And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles."(Acts 18:6 – ESV)
There comes a time to move on. If you are witnessing, or defending the faith, you have an obligation to proclaim Christ and your allegiance to Him. You want to do so in a winsome way, but God has ordained some to destruction, and so some will not be won. We don’t decide who those are, and so we try and persuade every man, in a sense. However, we are not public relations agents for God, and we do not water down the truth of the gospel to make it more palatable to those whom speak with, some will not come anyway.
We have no right to be obnoxious, but indeed, there comes a time to move on, as the Apostle Paul did. You show them that you believe the Bible; they show why they do not. You try and answer questions, give evidence, and they are unsatisfied and become more disgusted. You proclaim Christ, and it enrages them, and they revile you. You mustn’t leave too soon, but eventually it is time to say, “Okay, you have heard what we consider Truth, and we will not be moved, and you have given us reasons why you don’t believe, and you will not be moved. I have proclaimed Christ and His salvation to you, I pray that one day He might bring you to Himself, but for now I am moving on.”
6 comments:
It's always hard to move on, isn't it? I hate to "give up" on anyone. If at some point I can tell that I'm actually offending them or have trouble treating them kindly, I know it's time to step away. Other than that, it seems hard to me to be able to tell.
I'm glad you put in the part about being winsome - I think that is so important. What I frequently hear instead is just a long list of scriptures and no real caring for the person on the receiving end of the barrage.
It's all about honoring the Lord. He tells us to let our peace return to us. And that's the way it will be sometimes.
Otherwise, you simply go around and around in circles.
But, we can always continue to pray, and be available.
I've had to break my relationship with my brother, who is a Benny Hinnite. It's just the way it is. I hate it.
I also believe the shaking of the dust off is seldom, but Jesus tells us to do it, so that's why we do it.
Thanks JD.
This is a truth that I've had to hold fast to, on many occassions. It's helpful to have you write on it too!
Where are you JD?
Just now here, Susan...I looked at the coment thread you dircted me to, and Ted had answered it okay...seems the man is a Lutheran(?), and depending on what he means with the water would define whther or not he holds to baptismal regeneration...I have a (somewhat large) file by Dr.H. Wayne House on baptism that is excellent, it covers how they can view it as they do and stil not be baptismal regeneration, and I will send it if you would like me to email to you...
Yes, the young man was raised Lutheran and also is my daughter's boyfriend.
Since I have been an Evangelical all my adult life and certainly my daughter has been raised that way as well, this language of the Reformed church is strange for us to try to work through and understand. Ted has been helpful in explaining it by email in more detail so I appreciate knowing that you think Ted's comments OK, though I had a feeling you would.
My daughter will have the batismal regeneration discussion with him herself and I have Grudem's text on Baptism, so I'll wait for a bit before I ask for your file as that will surely overwhelm her.
Have you seen the long string of comments at bluecollar? I think I have now been labeled rather a heretic or at least a rabble rouser. When you have time, there is a most revealing comment from Maalie back on my blog towards the end that leads me to believe he really is questioning what is true. I realize he is quite confrontational but he is a middle-aged scientist and we aren't know for our tact to begin with - rather blunt I'm afraid. Lorenzo certainly is searching - those nuns must have really put some fear into her, and in a bad way too.
Back to work - thanks for your time and your willingness to interact on my blog - I appreciate it.
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