I know your deeds,
that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because
you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.
–Rev 3:15-16 (NASB)
This past week we had a meeting for the majority of staff
and lay leaders of our church. Our lead pastor challenged us with many
questions pertaining to evangelism within and outside of the church and how we
can grow our ministries organically through it all. One of the questions he
asked us was, “What is your personal outreach temperature right now?” Using a
scale of 1 through 10 (1 cold, 10 on fire) we were asked to write down a
realistic number of where we believed we each were personally. Once all the numbers
were in we discovered our church leaders ranged from a 3 to an 8 on the scale;
and where was the greatest number? Yup, right in the middle: a 5. Although this
surely could be a lot worse, based on the verses above, I see this as a reason
to be concerned. A church that has become too comfortable in their ministry is
heading down Lukewarm Lane. Fortunately the entire purpose of the night was
because our pastor has noticed this lately and is leading a church-wide
initiative to change our evangelism “temperature”.
As the group was going through each question we took a few
minutes to discuss at our tables why we are where we are at personally. Based
on my previous experiences in sales, I looked at evangelism as similar to a
“cold call” versus a “warm call”. A warm call is an appointment that has
already been set up, or perhaps you already have a previously established
relationship with an individual you are trying to work with. Either way there
isn’t much risk; this form of sales generally falls into a “comfortable” visit.
Cold calling takes a little more guts, unless you have the personality to do it
in the first place. To walk into a new business, perhaps hostile to salesmen,
and ask to speak to the boss can definitely raise the blood pressure a bit.
Yet, the potential for new relationships and a greater reward surely awaits;
and despite the outcome, we are made a bit bolder with each new endeavor.
There is nothing in the Bible that proves or tells us that
sharing the Gospel is supposed to be comfortable or convenient (quite the
opposite actually). Surely there is nothing wrong with telling your friends and
faith family about all God has been doing in your life or providing them with a
word of encouragement. But those are still “warm calls” and perhaps not
reaching the lost and dying. Preaching on social media can be just as mediocre:
putting it out there without the fear of face to face confrontation (online
debates rarely ever go anywhere, fyi). Paul makes it clear in Romans
1:16 that being shameless in our witnessing has eternal implications, so
why would we ever hold back?! I understand this may take some time to get used
to, but there is no time like the present to start. Ask the Lord to reveal to
you some witnessing opportunities that may be in front of you right now or to
make known the next available chance. Start with raising your “outreach
temperature” one degree at a time (unless He takes you further and faster). The
outcome of our evangelism shouldn’t be our primary concern, obedience is.
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