MY REAL JOB!

(“He who wins souls is wise.” Proverbs 11:30 NKJV)

Dear Readers:

The last two weeks we discussed what isn’t required, and what absolutely is required to win souls for Jesus. We said that a dynamic personality IS NOT REQUIRED, but that a deep love for God and other people ABSOLUTELY IS REQUIRED to win souls.

I want to take one more week to focus on another inspiration that I’ve had about soulwinning. After that I want to get into some nitty gritty details.

My inspiration is the following: Soulwinning is my ‘real job’. You might tell me, “Arlen, I already know that!” I know you probably know it, and I also knew it . . . in my head, but not in my heart.

This post isn’t to minimize the importance of the jobs which we work daily to earn money to support ourselves and our families. It is, however, to identify what is a Christian’s very most important job.

I’ve been retired for about 2½ years now. I’m amazed almost every Sunday night that I don’t have to worry about getting up on Monday morning to face the grind of another work week. It’s a true blessing. But where do I go from here?

I think I’ve come up with the inspiration about where to go from here after about five months of posting on my new Soulwinnersr.us website. I should have known it all along. The Bible makes it clear.

We all know the verse in Ephesians 4:11 where Paul said, “He (Jesus) gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, equipping the saints for the work of ministry. . .” There are also all the spiritual gifts identified in 1 Corinthians 12. I’ll leave that for another day.

But the key phrase for me in Ephesians 4:11 is the last one. I’m a saint being equipped ‘for the work of ministry’. So what is the work of ministry?

The late pastor and author Ray Stedman was a close associate of the well-known radio pastor J. Vernon McGee. Pastor Stedman stated that the work of ministry is the following: “The Church exists as God’s instrument to reach the world.”

Pastor Stedman went on to say, “The world needs His (Jesus Christ’s) ministry desperately, but it was never intended that worldlings should come to the church to find Christ. Rather, the church was intended to move out into the world.” (Note: ‘Worldlings’ is such a funny term.)

So ‘my real job’ is not to wait until ‘worldlings’ come to me, but for me to go to ‘worldlings’ to tell them about the wonderful love of Jesus.

My ‘real job’ as a soulwinner is not just for me as a retiree, or for other retirees. Working our ‘real jobs’ of winning souls for Jesus is for all Christians in all stages of life.

See you next time,
Arlen