**Just to give you all a "head's up," a couple of these posts are geared toward those involved in ministry. This is not to say that they are irrelevant for the lay person, but rather that my intended audience is my fellow ministers.
It's is so easy to overlook the obvious because of our preconceived ideas and notions. We read a biblical passage and because we are familiar with it, or a complimentary theological idea, we gloss over its implications and keep on reading. Man, what a disservice we do to the Scriptures and our ministries!
Perhaps the greatest gloss on our part is in regards to the conversion of Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9). Here we have God supernaturally interrupting Paul's life, saving him and calling him into ministry. I am not going to argue over the Calvinist or Arminian process, but suffice it say that the man had an encounter with God and was saved, period. It is an amazing story, and we who read it are all grateful that God did all the work to save this one man. But, what about the incredible implications this story carries with it, such as: if God could miraculously appear to Saul and save him, then why not do it for many others, if not all?
Now, I know all the academic and historical answers, but I want to challenge them. I do not think the answer is a matter of God's respect for man's "free will," cessationism, or any other nonsense. Sure, elements of these arguments may be true, but I believe they create as many questions as they answer. But what if the reason God singled out Saul was because of the biblical principle that it is not how many you save, but who you save?
Like it or not, we are all hung up on numbers, especially here in the West; the bigger the better is a common defense. Church planting and being a pastor is no different, it is all about how many people are attending your church. Again, I recognize that each person represents a soul and Jesus preached to thousands, but what about that underlying biblical principle that it is who your reaching, not merely how many?
Romans 9 through 11 reminds us that it is the remnant who will be saved and that it is God who elects the individuals to be saved. Might the church and world be better saved if the church would adjust its evangelism strategy to accommodate these elements? Perhaps instead of trying to make the Gospel palatable to the masses or assume that conversion equal disciple, we could focus on the one who God is investing and seeing the promise of God fulfilled through him/her. Quality always supersedes quantity.
I want to hear, "Well done, Good and Faithful Servant," not, "Well, you had a big church, but where are the Christians?" at the end of my life. Again, I am not saying that "big" is equal to "bad," but I would like us to question why it is we do what we do. God's ways are not our ways. Perhaps, the Kingdom exists in a MUSTARD SEED?
