By Jack Partridge

 

In Garry Poole's book Seeker Small Groups, he provides some tips on inviting seekers to a Seeker Small Group. A seeker small group is defined as two to twelve seekers and one or two Christians meeting on a regular basis to primarily discuss spiritual matters. One of the tips that Garry suggests is to not say no for the seeker because "there is a tendency to predetermine who will and will not accept."[1] When you attempt to determine who will and will not be open to the Gospel you are entering an arena in which you have no right to be. At times in my life I have ended up in settings that were far above my economic level. The expense of everything around me along with the people that were there, who at least gave the impression that they could really afford to be there, caused me to say, "I have no business being here." When you step into the role of deciding who will and who will not accept the gospel, you have definitely stepped into a place that you have no business being. That place is reserved for God and God alone. You believe a lie from Satan when you refuse to share the gospel with someone because you have humanly sized them up as not being ready to hear the gospel, even though you felt the nudging of the Holy Spirit to do so. Satan doesn't want you to believe that anyone needs God and if he can just establish a pick and choose mentality then he will probably do a lot of damage. I have been shocked at the people that I have led to Christ because I didn't initially suspect that any of them would have any interest in hearing the gospel, much less accepting Christ on the spot. But if you don't ask you won't know. Erich Bridges, Senior Writer with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, quoted an International worker in his recent Baptist Press article as saying, "They haven't rejected the Gospel. They haven't yet heard the Gospel." If you are not careful, you too will fall into the trap of thinking that people all around you have rejected the Gospel when in reality they have never even been given a chance to hear the Gospel in a conversational setting. So the next time that you feel the nudging of the Holy Spirit to witness to someone, and I pray that you will often, go ahead and give them a chance. You may both be eternally grateful that you did.

 

 

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