This is my 20th and final post in this series on apologetics, my longest series for Worldview Warriors. After finishing my study on 2 Timothy 2:24-26 and the verses immediately surrounding that passage, last week I addressed those who likely won’t get saved. But that raises a question: what if they did get saved? Would that not change our mindset in how we approach people? Would that not affect our motivation in evangelism and witnessing to others?
Looking back at writing about how a “servant of the Lord” should be regarding witnessing and doing apologetics, the times where I truly was my best in carrying out the character traits and behaviors of not quarreling, being gentle, being able to teach, and being both patient and humble are when I really wanted to see someone get saved. I would still be firm with them when I needed to, but where these things are displayed the most is when my motivation is to see said person get saved. So, guess what that means when these characteristics are not present? It means I’m not thinking about their soul as I ought. Sure, I talk about the condition of their soul if they are not walking with Christ and not living for Christ, but it’s purely in a fact-driven mindset. One thing I am telling myself more and more is to stop with the head-to-head facts only but to really start praying for the soul of that person, and even more so that God would change my attitude towards those I fear are not saved. We must protect the sheep from the wolves, but what if that wolf were to get saved?
As I am writing this post, my personal devotions have put me through 1 Timothy 1, and I just got through verses 12-17 where Paul identifies himself as a former blasphemer, persecutor, and violent, all against Christ. But he did so in ignorance. He didn’t know Whom he was persecuting or even why. Then he met Christ. Paul identified himself as the worst of all sinners. It may be difficult to tell if he was just seeing the weight of his own sin or really was the worst of all sinners, however when you intentionally go up against Christ and His followers, you are pretty high on the ‘worst sinner’ list. Yet Paul was saved. He even declared that his salvation was for the purpose of being an example of what the saving work of the cross does. If Paul could be saved, then there is hope for anyone to be saved. It was told that when William Booth went to evangelize with the Salvation Army, he taught his people to hunt down the worst sinner of the neighborhood. Why? Because if that guy got saved, then the rest would be easy pickings in comparison.
What if Richard Dawkins got saved? What if the Muslim acolytes got saved? What if the town drunkard got saved? What if the child porn producer got saved? You know what your city’s sins are. Here in El Paso, we are known for three major sins: drinking/drugs, sex/adult clubs, and the occult. What if the owner of the sex clubs got saved? What if the cartel leader got saved? What if a coven leader got saved? Would that not turn El Paso upside down? Would that not wreak havoc upon the “normalcy” of such wickedness? What an opportunity for the kingdom of God to take action!
If people were to see the truth, come to their senses, and break free from the deceptions of the enemy, they would be powerful tools in the hands of the Lord. However, while it is great to think along those lines, there is the current reality. The lost are still lost, and the lost are still being used by the enemy to send themselves and as many as they can to the path of destruction. So, while we can talk with them and hope for the best of them, we still have to keep them at arm’s length. Why? Because they carry with them baggage you do not want in your circles. Still be gentle, still be kind, still be acquaintances, but they are still an enemy in their sin.
When dealing with someone in the church, one of the commands often made in church discipline (which sometimes needs to be enacted immediately, but often it a later step in church discipline) is to cut off fellowship. That doesn’t mean you never talk with them, but you can’t go about business as though there is nothing going on. Paul is not being mean here; he has a purpose for it. It’s so they learn not to blaspheme the name of God. The end goal is restoration. Paul told the Thessalonian church that the purpose of loving them is to that they may be holy. We don’t love for love’s sake; we love for God’s sake, so that the person may be made holy in the sight of God. That means dealing with sin. The idea is when the discipline has done its work, then you can restore that person, hopefully with a much stronger relationship than before. However, any such relationship should never be restored without clear indications of repentance. Otherwise, we invite an Absalom into the church.
David invited Absalom back into Jerusalem after the murder of Amnon, but there was no repentance. As a result, David was caught off guard when Absalom through a coup that nearly succeeded. David longed for Absalom to be restored. He had dreams of him being saved. He hoped for the best, but he failed to face the current reality that his son was a lost man with a severe anger problem. As long as Absalom was unrepentant and refused to do things God’s way, the only safe place for him was to be kept away from everyone else. Despite this, David never treated Absalom as an enemy. Paul even tells the Thessalonian church that when we discipline and need to force people out for a season, we are not to have fellowship with them during that season of discipline, but we are not to treat them as an enemy either. This advice should only apply to dealing with believers in the church. It does not apply to those outside the church whose goal is to undermine us.
If we have the mindset of “What if they got saved?” then our engagement will be about the Gospel and how God can save them. This applies to those in the church as well. Even though the born-again believer is indeed born again, there is always something more specific that we need saving from. We still need to be saved. What if we got saved from our lying, our cheating, our unjustified anger, our envy, our pride, our addictions to drugs, drinking, porn, or anything else? We believers still need to be saved.
I had a few other thoughts I wanted to address on this series, but as I wrote this up, I felt that the series was done. I really hope you enjoyed this five-month journey with me through 2 Timothy 2 and in the context of apologetics. Next week’s post will be on Christmas Eve and I’ll write about why Jesus came.
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