There is a doctirne in the United States Marine Corps that is known as "The Rifleman's Creed". It states that every enlisted Marine, regardless of their military specialization (MOS), is trained first and foremost to be a rifleman. And every Marine officer, regardless of MOS, is trained as an Infantry Platoon Commander. This doctrine is in place so that no matter what happens in combat, every Marine and officer is prepared to continue the mission to close with and destroy the enemy. This way if a cook is in the kitchen and a fire fight breaks out, he or she can stop cooking, grab a rifle and help their fellow Marines deal with the adversary. Hoo-rah!!The Christian should have a similar mentality in life. We should use "The Evangelist's Creed". That means that every Christian (whether a Pastor, Deacon, Elder, or Layperson) is first and foremost an Evangelist. We should all be able to communicate the plan for salvation to our peers, regardless of our age, position, or location in the church. Evangelism is not just the job of the Pastor. It is the job of every born again believer to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone that we run into. We should not only be prepared to witness to the world, we should desire to run into unsaved people so that we can share the good news with them. Notice that I did not say that we had to convert everyone that we ran into. It is ultimately up to the individual whether or nor they accept Christ. But we have to actively expose them to Jesus so that the word of God can penetrate into their heart. How can we make sure that we are prepared to do this? We need to know the truth for ourselves. We need to spend time with God ourselves. And we need to want the person to receive salvation.
Just as the Marine is always ready for combat, we should always be ready to witness. It is the only way that we will be able to defeat the enemy. Hallelujah!!
Back to Homepage
No comments:
Post a Comment