{"id":12882,"date":"2012-10-22T11:06:02","date_gmt":"2012-10-22T18:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=12882"},"modified":"2013-05-31T18:30:53","modified_gmt":"2013-06-01T02:30:53","slug":"how-to-win-souls-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/how-to-win-souls-or-not\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Win Souls… or Not"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This is a guest post by Sam Riviera. He\u00a0spends most of his time and energy caring for others in his community so that through his life and actions they might see Jesus. He has also written \u201c14 Reasons I Never Returned to the Institutional Church.<\/a>\u201c<\/p>\n

If you would like to write a guest post for this blog,\u00a0check out the guidelines here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"soul“Lord lay some soul upon my heart. And love that soul through me. And may I always do my part. To win that soul to thee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of us who grew up in church grew up singing that song. We were told it meant we were to be soul-winners. We should do everything possible to \u201cwin\u201d people to the Lord.<\/p>\n

How might that look? \u2013 For many of us that meant we should invite people to\u00a0church so they could hear the Gospel preached and \u201cget saved.\u201d Once they\u2019re saved, God and the church would take care of them and we would find someone else to invite to church.<\/p>\n

Here are some other ways we are taught to engage in soul winning:<\/p>\n

Lord, Lay Some Soul Upon My Heart<\/h2>\n

Feel a burden for someone I know who\u00a0isn’t\u00a0saved. Pray for them. Give them some Christian literature that talks about salvation, and something that would make them want to attend my church.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, if the Lord\u00a0hasn’t\u00a0laid someone on my heart, they\u2019re not my burden. They must be someone else\u2019s burden. I need to focus on the people the Lord has laid upon my heart.<\/p>\n

Love That Soul Through Me<\/h2>\n

Always be nice to the people the Lord has laid upon my heart. Be friendly. Say hello every time I see them. If they have a sick family member, offer to take dinner to their family.<\/p>\n

May I Always Do My Part To Win That Soul to Thee<\/h2>\n

Use the word \u201cLord\u201d in casual conversation. Mention that I like my church and that they would like it also. Invite them to a special event at my church that I think they might be willing to go to. If they don\u2019t go, give the pastor their name and address and ask him to call on them. Maybe he can convince them to go to church.<\/p>\n

Apparently the \u201cmy part\u201d business means other people also will be involved with this project. If several of us invite people to church, eventually maybe they\u2019ll go. Then the pastor can do his part and preach a sermon that will convince them to repent and get saved.<\/p>\n

Anything Else?<\/h2>\n

Does that describe how we \u201cwin souls\u201d? Does God lay certain people on our heart to \u201cwin\u201d? Are we the ones who get them to church, to Jesus and to the decision to get saved?<\/p>\n

I could have written every word of this post prior to this sentence in 1962. That is exactly how I thought in 1962. I thought it was my responsibility to get certain people I knew to church so they could get saved. People who\u00a0didn’t\u00a0go to church were at the top of my list.<\/p>\n

Over the past fifty years however, my understanding of \u201csoul winning\u201d has changed. I have discovered that the conservative evangelical church\u2019s viewpoint in the 1950\u2019s did not necessarily represent the viewpoint of other churches, nor the viewpoint held by the church over the previous two millennia. Apparently it does not represent the viewpoint actually held by many Christians and churches today.<\/p>\n

If we believe that we must \u201cwin souls,\u201d why\u00a0aren’t\u00a0we doing it? According to what I have read, the average church only adds one or two new members each year by \u201cprofession of faith.\u201d Can that information possibly be correct? Maybe some atheist organization invented that \u201cstatistic\u201d!<\/p>\n

What Do You Think?<\/h2>\n

Before I explain my take on \u201csoul winning,\u201d I would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n

Should we attempt to win souls? Why? How do we do it? What have we tried that works? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Is it possible to \u201cwin\u201d souls?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where does God fit into the equation? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Does the Bible tell us that God will lay some soul upon our hearts so we can win that soul to him?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are often told to go win souls, and given techniques for doing so. Here are some of these soul winning strategies. But are they biblical? What is the Christian role in soul winning? Is soul winning biblical? Sam Riviera raises some questions in this post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[19],"class_list":{"0":"post-12882","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-discipleship","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nHow to Win Souls... or Not<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We are often told to go win souls, and given techniques for doing so. 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