Lately I've had this question on my mind: "If we have been given the great commission to GO and preach the gospel, when do we disobey the "law of the land" and put tracts where we are not allowed to and preach where we are not allowed to? Christ has all authority and has given us the command to GO."The rebel in me wants to "kick against the goads" and keep preaching. Yesterday Pastor Jack gave me such a wise answer: Jesus said that when you come to a city and they don't receive you to depart from there and go to another.
"Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them." Luke 9:4&5
The rejection of the gospel is a form of God's judgement on a city. The Pastor asked me,"Can God make opportunities for the gospel?" Yes, then we should see His sovereign hand MOVING us to where He wants His gospel preached, and the flip side to that is the removal of His word as a form of judgment.
That was so helpful and practical. I've often thought (in a very American way I might add) "Well its my rights and freedom of speech etc. etc." And there is a place for that, but I think wisdom would suggest that we are stewards of time, money and energy. Fighting those battles isn't worth it when we can just move somewhere else and see the Lords hand directing where He wants His gospel to go. One other thing, the preacher who can avoid going to jail, gets to preach another day. There may be a day when we do go to jail, but for now... move along and keep preaching!
Love your blog (... long time listener, first time caller...) !
ReplyDeleteA thought occurred to me reading your posting, and it was that just because you may be "turned away" (and I'll say it that way because I'm sure sometimes we may stop preaching or tracting somewhere because we're verbally told to stop and not just following some law we might have read) from a location, does that mean that *everybody* is now turned away?
Say you're told to stop passing out tracts outside a mall and you figure it's a battle you're not going to fight. Well, I could be another believer in the same town having no idea what you're doing and decide to pass out tracts at that same mall. And by the grace of God nobody ever comes up to me and asks me to leave and I am able to plant many many seeds.
I wonder if that's a fair way to look at it. I hope it is. :) Blessings...
Hey Chris,
ReplyDeleteThat is an EXCELLENT way to look at it.
Here's another example. Earlier this year I went to a local high school to preach and hand out tracts right in front of the school at the main entrance. A police officer showed up and told us to move across the street. We complied even though we had full legal rights to be where we were. I went a couple times later standing across the street and still was able to hand out lots of tracts. (oddly enough WHILE preaching on the box kids were taking tracts, God puts the fish in the net) I stopped going to the school, probably from discouragement or fear. Just last week the Lord put on my heart to go back to the same school. Myself and three other brothers handled out tracts right in front of the school where I originally started with NO police interference. So the Lord opened the door again, and had it not been me and he wanted someone there He would have opened the door for them. I totally agree with you! Keep going!
Blessings