Enlist!

Within The Evidence Bible, there is a quote from the famous British Missionary who served in China, India, and Africa during the late 19th century named C.T. Studd. He wrote these words- "We Christians too often substitute prayer for playing the game. Prayer is good; but when used as a substitute for obedience, it is nothing but a blatant hypocrisy, a despicable Pharasaism...To you knees, man! And to you Bible! Decide at once! Don't hedge! Time flies! Cease your insults to God. Stop consulting flesh and blood. Stop your lame, lying, and cowardly excuses. Enlist!"

This statement makes me uncomfortable. My conscience tells me he's right as far as my life is concerned.

I love to pray. I love to worship God. I can sing for hours and just sit and think about who God is and what He has done. I love to study His Word and I love to talk to Him. But I have a sneaking suspicion that C.T. is correct when he says that "we as Christians too often substitute prayer for playing the game." A.W. Tozer was said to have written the entire text for The Pursuit of God while on his knees. That's a man who prayed a lot. But he also put legs to his prayers and got into the game. He had a burning passion not only for God, but for the lost. And he lived the life of a Christian.

I have to ask myself this question: "Do I love God enough to move beyond of my quiet times with Him in prayer, and into the game of sharing the gospel with those who are on their way to Hell? Am I giving God my lip service in prayer and worship, but failing to demonstrate real love by obeying His commands to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature"?

Am I using prayer as a substitution for obedience to God's commands? When God says to "save [the lost] with fear, pulling them from the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh" (Jude 23), do I say, "I love that verse, but I'll just stay here and pray for those who don't know Jesus." Prayer is, without question, the most powerful weapon we have against the devil, and I must pray continually, but I must not use it as a substitute for obedience to God's commands. If I do, I am playing the part of the hypocrite.

Another question for me: "Do I love God's Word because it fills me up, or because it shows me how to pour my life out for the sake of others?" A friend recently told Ray that many Christians within his church suffer from "theological obesity". That is, they are fat with doctrinal knowledge, but aren't burning any calories through evangelism. (The thought of a very skinny apostle Paul suddenly comes to mind...) If Jesus lived and died to do the Father's will- to seek and save the lost, then I should live with no less a goal. My Bible reading must be more than a personal "fill-up"; it must be a time of refueling to do my Father's will. I must allow His words to penetrate my heart and be the fuel that drives me to share the gospel with those who are not saved.

With every day that passes, I'm getting older, my grandparents are drawing nearer to the end of their lives here, and thousands step through the door of death into eternity. Time is short, and I must not waste another minute. Oh, I could list all the reasons and lame excuses for why I've stayed on the evangelistic bench and failed to shared the gospel with family members, friends, and co-workers. But deep inside, I know that all my hedging, my worldly wise reasonings, and my cowardly hesitations, are insults to God. He saved me. I was on my way to Hell and He saved me. I suppose there is an endless list of reasons why Jesus shouldn't have had to give his life for an undeserving sinner like me. But instead of hesitating, Jesus loved me and gave his life for me. I must not listen to my own doubts and fears when it comes to sharing the gospel. I have to stop creating my well reasoned excuses, get rid of my theological flabbiness, and "decide at once" to "get into the game" of sharing my faith boldly.

I know people who are on their way to Hell and need to get saved. Do you? How much more time do you suppose they have? If we love them, we must do something. Let's not forget to pray (oh, what an awful mistake that would be!), but then let us get up off our knees and do something! We can write a letter. Make a phone call. Have that long overdue conversation with a family member or friend. Pour your heart out for the sake of the eternal salvation of those you love. How will they get saved unless they understand the gospel? And how will they understand the gospel unless someone explains it to them. If that someone is not going to be you, then who?

I must walk the talk and talk the walk. I must enlist today.

"[Pray] for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." (Ephesians 6:19)