If you buy a Coke and find that the can is empty when you open it, you’re going to take that back to the store and demand a full one. If when you open it, you immediately recognize that it’s that not-so-great store-brand cola, you’re going to go right back and tell them you want the “Real Thing.”
We require authenticity.
So, are we the real thing or not? Do we truly reflect Jesus or are we chameleon Christians? It’s way too easy to go through the motions and look like a believer, but not be one for real.
That requires authenticity.
To be authentic in anything means to be wholeheartedly committed to it without any reservations, and devoting all our resources to it without compromise.
According to the Word of God, authentic Christians believe in Christ and are led by Christ, allowing Him to daily direct their paths and continually transform their hearts and minds as they grow.
This connected relationship is vital.
Since we cannot give what we do not have, we must be authentic in our faith to be able to give it away. Otherwise the gospel we will preach will not resonate with our hearers.
This teaching will help you find your starting point to move forward.
May we all be prepared to join Jesus as fishers of men.
Everyone of us is contagious. What we are, influences others. Reaching Out to others can be quite dangerous if we, ourselves, are not authentic followers of the Lord Jesus. A genuine Christian, by any accurate definition, is someone who is “All In!” No half-hearted Christianity is Christian. “All In To Reach Out” is our starting point and it will be followed by the “How To’s.” But here is where we start.
God’s work must be done God’s way. However, that includes right motives. Not just any motive will do. In this teaching we will answer the question, “What Are adequate Motives For Reaching Out?” In addition we must learn “What Holy Manners” are necessary to loving touch another person’s life.
Reaching Out to others is, in fact, known as the “Great Commission!” So superlative is this responsibility that our mannerisms and deportment must be that which “becometh the gospel.” Horatius Bonar said it clearly, “Thou must be true thyself if thou the truth would teach.” That’s why we must first be “All In” to reach out.
Even kindness can have an ulterior motive. And when others suspect a selfish motive everything one says or does becomes not only questionable but severely damaged. Authenticity becomes not merely dubious, but destroyed. All is lost. “The right thing with the wrong motive becomes a wrong thing.” In reaching others with the love of God one’s motive must be pure and untainted without personal benefit or profit. Here we discuss the proper Biblically endorsed motives for those who are “All In, To Reach Out!
A sad look on the face of someone who claims to be happy makes the claim dubious because the medium contradicts the message. Genuine Christians are loving and kind towards all. That’s the essence of this segment of “All In” To Reach Out!
According to Gestalt Theory The whole of anything is greater than its parts. But when it comes the gospel and it’s saving power, all the parts are important so that the missing of any one part undermines the integrity of the whole. We’ve covered the Motive, the Manner, the Mediums of communication. Now comes the Message itself. And it MUST NOT be compromised in any way.
One can have the greatest of products but if no one knows about it, the product will have no impact. This is also true of the Gospel. Our message is of a superlative nature but unless we can get the attention of listeners there will be no effect. This video contains an explanation of, ” How To Get Attention!”
All In To Reach Out – Part VIII with David Johnston.
