What is a Soulwinner's Dilemma? To some it might be being stuck in an office or some other situation where you cannot meet people regularly and build relationships in order to witness. Or if you are a pastor or missionary, your dilemma is that when you are out witnessing you feel you need to be back in your study preparing lessons and sermons. Or visa versa.
But have you ever experienced the following dilemma? You discover that someone you lead to Christ a week or a month ago gets saved again? You will ask yourself, where did I go wrong? What did I forget to say or explain about salvation that they felt they weren't saved the first time? Or were they really saved the first time and were just confused by someone elses well meaning efforts? Now don't get me wrong, it doesn't matter to me who leads someone to Christ, as long as that person is genuinely saved. But that is the issue: who determines if someone is genuinely saved?
Here is the dilemma: You lead someone to Christ and another Christian witness comes along and determines that the person you brought to Christ wasn't really saved because that person wasn't lead to Christ by him personally. In other words, some people feel that unless they lead the person to Christ he is not really saved. I have seen this happen many times. It bothers me just a little.
I have actually experienced pastors and missionaries not accepting new converts simply because they didn't lead them to Christ themselves. Or they weren't there to supervise the soulwinning experience personally and give approval to the new converts profession of faith. Only after they personally counsel with the new convert and pray with them the sinner's prayer are they genuinely saved, in their opinion.
Personally, I'm just glad that the person genuinely gets saved. However, I am very concerned about the confusion that some new converts will experience because of this. I am also very suspicious of the motives of the person who doesn't accept the soulwinning efforts and successes of another witness for Christ. I'm all for 'double-checking' a person's experience in receiving Christ, but this goes a little bit too far, in my opinion.
Is there anyone else out there that has experienced this?
David
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Sounds like an individual extreme version of newlightism.
How is the church going? I hope you and Alice are doing well. Is there anything I might be able to help you with? Any special needs?
I do not recall experiencing exactly what you describe in this posting. However, it does not amaze me for I have observed that many have a tendency to complicate the simplicity of Christ. If Jesus required such precise procedure or wording as deemed necessary by some, most of us would still be lost.
I am so thankful that God loves me even though I am not perfect!
Post a Comment