, two households mentioned in Acts were brought to a knowledge of the gospel under the leading of the head of the household:

• Lydia and her household obeyed—Acts 16:14-15
• The jailer and his household obeyed—Acts 16:33-34

            What we see in common in these events is the importance of existing relationships in being an influence for Jesus. Over and over we see in the Bible and in the events of our lives that relationships are important to influencing someone for Christ.

            George Barna reported that 50% of people surveyed were offended if a stranger tried to talk about faith issues, but the same group was not offended if a close friend or a relative tried to talk about faith!

            Charles Arn released statistics that described why certain people chose to attend a church.

• 11%-26% offered some other reason,
• 75%-90% said their attendance was due to an invitation by a friend or relative!

            Thom Rainer claims that the situation is somewhat different than Arn claimed. He says that between 50% and 75% actually attend because of a relationship with a member. However, in his research, he says:

1. Relationships are important in bringing someone to faith in Christ.
2. Relationships are not the only explanation for a person’s obedience and commitment to Jesus.
3. God sometimes works without any relationship in evidence.
4. Of all the relationships possible, family relationships are more powerful than friendship relationships, and,
5. Of all the family relationships noted, wives are the most influential relationship in bringing their husbands to the Lord.

            In one interesting discussion, author Lee Strobel discussed his attitudes when his wife started attending a church. This had never been a part of their family life before, and it signaled a strong change in his family. This generated several negative emotions in him and brought about a new strain in the marriage!

1. He was hurt by her involvement, as if she were constantly comparing him to the men at the church and judging him to be less decent than they.
2. He felt manipulated into attending church services with her, afraid he was losing her since she was participating in something he didn’t fully support.
3. He was frustrated that her values no longer matched his. For example, she suddenly wanted to give money to the church—which they had never before budgeted. Also, her priority in attending Sunday services affected many weekend plans.
4. He was afraid of what she might become as a result of her church involvement. He had a vague fear that she might become some kind of wild-eyed fanatic, selling books at the airport or attending and organizing radical political rallies.

            He admitted that later he was able to realize that the real problem was that her increasing righteousness contrasted sharply with his entrenched cynicism, anger and callousness. His discomfort was that he began to see himself as he really was.

            This is one instance of how relationships influence others—and some of the discomfort that can come from that situation. However, she was able to answer his fears and frustrations and ultimately help him see the importance of her religious feeling. We must be sensitive to relational friction, but truly the strength of relationships can help a person “cross over from death to life” (John 5:24 ).

            Existing relationships are important to help a person move a step closer to faithful obedience to Christ.