Leadership
AROUSING INTEREST
. Arousing interest, the title of this message suggests to us that there may be people and times that we encounter who appear to have no interest in hearing the good news of Eternal Life. Perhaps one of the reasons for this condition can be traced to the preacher who shows no emotion or excitement in sharing the good news. It is merely a prepared sermon by an unprepared messenger who lacks excitement over his own personal relationship to God. If we do not create interest through proper explanation it is doubtful that men will come to know the Savior. Before it can be Good News for them it must be Great News for us and we must present a demeanor that reveals that we are absolutely convinced that what we speak is the truth.
When God addressed the church at Laodicea, He referred to their pride and prosperity that lead them to think that they had need of nothing else. But God said to them, in their blinded state, to buy eye-salve that they may see and gold tried in the fire that they might be purified, for despite their own opinion of themselves they were poor, wretched, miserable and blind. That's how God saw them. In relation to this, we may find churches like that in Laodicea who were quite content with the way things are and see no need for anything else. It is these churches that are difficult to reach because they are blinded by their false securities and being so, do not see the need for change.
We may think it's strange that people who frequently attend church, will show no need for religion. They acquaint true spirituality, that is a relationship to God that is formed from within, as no different from religion. They conclude that all religions are the same, they produce moral character and eventually wind up in the same place. Most of the time you see this thinking in individuals, but very often you find congregations of people who through the teaching of the pastors or denominational traditions locked into the same way of teaching.
Sometimes a pastor starting out in the ministry will be on fire for God and he must face these kinds of people. What can he do? He receives discouraging comments from leaders in the church who warned him of being overly zealous. He is warned by such that the people are not interested in enthusiasm and preachers who are on fire. They are not used to that type of thing so the young pastor persists through a long period of agonizing prayer until some spark of hope begins to emerge. So, what do we do when faced with people who show no interest? Despite what seems like a discouraging situation, there is good news that God can work and even bless in such situations. It may take a long time for the Holy Spirit to do His work, but if we are faithful in preaching God's word without compromise and committed to speaking the truth, in time the Holy Spirit will ignite a spark that could with persistent faithfulness create a great fire.
So, what are some steps that we can take to arouse interest? Somewhere in the hearts of all people, there are needs that they face that require the power of God. There may not be a lot of people but this change in interest will begin with just a few. As they recognize that our enthusiasm and love for God is real, they will begin to realize that lack in their own life. Perhaps they may even become humble enough and honest enough to recognize that you have something that they need. As time progresses and we faithfully proclaim the word of God and make application to their lives, faith begins to grow in their own hearts.
How important it is to have times of prayer with your people. We do not need great crowds of people to have an effective prayer meeting. Two or three people at the most, praying earnestly and fervently will ignite the spirit of God. As you constantly apply the word of God to the hearts they will begin to see its relevance to their life and interest will be aroused. I have met religious people who use a lack of interest or ignorance as an excuse to not attend church. But when we determine to help people to understand the word of God and apply its principles to their lives, lack of interest will no longer be a problem. It is important that the winner of souls learn how to meditate on the Scriptures and find them to be his daily sustenance.
In Psalm one it tells us that when we delight in the word of the Lord and we meditate on it daily, we shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season and whatsoever we shall prosper. That is a promise that I have discovered many years ago and found to be true. It is also a method designed by God to teach us how to be successful in our Christian life. The Psalm also tells us that his leaf also shall not wither (dry up) and whatsoever he does shall prosper. Spurgeon once made the comment that God's trees are ever- green. So, if you find that people are not interested in what you say, perhaps you are ministering in the wrong way. I know of ministers who never read or try to improve their knowledge of the things of God and they lack freshness in their ministry. Their sermons are stale and they lack interest (they are often borrowed from someone else). We must remember that many of the times when waning interest prevails it is due to the lack of zeal and enthusiasm for the word of God on the part of the preacher. We cannot blame the congregation for losing interest when we as God's servants have lost it long before they did.
So, I close this chapter with these thoughts: God does not call lazy men into the ministry or men who are doing so with selfish interests. The ministry often attracts such people and because they are not diligent themselves in their personal discipline, will eventually cause the church to drift into a status quo church eventually leading to its death. Someone has said that there are three types of leaders in the church. First, there are risk takers. Risk takers are people who have a view to the future and the plan for growth and development. It is interesting to note that every leader in the Scripture that God is used effectively have been risk-takers without exception. The second category of leader are care-takers. They are content to not let things get worse and they try to keep the church from drifting but eventually, the caretaker having no view for the future or plan for growth will eventually become the undertaker who will inevitably bury the church.
To arouse the interest in the church there are several things that are necessary. First, strong conviction of the need for the church to be a praying church. The second thing that is needed is the desire to persevere no matter how discouraging things may become. And finally, the personal nourishment and growth of the preacher himself. We must make the time for personal development by understanding, reading and meditating on the Scripture. If we want an interested congregation we must make the pains necessary to make our ministry interesting. A busy church is not necessarily an effective church if the servants are too busy for personal nourishment. Busy pastors usually do not have enough time to properly prepare God’s message (unless they can get by without enough sleep
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
This article has been read 584 times < Previous | Next >
Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.