"Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." (John 4:35b)
I am going through the book Radical by David Platt with over fifty high school students and some teachers He challenges us with the statement: "The cost of nondiscipleship is great. The cost of believers not taking Jesus seriously is vast for those who don't know Christ and devastating for those who are starving and suffering around the world.....It is profoundly greater for us than the cost of discipleship." (Platt, David. Radical, p. 16)
As leaders, we MUST emphasize the urgency of evangelism--it is part of being a true disciple of Christ and the results of not sharing our faith can be tragic for some. We must pray that our eyes are open to "look at the fields." Platt continues in his first chapter of Radical to say: "For the sake of more than a billion people today who have yet to even hear the gospel, I want to risk it all. " (Platt, p. 19) We ourselves need to have this mindset before we can lead others. Let us challenge ourselves and each other to ACT on the urgency of evangelism, be alert to any opportunities to share, and to be willing to "risk it all."
So - as a bumper sticker I saw said: "Be ALERT - the world needs more "LERTS!"
Quotes from Platt, David. Radical. Multnomah Books: Colorado Springs, 2010.
