Many of the distractions and discouragements against soul winning or attending church have nothing to do with church at all. Create the right environment and making the right decisions will be easier.
It does not matter who you are or where you are – everybody likes fishing. You could stop me right there with an excuse, but I have found that typically every instance of someone not liking fishing has nothing to do with fishing at all! I remember why I never liked fishing. It was hot, sticky, buggy, and I never caught any fish I could take home. I would joke with people that the only things I liked about fishing were putting the worm on the hook and taking the fish off.
The reasons for not liking fishing are usually: it’s too hot, it’s too cold, it’s too dirty, there are bugs, I get bored, I get wet, I never catch anything, I don’t want to clean what I catch, or, the classic, I don’t like putting the worm on the hook. All of them reasonable reasons that I would take up. Looking at them though…none of them have anything to do with fishing. They only have to do with circumstances.
The same could be said of church. Or soul winning. Or church camp. So many times, teens or adults make decisions about church that aren’t even about church. Knocked on a door of a man in his 50s. He said he didn’t go to church because someone made him go when he was a kid. Okay? What does that have to do with being an adult?? My parents made me brush my teeth, wash my hands, and finish my dinner
when I was a kid. Now I do 2 out of the 3 (I’ll let you guess which one I don’t do). Here are simple principles for how to control the circumstances to maximize the enjoyment of church activities based off my experience learning to love fishing.
1. Don’t Fall In.
Every trip I ever took to near a body of water ended with me getting wet. I would fall in, not pay attention, or even sometimes get pushed in by my hillbilly cousins. Just this week I almost slipped down a slope going down into the lake. The principle here is we should watch where we are standing. 1 Corinthians 10:12 “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” Take another second to see where you’re currently standing. Is where you’re standing now safe? Are you in a place and position to be able to do the will of God or know it? The best place to put yourself to learn about God is church. Attend Sunday evening service or Wednesday service. Go to a camp or teen conference. Where you
stand will determine where you go. Too many young people are standing on uncertain ground and are in danger of falling away. Don’t fall in!
The Bible has a lot to say about your feet, where they are, and where they’re going. It basically comes down to this: wait, watch, and be wary. You do not have to be an extrovert. Take some time to look and see before you make the leap. If you never attend soul winning and see what happens, you’ll never know if you can do it. If you never attend a certain church service, you’ll never know if you will enjoy it or not. Jesus told his disciples, “come and see.” We should come and see what church has to offer.
2. Do Find Good Company.
Most everything is determined not by the enjoyability of the activity but instead the enjoyability of the company. I have heard that 80% of people that attend a church service do so because they know someone who is there. People want to be around people. More importantly they want to be around their people. Proverbs 13:20 “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools
shall be destroyed.”
Make a note about who your friends are. If you’re not sure, then note who you spend the most of your time. You will be just like the people who are around you the most. This means we should be very careful about the friends we choose. If all of our friends are getting into trouble, then we will get into trouble. If our friends play sports, then we’ll be playing a lot of sports. If our friends attend church, we will be more likely to
attend church.
Last of all, remember that you are somebody’s people. You being faithful to church could be the trigger to getting someone in church who otherwise would never dawn the doors of the church house. Being faithful is the least we can do for Jesus, and often it is the greatest strength to winning people to Christ. The rich man thought about those closest to him as he was in Hell – his family. We are the only ones who can reach those around us. Be the difference by creating good company at church activities.
Jesse Mccammon | Pastor
Flora Calvary Baptist Church | Flora, IL
