When you pastor a church with a mission of inviting all people into a living relationship with Jesus Christ …
And when you believe how people respond to Jesus is decisive not only in history but for eternity …
Then this question assumes a new urgency:
When are people most receptive to a Gospel invitation? When are they open to the good news that apart from him they are powerless but because of him they are never helpless?
So here they are: the Top Five Times People Are Tender Towards The Gospel.
- When they have been raised in it by parents who lived it out with integrity and passion. Yep, I said it. People who grow up in a faith that parents both model and communicate are far more likely to embrace Gospel truth than those who aren’t. This is why our Student and Family Ministry are designed to empower parents to be the primary spiritual influencers in the lives of their children.
- When they realize how “having it all” overpromises and underdelivers. “Successful” people are Gospel ready because they realize success does not equal serenity.
- When they are confronted with the mess of their own lives. God often uses the crises of divorce, addiction, and even despair as catalysts for conversion. Along with many others, I have seen all the ways that the pain of this world only makes sense when you’re sure of the next one.
- When given a new life to care for. It’s cliche but it’s true: new parents, faced with the enormity of the task, suddenly realize they need help for the journey. Help from above (God) and help from around (the church).
- When they see Christians worship with both expressiveness and honesty. We have long believed that the sight and sound of believers singing without pretense is persuasive to not-yet-believers. It’s why we hope to “de-weird” the Holy Spirit and instead invite people to be filled with him. When the church worships in spirit and in truth, the world catches a glimpse of the God who is love.